SINGAPORE – As Singapore enters its next phase of development, the question it needs to ask itself is what identity it wants, and how it then keeps its traditions alive. While the Republic is multicultural, Singapore cannot be just about different cultures, kept exactly as they are. Nor should the answer be to simply add the various cultures here together,...
SINGAPORE – As Singapore enters its next phase of development, the question it needs to ask itself is what identity it wants, and how it then keeps its traditions alive.
In his first public appearance after stepping down from his ministerial roles to run for Singapore’s presidency, Mr Tharman attended the 5th Singapore Sheng Gong Cultural and Folklore Beliefs Festival held at Zhen Ren Gong temple in Redhill. Addressing the crowd, Mr Tharman said Singapore has kept its folk culture and traditions alive, with many temples that are over a century old, with the oldest almost 200 years old.
Among societies with different cultures, discussions tend to be either whether to take a salad bowl approach, where cultures are added together but are still separate, or that of the melting pot, where cultures are mixed together. He added: “But we cannot just keep separate cultures exactly as they are – we must keep evolving, and one way to keep evolving is to be very open to each other’s cultures, and absorb something from each other’s cultures.”
Key to such openness is deepening respect for different cultures, including foreign ones, and for people from different walks of life, said Mr Tharman.
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