SINGAPORE – A tiny island in the world map, with a total population of about 5 million people; measuring an area of approximately 728 square meters (Singapore Population, 2021). That is an interesting start, isn’t it? But do we actually know our history and its culture? This is a bitter truth, but in fact many of us don’t. Writing this article will be a good opportunity for me and for those reading it to revisit some basic historical and cultural information of what Singapore was like and the amazing multi-racial culture we grow to cultivate here in this country.
During the ancient days, our founder, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, was the young man who created and given Singapore a successful framework of accomplishment. It was much later that our late Mr.Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, moved on to shape Singapore to become an independent nation and continued to structure the path of success. Back then, Singapore was known for its unique geographical location as this tiny island served as a brilliant harbour port for trading purposes. Fast forward to many fruitful years after, Singapore gained its independence on 9th August 1965 and has developed to what it is today (About Singapore, 2021).
Known for its sophisticated and diverse society, people here in Singapore communicate and live amicably. People here refers to individuals from different race, religion and background. Due to our significant past, we have a mixture of Malay, Chinese, Indian and European influences, taken in as a total combination. And as we know, each racial group celebrates different and really interesting festivals that play an importance in each calendar year. Having said the above, our four official languages are Malay, Mandarin, Tamil and English (Singapore Culture & Language, 2021). At this point, it is crucial to understand that although there are four official languages here in Singapore, English will be deemed as the most frequently used.
As said, festivals in Singapore are generally enjoyed and experienced by all. In this way, we get to celebrate four auspicious festivals namely Chinese New year, Hari Raya, Deepavali and Christmas. What a handful of events! Out of the mentioned four, we are going to indulged a bit into Christmas, a festival widely observed by many. What happens during Christmas in Singapore? With brightly-colored lights hung and displayed everywhere and with of course the huge elegantly decorated Christmas tree, this flamboyant festival is definitely an eye-catcher. Even more so, what is special is all four races come together to share and bring love during this occasion. That is the beauty of Christmas, and I couldn’t agree less.
As you can evidently see, during special festivals like Christmas, the institute never fails to do the same in bringing our students from various levels together as one. Students get an opportunity to meet, mingle, converse and open up to each other. No doubt, all our students enjoy and treasure such moments here as these are the good memories worth remembering and cherishing.
References
Base. 2021. Singapore Population. [online] Available at: <https://www.singstat.gov.sg/modules/infographics/population> [Accessed 26 February 2021].
Singaporeexpats.com. 2021. Singapore Culture & Language, Religion of Singapore, Singlish • About Singapore. [online] Available at: <https://www.singaporeexpats.com/about-singapore/culture-and-language.htm> [Accessed 26 February 2021].
VisitSingapore. 2021. About Singapore. [online] Available at: <https://www.visitsingapore.com/travel-guide-tips/about-singapore/> [Accessed 26 February 2021].
