Workshop introducing Singapore to a group of visiting high school students from Taiwan, on 25 Jan 2016.

1. Welcome

2. History and Culture of
Singapore

3. What do you know about Singapore?
Welcome to Singapore!

4. Singapore
• Facts
• History
• Culture

5. Quiz
Taiwan has a population of 23.4 million.
What is the approximate population of Singapore?
5.6 million

6. Population (By Gender) 人口
0
5000000
10000000
15000000
20000000
25000000
Males Females
5,674,472
23,415,126

7. Life Expectancy (years) 預期壽命
70
72
74
76
78
80
82
84
86
88
Males Females
82.06
87.5
76.85
83.33

8. Gross Domestic Product (USD$)
國內生產總值
0
200,000,000,000
400,000,000,000
600,000,000,000
800,000,000,000
1,000,000,000,000
1,200,000,000,000
454,300,000,000
1,079,000,000,000

9. Gross Domestic Product Per Capita (USD$) 國內
生產總值人均
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
83,100
46,000

10. History of Singapore in a Nutshell
• Founding
• British colony
• World War II
• Self-Government
• Merger with Malaysia
• Modern Day Singapore

11. Sang Nila Utama, late 1390s

12. Quiz
What other names were Singapore also known as?
Singapura (Lion City)
Temasek (Sea Town)

13. Quiz
Which European power was Singapore ruled by?

14. Founding of Modern Singapore,
1819
Signing of the treaty with the local rulersSir Stamford Raffles

15. British Colony
Planning out the city center People flowed in from all over, attracted
by opportunities

16. Quiz
During World War II, Singapore was occupied by which
country?

17. Japanese Occupation,
1943-1945
Air raids killed many Shock defeat after just 6 days

18. Quiz
During the occupation, what was
Singapore was renamed as?
Syonan-to (昭南島),
"Light of the South"

19. Japanese Occupation,
1943-1945
Reign of terror began Surrender of the Japanese forces
after the drop of the atomic
bombs

20. Self-Government
Singapore’s first Chief Minister,
David Marshall
Singapore’s ruling political party,
the People’s Action Party

21. Merger with and Separation from
Malaysia, 1963-1965
A promising start
A bitter divorce

22. Quiz
When was the independence of Singapore declared?
9 Aug 1945

23. Independence of Singapore

24. Quiz
What do the stars on the Singapore flag symbolise?
Democracy, Peace, Progress,
Justice & Equality

25. Modern Day Republic
The ports of Singapore: past and present

26. Modern Day Republic
The development of the city center

27. People of Singapore
• History: Racial Riots
• Multiracial
• Multilingual
• Multireligious

28. Racial Riots
• Happened in 1969
• Clashes between Malays and Chinese
• Started from conflict in Malaysia, spillover into Singapore

29. Quiz
What are the four major categories of races in
Singapore?
Chinese
Malay
Indian
Others

30. Multiracial
• Taiwan has many aboriginal
groups while predominated by
ethnic Chinese 98%
• Singapore is characterised by many races,
namely:
- Chinese 74.2%
- Malays 13.3%
- Indians 9.2%
- Others 3.3%

31. The Chinese in Singapore
• Migrated from southeastern China, namely
Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan provinces
in the late 18th and 19th centuries.
• 75% of the Chinese population in the 19th
Century spoke Hokkien, Teochew &
Cantonese dialects.
• Chinatown was formed to house Chinese
immigrants.
• Chinese culture here has heavy southern
China influence.

32. The Chinese in Singapore
• Currently the largest ethnic group in
Singapore, 75% of total population.
• Most Singaporean Chinese are Buddhists.
• Growing number of Christians and free
thinkers as well.
• 14% of the Chinese population in Singapore
consider themselves as Taoists.
• Buddhism in Singapore is a mixture of
Taoism, Buddhism, Confucian & southern
China folk practices.

33. Malays in Singapore
• Malays are the second largest ethnic group
in Singapore.
• Most Singaporean Malays are descendants
of immigrants from Indonesia & Malaysia.
• Malays are predominantly Sunni Muslim.
• The Bahasa Melayu or Malay Language
spoken by Singaporean Malays are similar
to the ones spoken in the Riau Islands in
Indonesia & southern Malaysia.

34. Malays in Singapore
• Being Muslims, Singaporean Malays
observe certain restrictions when it comes
to consumption of food and drink.
• Muslims cannot eat pork & drink alcoholic
drinks. These are ‘Haram’ or forbidden
foods.
• Other kinds of food have to be ‘Halal’ or
permissible, before it can be consumed.
For meat like beef & chicken, it has to be
slaughtered according to Muslim customs,
before it can be ‘Halal’.
• In Singapore, local food brands and eating
places who claim to be ‘Halal’ will have to
be certified by the Muslim Religious
Council of Singapore, MUIS.

35. Indians in Singapore
• The smallest of the major ethnic groups
in Singapore.
• Most Singaporean Indians are
descendants of migrant workers who
came in Singapore after 1819. Most of
them came from southern India.
• The first Indians in Singapore were the
sepoys, who served as soldiers of the
British empire.
• 58% of Singaporean Indians are of ethnic
Tamil ancestry. English and Tamil are the
languages of choice.
• Over 50% of Indians in Singapore are
Hindus. The remaining numbers are
Muslims, Christians or Sikhs.

36. Multilingual
• English (official)
• Mandarin (official)
• Malay (official)
• Tamil (official)
• Hokkien
• Cantonese
• Teochew
• Other Indian languages
• Other Chinese dialects
• Mandarin Chinese (official)
• Taiwanese (Min)
• Hakka dialects

37. Quiz
What is unique type of English spoken in Singapore?
Singlish

38. Multireligious
• Buddhist 33.9%,
• Muslim 14.3%,
• Taoist 11.3%,
• Catholic 7.1%,
• Hindu 5.2%,
• other Christians 11%,
• other 0.7%,
• none 16.4%
• Mix of Buddhist, Confucian and
Taoist: 93%
• Christian: 4.5%
• Others: 2.5%

39. Multireligious

40. Multireligious
Religious figures from Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism,
Sikhism, Judaism, Baha’i faith, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism came
together to pray

41. Food Culture

42. Food Culture: Chinese Food
Hokkien Mee
Chicken Rice
Bak Kut Teh

43. Food Culture: Malay Food
Satay
Nasi Lemak
Kueh

44. Indian Food
Banana Leaf Curry
Indian Rojak
Roti Prata

45. Chinese Festivals
• Lunar New Year
• Qing Ming Festival
• Dragonboat or Duanwu Festival
• Hungry Ghost Festival
• Mid-autumn or Mooncake Festival

46. Malay Festivals
• Singaporean Malays celebrate 2 major
festivals annually.
• Hari Raya Aidilfitri is celebrated after the
Ramadhan fasting month.
• During the holy month of Ramadhan,
Muslims will fast from dawn to dusk. They
are forbidden from taking food and drink
during this time period.
• Hari Raya Aidilfitri is celebrated as a day of
victory for Muslims who have completed a
month of fasting.
• Hari Raya Aidil-adha is celebrated to mark
the completion of the Hajj in Mecca.

47. Indian Festivals
• The major Hindu festivals in Singapore are Thaipusam & Deepavali.

48. Other Festivals
• New Year Day
• Good Friday
• Christmas Day
• Vesak Day
• National Day

49. Unique Cultures
• Singlish: Okay Lah!
• Singapore: A Fine City
• Reserving Seats

50. Unique Culture: Singlish
English Singlish
Do you serve coffee? You got kopi? / kopi wu bo?
He is certain to be caught. He sure kena caught one.
You can sit over there. There can sit.
Can you reserve this table? Can chope this table?
Where do I go to collect my
luggage?
Go where take bag, ah?
I didn’t really like the movie. I
found it rather uninteresting.
Wah lau, the movie damn sian.
I do not understand Catch no ball (liak bo kiu)
Oh, my god! Alamak!

51. Unique Culture: Fines

52. Unique Culture: Fines

53. Quiz
What item do people in Singapore commonly use to
reserve at a hawker centre?
Tissue paper

54. Unique Culture: Tissue Paper

55. Famous Places in Singapore
• Singapore Botanic Gardens
• Gardens by the Bay
• Sentosa a & Universal Studios
• Changi Airport

56. Singapore Botanic Gardens

57. Gardens by the Bay

58. Sentosa & Universal Studios

59. Changi Airport

60. Traditional Games!
• Chapteh
• Five Stones

61. Traditional Game: Chapteh
Capteh is a traditional
game that requires great
dexterity and balance in
keeping a feathered
shuttlecock in the air for
as long as possible by
kicking it up with the heel
of the foot, or other parts
of the body, except the
hands

62. Traditional Game: Five Stones
This game involves
catching pyramidal cloth
bags filled with
beans/sand.
It increases the eye sight,
memory power and builds
concentration and aiming
skills.

63. The End