Singapore - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
168
Singapore - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
168eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781787029125 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Kuperard |
| Publication date: | 06/24/2019 |
| Series: | Culture Smart! , #101 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 168 |
| File size: | 19 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
LAND & PEOPLE
Singapore is a small island state at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula. Separated by narrow straits from mainland Malaysia, and by the Straits of Malacca from Sumatra, one of the largest islands in the Indonesian archipelago, it is approximately 31 miles (52 km) long east–west and 17 miles (27 km) wide north–south. It consists of sixty-three islands and has a population of 5.6 million people.
Singapore City, on the southeast coast of the island, marries colonial architecture with futuristic buildings and skyscrapers, some taller than the island's highest point, Bukit Timah Hill. These buildings contain smart offices, five-star hotels, and glamorous shops. Yet despite the predominance of buildings, great thought and effort have gone into keeping the city green. The drive into the city from the airport is lined with colorful bougainvilleas and frangipani as well as travelers' palms and jacarandas, and on reclaimed land at the edge of the city is the newly created Gardens by the Bay, the country's latest botanical garden, 101 hectares in size.
CLIMATE
The climate is tropical. Situated just 5° north of the equator, Singapore is either hot and sticky or very hot and sticky all year round. The monsoon weather, which lasts from November to January, brings heavy rain and occasional flooding, and lowers the temperature from 86°F (30°C) to 73°F (23°C). The hottest and most humid months are from March to July — but expect dramatic thunderstorms at any time of the year, usually in the afternoon. Be warned, though: many visitors catch cold, owing to the contrast of the outside temperature with the aggressive air-conditioning in the hotels and upmarket restaurants.
FLORA AND FAUNA
Singapore's national flower is the purple and white orchid "Vanda Miss Joaquim," a natural hybrid discovered in the garden of the lady of that name and subsequently presented to the Botanical Gardens. You will see the national emblem everywhere, from tourist trinkets and politicians' shirts to the carefully packed bunches on sale at the airport. For those interested in horticulture, the National Orchid Garden merits a visit. The main attraction of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, it has a collection of 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids. On an undulating three-hectare site, near Orchard Road, the Botanic Gardens is the oldest public park in Singapore and the country's first UNESCO Heritage site. Established in 1859, it is famous for being the birthplace of the region's rubber industry.
The new Gardens by the Bay opened in 2011 as a showpiece of garden artistry, with over one million plants and the famous Supertrees that glow Peranakan colors at night and around which there is an aerial walkway. Here you will also find the Heritage Gardens, the Canyon, and the large glass domes, one of which (the Cloud Forest) has the world's tallest indoor waterfall.
Bukit Timah Hill is the island's highest point and its last remaining pocket of primary rain forest. Many visitors stroll to the peak to see the macaque monkeys; this is best done either in the cool of the early morning or in the evening, avoiding the hottest times of the day.
Similarly, the best time to visit the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve on the north coast is in the early morning. This protected wetland nature park of more than 202 hectares has trails through forests, ponds, mudflats, and mangrove swamps where you can discover native species such as mudskippers, water snakes, monitor lizards, and otters. During the migratory season (from September to March) you can watch flocks of shorebirds and waders from strategically located hides.
Lastly, there is the MacRitchie Reservoir in the heart of Singapore. Built in 1867 by the philanthropist Tan Kim Seng, it is one of four reservoirs in the nature reserve and is popular with runners and water-sport enthusiasts. Along its 6.8 mile (11 km) trail, much of it through tropical rainforest, you can find long-tailed macaque monkeys, monitor lizards, and, on the odd occasion, a colugo (or flying lemur). It is also famous for the Treetop Walk, a free-standing suspension bridge that spans the reserve's two highest points.
THE PEOPLE
Singapore is a land of immigrants. Apart from small coastal communities, it was virtually uninhabited until the nineteenth century, when Britain turned it into a strategic naval and commercial staging post, triggering substantial immigration, particularly from China. More of a salad bowl than a melting pot, the resulting society is a model of multicultural harmony. Although the Chinese are by far the largest ethnic group, the Malays who make up 15 percent of the population, and the Indians who form 7 percent, contribute more to Singaporean society than their numbers would suggest.
The official languages of Singapore are therefore Malay (which is also the "national" language), Chinese (Mandarin), Tamil, and English. English is the language of administration, business, and technology.
The Chinese Immigrants
During the last days of the Qing dynasty in the nineteenth century, life in China was harsh and oppressive for many. Poverty was widespread and those in the coastal provinces needed little incentive to leave. The first junk bound for Singapore sailed from Amoy in 1821, and by 1827 the local Malay population was vastly outnumbered. The British encouraged this immigration as the Chinese were considered a hardy and industrious people. Many were illiterate and penniless, but once they had paid off their passage they flourished. Some came as indentured laborers to work in the tin mines of Malaya and the docks in Singapore. They became coolies, farmers, and traders.
Their numbers grew, despite the monthly quotas imposed during the Great Depression. The administration was anxious to avoid overcrowding and unemployment, and to control the prostitution that had been a problem in the early years of the nineteenth century when most of the immigrants were young men. In the early years of the twentieth century the problem still existed, with around 240 men to every 100 women.
Today, most Chinese Singaporeans can trace their ancestry to the southern coastal provinces between Hong Kong and Shanghai, that is, from four river deltas: the Min River that flows into the South China Sea at Fuzhou, the Chiu-lung at Xiamen (Amoy), the Han River near Shantou (Swatow), and the Pearl River south of Guangzhou (Canton) and opposite Hong Kong.
Although they are all Chinese and share the same written language, they come from different ethnic groups, speak their own dialects, and have their own local cultures. The people from Fuzhou speak Hokchiu; those from Xiamen speak Hokkien (this is the largest ethnic group in Singapore); those from Shantou speak Hoklo (but are called Teochew); and those from the Pearl River delta and Guangzhou call themselves and speak Cantonese. In the early days this led to factionalism and clan conflicts in Singapore.
The Hakka, who speak Hakka, emigrated from Guangdong, Fujian, and Jianxi provinces, and the Hainanese from Hainan Island, the most southerly part of China that is opposite the Vietnamese coast.
In Singapore today, members of the older generation still speak their native dialects, but increasing numbers of young Chinese Singaporeans speak Mandarin at home.
Straits Chinese
A group of Chinese arrived in Singapore who were descendants of the old Chinese families of sixteenth-century Malacca and Penang. These Straits Chinese, or Peranakans, had intermarried with and been influenced by their Malay neighbors. The women adopted Malay-style dress and were referred to as Nonya. Their cuisine adopted typical Malay ingredients such as fragrant roots, herbs, chilies, and, above all, coconut milk. They combined the traditional love of pork — forbidden, of course, to Malay Muslims — with classic Malay ingredients.
The Straits Chinese were educated, had money, and soon found themselves an indispensable part of the colonial administration. Some became doctors, lawyers, and teachers, while others established successful businesses, especially in the timber and rubber trades. The men, referred to as the Baba community, were often ridiculed for being "more British than the British." Their newspapers were in English rather than Chinese, and they adopted the manners of their colonial masters, playing billiards and drinking brandy. Although they did not mix socially with the new Chinese immigrants, they kept abreast of developments on the mainland, especially those concerning the reform of Imperial China's archaic system of government. It comes as no surprise that it was a Straits Chinese, Teo Eng Hock, who offered his large villa to Sun Yat Sen, the future first president of China, when he sought refuge in Singapore. To commemorate Sun Yat Sen and his revolutionary nationalist movement, the Singapore government restored the villa in 1964; you can visit it from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and view its collection of artifacts and photographs. Nor should it surprise the reader that Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of modern Singapore, was of Hakka and Peranakan descent (although he did not advertise the fact). An exhibition in 2015 honored fifty influential Peranakans who helped shape the country, including Tan Tock Seng the philanthropist and Chua Seng Kim, the founding president of the Singapore Woman's Association.
The Malay Community
The original Malay inhabitants of the island were soon outnumbered by the thousands of Chinese immigrants in search of a better life. It is a testament to the strength of their community that it both survived and influenced the developing nation, with Malay becoming the national language of Singapore. In the constitution, the government recognizes the special position of the Malays as the island's indigenous people.
Gentle and courteous, their core values are generosity and hospitality. With a strong sense of community, they are also self-reliant and have prospered in the new Singapore, with Halimah Jacob, becoming president of Singapore in 2017. They do not believe in the pursuit of wealth for its own sake, but in the greater importance of the spiritual side of life. This is reflected in their concern not only for their families but for their neighbors as well.
The Malays wish visitors to enjoy Singapore and their unique culture. However, there are a few "dos and don'ts" that the visitor should be aware of and which will avoid upsetting or embarrassing your hosts. These are discussed on pages 85–7 and 144–48.
The Indian Community
Despite making up just over 7 percent of the population, Singaporean Indians are religiously, linguistically, and economically diverse, although 60 percent are of Tamil ancestry. Known for their entrepreneurial gifts, they have also been prominent in education, politics, diplomacy, and the law.
To appreciate the culinary richness of their community and their colorful wares, it is worth visiting "Little India" on Serangoon Road including the Mustafa Centre and Tekka Market. Most Indians still shop there, especially when buying saris, men's dhotis, betel nuts, heavy brass stands, garlands for weddings, arm bangles, and other indispensable items for an Indian household.
Indian shopkeepers appreciate a customer who will haggle. If you are the first customer of the day, you can be assured of a bargain as they regard the opening purchase, however small, to be a good omen, especially if that purchase includes flowers, sugar, or sweets — but not oil. The latter is regarded as a bad sign for the rest of the day's trading.
The Expat and Migrant Community
Immigration has not ended in Singapore and it remains essential to the country's economic growth. Non-Singaporeans are found in every area of commercial, medical, and educational life. In 2017, there were 1.4 million foreigners employed in the country of whom nearly 800,000 were domestic workers.
In 2013 the Population White Paper projected that by 2030 Singapore's population would be about 6.5 million, of which 4.2 million would be resident and 2.3 million would be non-resident. It called for an increase in the number of foreign workers, arguing that a balance needed to be maintained between the skilled and less-skilled and those who worked in domestic service. Although the paper was passed, concerns were voiced about the pressure on facilities and social cohesion. Four thousand people protested at People's Corner in Hong Lim Park and as a consequence a more cautious approach has been adopted.
A person can become a Singapore citizen through birth or via descent. It is also possible to gain citizenship through registration (naturalization) if you have been a Permanent Resident (PR) for at least two years and are employed by a registered company (which does not have to be Singaporean) or are married to a Singapore citizen. In 2017 there were 525,000 PRs in the country.
SINGAPORE: A BRIEF HISTORY
Despite being only recently created a nation-state, Singapore has a long history, owing to its strategic position at the junction of numerous shipping routes.
Early Days
One of the first references to Singapore is in the writings of General Lu Tai in 203 CE, who tells of an expedition sent by the Chinese Emperor to Pu-Luo-Chung, as Singapore was then known. Marco Polo may have also referred to the island when writing of the noble city of Chiamassie. Certainly, it was called Temasek by the fourteenth century and later gained the name Singapura ("Lion City" in Sanskrit) when, according to Malay legend, a Sumatran prince saw a lion there and founded a town. Favored as a port for traders taking wares from Arabia, India, and the Malay Peninsula to East and Southeast Asia and back again on the seasonal monsoon winds, it came under the influence of different Indian and Siamese kingdoms. A pawn in their internecine wars, the settlement was burned in 1613 by Portuguese raiders, after which it went into decline with traders moving to Malacca, a more fortified and secure port. Nominally under the southern Malay Sultanate of Johor, only a few people — known as sea people — remained, surviving on fishing and piracy.
The Merlion, the official mascot of Singapore, has a fish's body and a lion's head, symbolizing the country's origin as a fishing village and commemorating the legend of the lion's sighting. There are five statues, and the oldest is located at the Merlion Park at the mouth of the Singapore River.
Colonization
In the eighteenth century, the British and the Dutch were commercial competitors in the East–West trade, while Britain and France were military enemies and sought to extend their empires in the region. By 1815 the French were defeated in Europe and no longer posed a threat to British and Dutch interests in Asia. The British and the Dutch then set out to acquire exclusive trading posts through agreements with local rulers.
Britain was represented in the region by the powerful East India Company, whose commercial strength was backed by its own military force. It sought a halfway house between Bengal, its power base, and Canton, the source of its new wealth in tea and the destination for its Indian-produced opium in which it had a monopoly. The Dutch were snapping up the best ports, and Thomas Raffles (later Sir Stamford Raffles) of the Company had long wanted to establish a trading post in the region. "Our object is not territory but trade," he wrote, "a great commercial emporium and a fulcrum whence we may extend our influence politically as circumstances may hereafter require." He negotiated a treaty with Sultan Hussein of Johor giving Britain the right to establish a trading post on the island of Singapore and proclaim it a free port, and on February 6, 1819, the Union flag of Great Britain was officially raised. Security and stability soon attracted ships in search of a safe haven where they could repair their vessels and restock with food and water. Success was guaranteed.
Raffles was one of a special breed of freewheeling and adventurous spirits produced by Britain's great commercial empire. However else one views it today, the Empire gave scope and opportunity to British men of humble birth, many of whom became efficient and fair administrators, humanitarian in their outlook and practical in their approach.
Raffles (1781–1826)
Thomas Stamford Raffles was born on a slave ship (his father was the captain) in the mid-Atlantic. He was forced to leave school at the age of fourteen when his father could no longer afford the fees, but was fortunate enough to obtain a clerical position in the East India Company in 1805. Ten years later he was on his way to Penang in northwestern Malaya to take up a position as Assistant Secretary in the government. Raffles was ambitious and he used his time on the voyage to learn Malay. He was soon considered fluent, and by 1811 he was appointed Governor of Java. After a spell back in England and a second marriage (his first wife, Olivia, having died in 1814), he was appointed Governor of Sumatra. In 1818 he persuaded the Governor General of India, Lord Hastings, to agree to an expedition to set up a trading post at the southern tip of Malacca.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Singapore - Culture Smart!"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Angela Milligan and Tricia Voute.
Excerpted by permission of Bravo Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Map of Singapore,
Introduction,
Key Facts,
Chapter 1: LAND AND PEOPLE,
Chapter 2: VALUES AND ATTITUDES,
Chapter 3: CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS,
Chapter 4: THE SINGAPOREANS AT HOME,
Chapter 5: FOOD AND DRINK,
Chapter 6: TIME OUT,
Chapter 7: TRAVEL, HEALTH, AND SAFETY,
Chapter 8: BUSINESS BRIEFING,
Chapter 9: COMMUNICATING,
Further Reading,