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Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia PDF

181 Pages·2009·3.47 MB·English
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Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia LIBRARY BOARD AN: 992877 ; Koh, Jaime, Ho, Lee-Ling.; Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia Account: s6879889 Recent Titles in Culture and Customs of Asia Culture and Customs of Korea Donald N. Clark Culture and Customs of Vietnam Mark W. McLeod and Nguyen Thi Dieu Culture and Customs of the Philippines Paul Rodell Culture and Customs of China Richard Gunde Culture and Customs of India Carol E. Henderson Culture and Customs of Thailand Arne Kislenko Culture and Customs of Afghanistan Hafizullah Emadi Culture and Customs of Pakistan Iftikhar H. Malik Culture and Customs of Indonesia Jill Forshee Culture and Customs of the Central Asian Republics Rafis Abazov Culture and Customs of Mongolia Timothy Michael May Culture and Customs of Laos Arne Kislenko LIBRARY BOARD AN: 992877 ; Koh, Jaime, Ho, Lee-Ling.; Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia Account: s6879889 Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia JAIME KOH AND STEPHANIE HO Culture and Customs of Asia Hanchao Lu, Series Editor G P REENWOOD RESS An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC ABC~CLIO Santa Barbara, California• Denver, Colorado• Oxford, England LIBRARY BOARD AN: 992877 ; Koh, Jaime, Ho, Lee-Ling.; Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia Account: s6879889 Copyright © 2009 by Jaime Koh and Stephanie Ho All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Koh, Jaime. Culture and customs of Singapore and Malaysia / Jaime Koh and Stephanie Ho. p. cm. — (Culture and customs of Asia) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-313-35115-0 (hard copy : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-313-35116-7 (ebook) 1. Ethnology—Singapore. 2. Ethnology—Malaysia. 3. Singapore—Social life and customs. 4. Malaysia—Social life and customs. I. Ho, Stephanie. II. Title. GN635.S55K64 2009 305.80095957—dc22 2009015312 13 12 11 10 9 1 2 3 4 5 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an eBook. Visit www.abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLIO, LLC 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America LIBRARY BOARD AN: 992877 ; Koh, Jaime, Ho, Lee-Ling.; Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia Account: s6879889 Contents Series Foreword by Hanchao Lu vii Preface xi Chronology xiii 1 Land, People, and History 1 2 Religion and Thought 27 3 Literature, Arts, and Crafts 43 4 Performing Arts and Entertainment 59 5 Housing and Architecture 77 6 Food and Fashion 95 7 Gender, Courtship, Marriage, and Family 113 8 Festivals and Leisure Activities 129 9 The Future of Singapore and Malaysian Culture 149 Bibliography 159 Index 165 LIBRARY BOARD AN: 992877 ; Koh, Jaime, Ho, Lee-Ling.; Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia Account: s6879889 Series Foreword Geographically, Asia encompasses the vast area from Suez, the Bosporus, and the Ural Mountains eastward to the Bering Sea and from this line south- ward to the Indonesian archipelago, an expanse that covers about 30 percent of our earth. Conventionally, and especially in so far as culture and customs are concerned, Asia refers primarily to the region east of Iran and south of Russia. This area can be divided in turn into subregions, commonly known as South, Southeast, and East Asia, which are the main focus of this series. The United States has vast interests in this region. In the 20th century, the United States fought three major wars in Asia (namely the Pacific War of 1941–45, the Korean War of 1950–53, and the Vietnam War of 1965–75), and each had a profound impact on life and politics in America. Today, America’s major trading partners are in Asia, and in the foreseeable future the weight of Asia in American life will inevitably increase, for in Asia lie our great allies as well as our toughest competitors in virtually all arenas of global interest. Domestically, the role of Asian immigrants is more visible than at any other time in our history. In spite of these connections with Asia, however, our knowledge about this crucial region is far from adequate. For various reasons, Asia remains for most of us a relatively unfamiliar, if not stereotypical or even mysterious, “Oriental” land. T here are compelling reasons for Americans to obtain some level of con- crete knowledge about Asia. It is one of the world’s richest reservoirs of cul- ture and an ever-evolving museum of human heritage. Rhoads Murphy, a LIBRARY BOARD AN: 992877 ; Koh, Jaime, Ho, Lee-Ling.; Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia Account: s6879889 viii SERIES FOREWORD prominent Asianist, once pointed out that in the part of Asia east of Afghani- stan and south of Russia alone lies half the world, “half of its people and far more than half of its historical experience, for these are the oldest living civi- lized traditions.” Prior to the modern era, with limited interaction and mu- tual influence between the East and the West, Asian civilizations developed largely independent from the West. In modern times, however, Asia and the West have come not only into close contact but also into frequent conflict: The result has been one of the most solemn and stirring dramas in world history. Today, integration and compromise are the trend in coping with cultural differences. The West—with some notable exceptions—has started to see Asian traditions not as something to fear but as something to be un- derstood, appreciated, and even cherished. After all, Asian traditions are an indispensable part of the human legacy, a matter of global “commonwealth” that few of us can afford to ignore. A s a result of Asia’s enormous economic development since World War II, we can no longer neglect the study of this vibrant region. Japan’s “economic miracle” of postwar development is no longer unique, but in various degrees has been matched by the booming economy of many other Asian countries and regions. The rise of the four “mini dragons” (South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) suggests that there may be a common Asian pattern of development. At the same time, each economy in Asia has fol- lowed its own particular trajectory. Clearly, China is the next giant on the scene. Sweeping changes in China in the last two decades have already dra- matically altered the world’s economic map. Furthermore, growth has also been dramatic in much of Southeast Asia. Today, war-devastated Vietnam shows great enthusiasm for joining the “club” of nations engaged in the world economy. And in South Asia, India, the world’s largest democracy, is rediscovering its role as a champion of market capitalism. The economic development of Asia presents a challenge to Americans but also provides them with unprecedented opportunities. It is largely against this back- ground that more and more people in the United States, in particular among the younger generation, have started to pursue careers dealing with Asia. T his series is designed to meet the need for knowledge of Asia among students and the general public. Each book is written in an accessible and lively style by an expert (or experts) in the field of Asian studies. Each book focuses on the culture and customs of a country or region. However, readers should be aware that culture is fluid, not always respecting national boundar- ies. While every nation seeks its own path to success and struggles to maintain its own identity, in the cultural domain mutual influence and integration among Asian nations are ubiquitous. LIBRARY BOARD AN: 992877 ; Koh, Jaime, Ho, Lee-Ling.; Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia Account: s6879889 SERIES FOREWORD ix E ach volume starts with an introduction to the land and the people of a nation or region and includes a brief history and an overview of the economy. This is followed by chapters dealing with a variety of topics that piece to- gether a cultural panorama, such as thought, religion, ethics, literature and art, architecture and housing, cuisine, traditional dress, gender, courtship and marriage, festivals and leisure activities, music and dance, and social customs and lifestyle. In this series, we have chosen not to elaborate on elite life, ideol- ogy, or detailed questions of political structure and struggle, but instead to explore the world of common people, their sorrow and joy, their pattern of thinking, and their way of life. It is the culture and the customs of the major- ity of the people (rather than just the rich and powerful elite) that we seek to understand. Without such understanding, it will be difficult for all of us to live peacefully and fruitfully with each other in this increasingly interdepen- dent world. As the world shrinks, modern technologies have made all nations on earth “virtual” neighbors. The expression “global village” not only reveals the na- ture and the scope of the world in which we live but also, more importantly, highlights the serious need for mutual understanding of all peoples on our planet. If this series serves to help the reader obtain a better understanding of the “half of the world” that is Asia, the authors and I will be well rewarded. Hanchao Lu Georgia Institute of Technology LIBRARY BOARD AN: 992877 ; Koh, Jaime, Ho, Lee-Ling.; Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia Account: s6879889 Preface S ingapore and Malaysia are two dynamic, independent countries located in Southeast Asia. Like siblings, the two are often mentioned in the same breath not only because of their close geographical proximity but also because of their shared history and culture. Singapore and Malaysia were historically regarded as part of the entity that was the Malay Archipelago, and the devel- opments of both countries were closely intertwined until the independence of Singapore, in 1965. Despite the political separation, the two countries share a common cultural heritage, as is highlighted in this book. This is in no small part because of the similar ethnic composition of both countries, in which the Chinese, Malays, and Indians are the major ethnic groups. The main difference is the dominance of the Malays in Malaysia and the Chinese in Singapore. T he multiethnic, multireligious society in Singapore and Malaysia results in rich and diverse culture and customs. Although informed by tradition and history, culture and customs are nevertheless subject to the forces of globalization and modernization. The rapid pace of modernization in both countries resulting from the ambitions of their governments accelerates this process. Singapore has developed into a modern metropolis—from third world to first—in a matter of decades. Malaysia is also developing along a similar path with a vision of becoming a developed nation by the year 2020. In both countries, culture and custom are thus an intriguing blend of the old and the new, tradition and modernity. LIBRARY BOARD AN: 992877 ; Koh, Jaime, Ho, Lee-Ling.; Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia Account: s6879889

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