The Singapore Identity
Written by ED on June 19, 2007 – 4:35 pm - Posted in Uncategorized |Is it because I am outraged by certain policies the government has implemented? Hardly. Let’s just put political issues aside… meaning let’s not talk about ministers’ self-imposed pay hike or rising GST and millions of dollars lost in their recent audit. We shall go right down to what forms Singapore. That’s Singaporeans and the culture here.
The Singapore Identity - Is there any???
National Costume
Do we have any? Whenever I think of Miss Universe Singapore, I can’t help but laugh over the fact that Singapore would stand out in any way. No, I have nothing against Miss Jessica Tan, but rather, what does Singapore possess to shine in such international competitions? She placed her height as the culprit, but even if she did had the height, how is she going to bring out the Singapore Identity?
The sheer thought of National Costume cracks me up every time without fail. When most countries have a traditionally recognized National Costume, what does Singapore has other than being red and white? If memory serves me well, I don’t actually remember that Singapore has a costume that we can seriously call our own. So special and outstanding that one look at it, the costume is enough to tell everyone whoever wearing it is from Singapore and not just another designer apparel. I can easily walk into any apparel malls and pluck out lorry-loads of red and white clothing… there… take take… you’re off to Miss Universe Competition.
I’m sure when it comes to apparels and clothings, the Singapore Girl stands out in the knowledge of all Singaporeans and throughout the world. The infamous baju kurung has always been seen as the more significant attire of SIA stewardesses. Is that sufficient to use baju kurung as our National Costume? I’m afraid not.
The baju kurung is still a traditional attire for our muslim friends. It is not hard to find baju kurung in neighbouring countries, and it doesn’t make Singapore stand out in any manner. If an air stewardess uniform is sufficient to make it an identity, I guess every beauty queen participating in Miss Universe would be better off wearing nothing else but the uniform of their national carrier. Make it Miss Carrier Contest.
Think about all the funny “Singapore National Costume” I see in Miss Universe, it looked more like a display of fashion creativity than actually striking a National Identity. Thank God, not a single Miss Singapore has worn a totally white outfit with a PAP logo. That will surely be the laughing stock of the entire world.
Food
What is it in Singapore’s food that makes it so special? Nothing.
The food we find in Singapore are majorly influenced by other cultures found elsewhere. Is there a truly authentic Singapore dish? I can’t remember when was the time I ever saw one. Either it’s a modification of a dish from elsewhere on the globe, or it’s simply wholesale import and self-declared to be their own. Unless you tell me Punggol Nasi Lemak is authentic Singapore food… oh well, you deserve the death penalty.
Singapore Food Festival screams the slogan… Celebrating Local Food Delights. *cough* What local food? Which food presented in the festival tells us that it originated from Singapore and not a variation of something offered somewhere else? Is it celebrating LOCAL FOOD delights… or a mere congregation of international food available in Singapore? It just shows how pathetic Singapore has become amid our first world status, that we boldly bring in some foreign specialities and call it our own. This is why even as a Singaporean, I despise my own country sometimes.
Safety and Security
Singapore is well known internationally to be a safe country. That is true. Compared to many other countries in the immediate vicinity, we have the lowest crime rate. Even some of our special tactical agencies have come out top in tactical shooting competitions. However, how does that translate into the Singapore Identity literally? I am sorry, it doesn’t really says much about the Singapore Identity. Moreover, we are not the only country with low crime rate. There are a few others, with larger population and yet l0wer crime rate than Singapore. How do we explain that?
Is providing a safe country a responsibility? Or is it an identity?
Music
What music do we have that is traditionally rich to the history of Singapore? Nothing! I know a few peeps would start talking about how much our local bands have performed on the international platform. I do not deny that and I am proud of them. But still, can anyone tell me decisively which musical instrument relates to our rich heritage? Again, none. Singapore is nothing more than just a collective spot where Singaporeans explore further into the available music.
History
Talk about history, did you realised that all we have to count on is that 40 years of “hardship”? Not to mention, all the ugly tactics and conspiracies that are slowly being dug out of their graves. (Aye… somebody gonna get hurt~ lol) What is so unique about Singapore (according to Singapore Tourism Board’s “Uniquely Singapore” propoganda) that made us stood out in the world? Doesn’t every country have a history of their own? Isn’t history being re-written with all the wars we are aware of now?
Let’s not forget, whenever we read of Singapore, it never fails to highlight Singapore as a ex-colonial state managed by the British. This part of Singapore’s history has stood out more than anything else, more than how Singapore became independent, more than how Singapore ended up as a one-party ruling nation. Are our stories so limited to only Sang Nila Utama and Sir Stamford Raffles?
If there’s any history worth looking at, I would prefer to study how Singapore chalks up millions of foreign reserves from the very day of independence until now. How did they do it? Why are Singaporeans rated the less happier citizens among the whole world?
*music please…*
These are only some of the many issues that are worth looking at when we attempt to determine Singapore’s identity. If you were to ask me now, does Singapore have an identity? I’ll tell you no, there’s no identity to talk about. An identity is liken to be the corporate branding of a company. Other than being multi-racial, what does Singapore have? Absolutely nothing that we can call our own. You pay a ton of money to get a flat, only to know it doesn’t belong to you. You pay a ton of money to get a car, only to know you can’t keep your car forever because I say so! What is it that we can call our own seriously?
Just like anyone else who can’t resist their futile attempts to identify Singapore, let me have a hand at defining The Singapore Identity…
KIA-SI
And not forgetting…
The Singapore Identity? Oh, give me a break… good Lord! I meant to say, stop wearing the over-sized hat for your small pathetic head.
ADDITIONAL NOTE: All my readers are welcome to comment, but anyone who attempts to derail this entry/discussion/context/intention into anti-govt or pro-govt issue, please kindly make your way out. I’m gonna delete such comments anyway… since you do not understand what’s the context of this entry I have written.
June 19th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
hmm… how abt the country tat is known for banning chewing gums and canning ppl? I’m afraid tat’s wat the foreigners remember us as
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June 19th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
We do have cultural symbols:
Food: Roti John is a Singapore creation. We put many uniquely Singaporean twists on Asian foods.
Costume: Don’t have… but the orchid motif is suitable.
Some would argue that cultural identity also consists of shared heritage / memories. History tells us of our role in regional and global trade. We also have a shared memory of our colonial struggle, WW2 occupation, independence and eventual economic ascend to the world stage.
However, like many modern ideas, our identity is a contested concept - ever-changing and ever-evolving through debate and discussion. We are truly too small and have too shallow a heritage to build a comprehensive cultural identity as other countries. But that doesn’t stop us from building one now.
Americans never called themselves that when they first occupied the land. Anglo-Saxxons didn’t call themselves British during the stone ages. The Hans and Chings never called themselves Zong Guo Ren.
We have the responsibility to build our own identity… not something the govt spoon feed us with. Take part or stand aside.
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June 19th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
cloudywind,
For all the wrong reasons… yea, I guess so.
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June 19th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
miccheng,
I would love to buy Roti John as Singapore’s own, but sadly it isn’t. Roti John is a combination of muslim cooking, french loaf and named after the British in the olden days. Singapore’s own? Hardly. It’s just like bringing in Belgian Chocolate, add two rambutans in it and call it Singapore’s.
Regional and global trade goes as far only to say the economical achievement and riches of Singapore. How does that translate into an “identity”? if that’s really a good benchmark to forge an identity, alot of other countries would have adopted this, why Singapore?
It’s not even an issue whether anyone is interested to take part in forging this identity. I am just telling it as it is now. I don’t like the typical godfather style of derailing into something else out of context.
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June 19th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
Oh, so sad. I’m not Uniquely Singapore. I’m not kiasi, kiasu and I don’t follow law! Geezz…. What am I? hehehe….
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June 19th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
叛徒!!! Hahahahaha…
All of us are nothing but just Singaporeans… it is only as good as that and nothing else.
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June 20th, 2007 at 11:56 am
Hmm… i don’t think we can really force, pin-point or be told what our national identity is.
Different people relate differently to Singapore.
To me, what makes me Singaporean is my love for this place.
I love walking down boat quay and the esplanade - seeing the old buildings and the new. Each time I do this after coming back from overseas, it really feels good to be back home and it makes this place uniquely Singapore.
Good enough?
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June 20th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
It’s not meant to be pin-point, but it’s just a very natural thing. Like those costumes of Korea and japan or Brazil, one look and we know automatically where they are from.
Singapore seems to be lacking in this department.
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May 19th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
ok…after i read this i cant help but to comment.
you said thta singapore does not have anything unique. no argument about that. but,is it our falt that we have devolped in a way such that we are not unique? we started as a port, most of us have our roots in china, singaporeans are mostly almost an equavlent of chinese living in malaysia.our culture is that which we brought from china when our fore fathers brought from china.
my next point. singapore is a small island. u have to agree with that.so geographically, we cannot produce our own food. which means we are dependent on the world to export their food. we thrive on the world economy. naturally expats come here, when they do, we provide their needs for them, so we will have, to an extent, their culture.
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July 20th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
perhaps the diversity of cultures and this mix-&-match of identities is what singaporeans have to learn to embrace as ‘our identity’
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August 13th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Hmm…these points of view are very unique. It’s rare you hear anyone talking about our culture as such.
However, we ARE different from other countries. What about the language we have developed that suits our mutli-racial population? “Makan? Anyone?”
Foreigners come to Singapore and muse over this strange way of communication; the strange way we live. All this is a development of Singapore’s strange culture.
We are unqiue. In a funny way…^-^
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August 15th, 2008 at 9:32 am
I’m actually rather surprised that there is no mention of our colloquial variety of English (Singlish). It is ‘Uniquely Singapore’, after all, and there are people who identify with their countries through language, Do you think this could be used to aid the construction of Singapore’s national identity?
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September 14th, 2008 at 9:34 am
I am surprise and in fact disappoint to see this post and the responses. Yes Singapore being a multiracial and multicultural country often being doubt by her identity but isn’t this her identity?!
she is a country union of different cultures, and these cultures that originated from other places will often be adapt to the local preferences and this became uniquely ours. Identity evolve from the inhabitants and is their common behaviors and characteristics that are identified as identity, so to speak anything emerging within us could be our identity.
Singlish is one, green city, the drying clothes with bamboo scene and etc… some have been mentioned above. not include those that are evolving. All these come together make us Uniquely Singapore. we don’t see identity as individual element, unless it can be as simple as that.
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October 2nd, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Firstly, i feel that Singapore’s girl’s baju kurung can be used as a national costume. i mean why not? it is not exactly very ‘malay-ish’. it looks modern and nice. but maybe this is an aspect that local designers might want to work on.
Secondly, Singapore do have their own local delights. Hainanese Chicken Rice is not front Hainan island, but it is created by Hainese in Singapore who came from Hainan Island. Also you can’t really find laksa in everywhere of the world..
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October 3rd, 2008 at 1:16 am
research and insight from various debates on this subject seems to suggest that culture and identity is created and constantly evolving. When enough people believe in the same things and use common artifacts “culture” or character then becomes obvious. Perhaps a little patience. Lines on a person’s face become more defined in due time reflecting in some sense the life they’ve lead.
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October 3rd, 2008 at 1:22 am
typo. on last word in previous post. “Led” not “lead”.
Watchin a taiwanese variety program. Quite fun. Ha. These kind of shows are slowly becoming associated with Taiwan. But then again weren’t they also adapted from Jap programs, which in turn took inspiration from Western style programs….give yourself a name and people will call you by it.
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October 10th, 2008 at 12:11 am
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