Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
17
Good Vibrations
Chinese geomancy, also known as
feng shui,
has made a mark on the Singapor e
landscape. Nowhere is this practice more evident than at Suntec City. The com-
bined convention center, shopping mall, and office space occupies five towers.
Placed in a semicircle, the towers represent the five digits of an open hand. In the
center, an unusual round fountain, the largest fountain in the world, sprays water
inward. As water means wealth, the fountain is a symbol of money flowing into a
hand.
On a positiv e note, it is widely under-
stood that the M alays hav e the gr eatest
sense of community in Singapore. Families
still congregate around the neighborhood
mosque, and there's a greater sense of char-
ity and commitment to helping those less
fortunate.
Virtually every Malay is Muslim, either
practicing or nonpracticing, follo wing the
teachings of the I slamic prophet Muham-
mad. Most Singaporeans are quite moder-
ate in their beliefs and v ery open to ward
those of other faiths. You will, ho wever,
notice that quite a few eat only
halal
food,
prepared according to strict Islamic dietary
laws. And while some women choose to
wear a
tudung,
a scarf to cover their heads,
it is purely voluntary here. Actually, Malay
women hav e a gr eat sense of style; their
kurau baju,
long flo wing tunics, often
show off liv ely colors. B ut don 't be sur-
prised if y ou see y ounger M alays in the
clubs drinking alcohol.
ethnic gr oup combined characteristics of
each culture but found a middle ground in
language and religion, which tended to be
English and Christianity, respectively. This
mixed heritage allo wed them to become
strong economic and political play ers,
often serving as middlemen betw een Chi-
nese, Europeans, and other locals. S inga-
pore's early
towkays
(big bosses) w ere
mostly P eranakan, and, in fact, M inister
Mentor Lee K uan Yew himself is of this
cultural background.
Peranakan
literally means “S traits-
born,” so technically speaking, all people
born in Singapore and Malaysia can argue
they are Peranakan, and in a lot of litera-
ture y ou may see the term used br oadly.
Today, though, with many S ingaporeans
able to trace their heritage to this ethnic
group, a heritage society has dev eloped to
support their interests and keep their cul-
ture alive.
The Indians
Many I ndians w ere aboar d Raffles 's ship
when it first landed on the banks of the
Singapore River, making this gr oup some
of S ingapore's earliest r ecorded immi-
grants. I n the follo wing decades, many
more I ndians would follo w to find wor k
and wealth. Some found positions in the
government as clerks, teachers, policemen,
and administrators, follo wing the E nglish
colonial administration set b y the B ritish
Raj in I ndia. O thers w ere moneylenders
and financiers. S till mor e w ere labor ers
who came to make a buck.
2
The Peranakans
Until recently, you didn't hear much about
the Peranakans, also called Straits Chinese,
a subculture of the colonial era that gr ew
out of intermarriage betw een the Chinese
and Malays. But recent trends to embrace
Singapore's heritage has r ekindled interest
in this small yet influential group who are
unique to Singapore and Malaysia.
In the early days of S ingapore, immigra-
tion of Chinese women was forbidden, so
many Chinese men found wives within the
native M alay population. The r esultant
