Singapore is a very diverse and young country. It has many languages, cultures and religions for a country its size. Due to the many different languages and cultures in the country, there is no single set of culturally acceptable behaviours.
Merlion FountainSingapore
When Singapore became independent from the United Kingdom in 1963, most of the newly minted Singaporean citizens were uneducated labourers from China, Malaysia and India. Many of them were transient labourers who were seeking to make some money in Singapore and they had no intentions of staying for good. A sizeable minority of middle-class, local-born people, known as the Peranakans also existed. With the exception of the Peranakans who pledged their loyalties to Singapore, most of the labourers' loyalties lie with their respective homelands of China, Malaysia and India. For instance, the Chinese wore pigtails to signify their loyalty to the Chinese emperor and remitted money to China. After independence, the process of crafting a Singaporean identity and culture began. Both ex Prime Ministers of Singapore – Lee Kuan Yew (who was Prime Minister for over 30 years) and Goh Chok Tong – have stated that Singapore does not fit the traditional description of a nation, calling it a society in transition, pointing out the fact that Singaporeans do not all speak the same language, share the same religion or have the same customs. Even though English is the first language of the nation, according to the government's 2010 census, 20% of Singaporeans, or one in five, are illiterate in English. This is a marked improvement from 1990 where 40% of Singaporeans were illiterate in English.
Singapore at night
Unlike many other countries, languages, religions and cultures among Singaporeans are not delineated according to skin colour or ancestry. Among Singaporean Chinese, one in five is Christian, another one in five is atheist, and the rest are mostly Buddhists or Taoists. One-third speak English as their home language, while half speak Mandarin Chinese as their home language. The rest speak other mutually unintelligible Chinese languages at home. Singaporean Indians are a much more religious bunch. Only 1% of them are atheists. Six in ten are Hindus, two in ten are Muslims, and the rest are mostly Christians. Four in ten speak English as their home language, three in ten speak Tamil, one in ten speaks Malay, and the rest speak other Indian languages as their home language. Each Singaporean's behaviours and attitudes would therefore be influenced by, among many other things, his or her home language and his religion. Singaporeans who speak English as their native language tend to lean toward Western Culture. While those who speak Chinese languages as their native language tend to lean toward Chinese culture and Confucianism. Malay-speaking Singaporeans tend to lean toward Malay culture, which itself is closely linked to Islamic culture. Those who speak Indian languages as their native language would probably lean toward Indian culture.
Beautiful Sultan Mosque Singapore
Singapore, as a country, in general is conservative socially, but some liberalisation has occurred. At the national level, meritocracy, where one is judged based on one's ability, is heavily emphasised. Racial and religious harmony is regarded by the government as a crucial part of Singapore's success and played a part in building a Singaporean identity.Singapore has a reputation as a nanny state. The national flower of Singapore is the Vanda Miss Joaquim. Many national symbols such as the National Coat of Arms and the Lion Head symbol make use of the lion, as Singapore is known as the 'Lion City'. Public holidays in Singapore cover major Chinese, Western, Malay and Indian festivals.
Due to scarcity of land, four out of five Singaporeans live in subsidised, high-rise, public housing apartments known as HDB flats. Singaporeans generally take off their shoes before entering their homes. Live-in domestic helpers are quite common in Singapore and there are nearly 200,000 domestic helpers there. As with most Commonwealth countries, vehicles on the road and people walking on the streets keep to the left. Unlike some Western countries and ASEAN countries in the Golden Triangle, Singapore does not have a culture of recreational drug use. The country has strict laws against drug use and has one of the lowest rates of drug use in the world. Singaporean employees work an average of around 45 hours weekly, which is relatively long compared to many other nations. Three in four Singaporean employees surveyed stated that they take pride in doing their work well, and that doing so helps their self-confidence.
Foreigners also make up 42% of the population and have a strong influence on Singaporean culture. A.T. Kearney named Singapore the most globalised country in the world in 2006 in its Globalization Index. The Economist Intelligence Unit in its "Quality-of-Life Index" ranks Singapore as having the best quality of life in Asia and eleventh overall in the world.
Singapore is a small island with limited land and a large population, therefore, there is a need to restrict the number of private cars on the road. Car buyers must pay for duties one-and-a-half times the vehicle’s market value and bid for a Singaporean Certificate of Entitlement (COE), which allows the car to run on the road for a decade. The cost of the Singaporean certificate of entitlement alone would often allow one to buy a Porsche Boxster in the United States of America. Car prices are generally significantly higher in Singapore when compared to other English-speaking countries and only 1 in 10 residents own a car.
Most Singaporean residents travel by foot, bicycles, bus, taxis and by train (Mass Rapid Transit). Two companies run the public bus transport system – SBS Transit and SMRT Corporation. SMRT also runs the public train system. There are almost a dozen taxi companies in Singapore who together put out 25,000 taxis on the road. Taxis are a popular form of public transport as the fares are relatively cheap compared to many other developed countries.
Train in Singapore
Singapore has a road system covering 3,356 kilometres (2,085 mi), which includes 161 kilometres (100 mi) The Singapore Area Licensing Scheme, implemented in 1975, became the world's first congestion pricing scheme, and included other complementary measures such as stringent car ownership quotas and improvements in mass transit. The system was upgraded in 1998 and renamed Electronic Road Pricing. The ERP introduced electronic toll collection, electronic detection, and video surveillance technology.
Singapore is a major international transportation hub in Asia, positioned on many sea and air trade routes. The Port of Singapore, managed by port operators PSA International and Jurong Port, was the world's second-busiest port in 2005 in terms of shipping tonnage handled, at 1.15 billion gross tons, and in terms of containerised traffic, at 23.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). It is also the world's second-busiest in terms of cargo tonnage, coming behind Shanghai with 423 million tons handled. In addition, the port is the world's busiest for transshipment traffic and the world's biggest ship refuelling centre.
Singapore is an aviation hub for the Southeast Asian region and a stopover on the Kangaroo route between Sydney and London. There are 8 total airports in the country, and Singapore Changi Airport hosts a network of 80 airlines connecting Singapore to 200 cities in 68 countries. It has been rated one of the best international airports by international travel magazines, including being rated as the world's best airport for the first time in 2006 by Skytrax. The national airline is Singapore Airlines.
