Musings from Singapore: holidays and cultures

Singapore is an interesting mix of cultures. Mostly Asian influence, a hodge podge of Chinese, Malay and Indian people (most native Singaporeans identify with one of these races) and an interesting mix of expats from US, UK and Australia. All of these cultures blending together manifests in some interesting ways.

For example, public holidays are a mix of the most popular/common holidays of each of the major religions and races. We get Hari Raya, a Muslim holiday, off in October; Deepavali - also known as Diwali - which is a Hindu/Sikh holiday, off in November; and we get Christmas off in November. We also get Chinese New Year and Singapore National Day off.

Singapore is really a very new country. Though British and Dutch explorers visited the island in the late 1800s, it's only been in the last 30 or so years that Singapore has really become an independent nation with government and industry. Being a small island nation, surrounded by many other countries, its inhabitants came from all over Asia and brought their traditions with them. So the Singaporean traditions are really a mix of other cultures.

When compared to the nations of Europe, the US is very young. And while the kingdoms and dynasties of Asia have been around a long time, the current nations are very new. Newer even than the US. In the US, our customs are a melding of the customs and traditions of the western Europeans who founded the country with the customs of the indigenous people and a sprinkling of the other cultures who've come to the country since. We have Memorial Day and Veteran's Day to honor our military, Christmas and Easter as Christian holidays, and Thanksgiving, Labor Day and President's Day in honor of our history. The holidays are uniquely American. In Singapore, it's a bit different. There hasn't been enough time for the different cultures to really meld together, so the holidays are a collection of important days from the other cultures who came here.

I've heard it said that America is a "melting pot" of cultures, all melted and blended together; but Singapore is a salad bowl: lots of different flavors put together in a bowl, but each remains wholly distinct. You can pluck a tomato out of a salad (as the bf generally does) but you cannot pluck a chocolate chip or wedge of cheese out of a fondue pot once it's been melted.

I wonder if in 200 years the holidays will just be "Singaporean" or if the distinctions will remain.....