Chinese Culture in Singapore

by Abigail Zhu in Holidays, September 1, 2010

Mentions some of the festivals celebrated by Singaporean Chinese.

Singapore, like many other countries, has its own cultural “flavor”: from the various ethnic groups which populate the island, which consists of a mixture of mainly Chinese, Malays, Indians, and other races. The Chinese are one of the majority on this “small little” island and here is a little more information about some of the festivals celebrated by Singaporean Chinese.

Festivals:

Chinese New Year

Being one of major festivals, that’s celebrated island wide among the Chinese in Singapore. Similar to its western counterpart, Chinese New Year, it represents a fresh start of the year. It is celebrated based on the lunar calendar and is celebrated in the month of February. It is one of the major public holidays (usually 2 days) that all Singaporean enjoy.

Image by williamcho via Flickr

During this period, red packets (more commonly known as hong bao/ang bao) are given from (grand)parents to (grand)children, and married couples to children and those who are not yet married (singles). These red packets are gifts of money and believed to bring good luck. The amount of money in the red packets are usually brand new bills and given in even numbers. Examples of even numbers: 2 (”yi”=easy), 6 (”lok”=wealth) and 8 (”patt”=prosper) are considered lucky numbers, whereas 4 (”sei”=death) is considered an unlucky number. weeks or days before the start of the Chinese New Year, throngs of people would be queuing at the banks to get new bills.

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If you ever visit Singapore during this period, you can expect it to be a quiet as most Chinese businesses close shop for up to two weeks as it is the only break they have in the year.

Besides the giving out of the red packets, reunion dinners are held on the eve of Chinese New Year by majority of the Singaporean Chinese for immediate family members. The reunion dinners are either held in homes or restaurants, signifying he importance of close family ties. Steamboat is one of the most common things eaten during this period. And there is a wide variety of snacks and tidbits for the occasion (e.g. love letters, bak kwa (thinly sliced barbequed pieces of pork/chicken etc…) .