pele SciaSction - new media

SINGAPORE
cultural diffusion with its unique combination of these
ethnic groups, and this has given Singapore a rich
mixture of diversity for its young age. One of the prime
examples is in Singaporean cuisine, often a cultural
attraction for tourists.
The English used is primarily British English, with some
American English influences. The local colloquial dialect
of English is Singlish, which has many creole-like
characteristics, having incorporated vocabulary and
grammar from various Chinese dialects, Malay, and
Indian languages.
Singapore has several ethnic neighbourhoods, including
Little India and Chinatown. These were formed under the
Raffles Plan to originally segregate the immigrants, but
now have a diverse patronage whose main intentions are
to either eat or buy something specific to that culture.
Many places of worship were also constructed during the
colonial era, a practice encouraged by the British to
promote religious tolerance. Sri Mariamman Temple, the
Masjid Jamae Mosque and the Church of Gregory the
Illuminator are among those that were built during the
colonial period. Work is now underway to preserve these
religious sites as National Monuments of Singapore. The
policy for the primarily commercial ethnic
neighbourhoods stands in contrast to the housing
policies of the Housing and Development Board (HDB).
HDB policies attempt to promote a mix of all races within
each housing district in order to foster social cohesion
and national loyalty.
Cuisine
Singaporean cuisine is also a prime example of diversity
and cultural diffusion in Singapore. In Singapore's
hawker centres, for example, traditionally Malay hawker
stalls selling halal food may serve
halal versions of traditionally Tamil
food. Chinese stalls may introduce
Malay ingredients, cooking
techniques or entire dishes into
their range of catering. This
continues to make the cuisine of
Singapore significantly rich and a
cultural attraction.
leaf and with sambal (chilli).
Performing arts
Singapore is emerging as a cultural centre for arts and
culture, including theatre and music. As a cosmopolitan
and multi-racial society, Singapore is often identified with
the "gateway between the East and West". In the past
decade, there is an emergence of several performing arts
groups in Singapore, especially in theatrical arts. A
number of productions were staged successfully and
several groups, such as TheatreWorks, have performed in
overseas.
The Singapore government encourages a productoriented
arts scene within its master plan to include arts as
a commodity for its economy, true explorations and
innovation exist but at a level that is not well funded.
Singapore hosts an annual Singapore Arts Festival when
international and local artists gather in the country to
perform in a wide variety of events including music,
dance and theatre. The Singapore Arts Festival has
become an event for Singapore to showcase its ability to
buy international renowned performing arts products.
In 2003, the Esplanade - "Theatres on the Bay", a centre
for performing arts, was opened. The Esplanade is also
known as "The Durian", due to its resemblance to the fruit.
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and LASALLE
College of the Arts are the two main arts institutions
offering full-time programmes for the performing arts in
Singapore. Institutions including government schools
nowadays receive good funding for their arts
programmes.
Movies
Two important pioneers in local film-making are Eric
Khoo and Jack Neo, both of whom
produced several popular movies
depicting unique cultural and
social aspects of the country,
especially concerning the lives of
Singapore heartlanders. In
particular, the movie I Not Stupid
struck an emotional chord among
Favorite local food include:
many Singaporeans as its story
highlighted many of the issues they
Bak kut the, Char kway teow,
face in an increasingly competitive
Hainanese chicken rice, Hokkien
society.
mee, Ketupat, Laksa, Nasi lemak
On 13 December 2003, 10 year
Rojak, Roti prata, Satay.
old Megan Zheng became the first
Singaporeans also enjoy a wide
Singaporean actress to win the
variety of seafood including crabs,
Taipei Film Festival Golden Horse
clams, squid, and oysters. One
Award for Best New Performer (cofavorite
dish is the stingray recipient) with her role in Jack
barbecued and served on banana
Neo's movie Homerun.
OPEN TRADE 54
Oct-Dec 2007