Food for thought
(Series)
This section features information, ideas and views to stimulate reflection and dialogue. We welcome contributions.
Series
This section features information, ideas and views to stimulate reflection and dialogue. We welcome contributions.
Series
This section features information, ideas and views to stimulate reflection and dialogue. We welcome contributions.
Latha, one of Singapore's leading writers, has made notable contributions to poetry, fiction, non-fiction, criticism, and journalism. In her chapter 'Literature Liberated From Landscape' in Sojourners to Settlers: Tamils in Southeast Asia and Singapore, she argues that Singapore Tamil literature was the first to break away from the traditional 'Thinai', a concept in Tamil literary tradition that maps physiographic landscapes to psychographic emotional states of characters. This departure, in her view, marks a unique emergence in Tamil literary history. Here are concise excerpts from that extensive chapter for your food for thought.
Literature Liberated From Landscape
Who is a Tamil liberated from landscape? Why is this concept unique to Singapore?
Thinai refers to land-based life. We can say that the five Thinais of Tamils essentially represent a connection between the environment and human thoughts. The inner echoes the outer, and the outer echoes the inner. Space and Time can also be seen as a psychological dimension beyond their physical nature. Here, Space may represent a particular culture and way of life. While Space is immovable, Time is changing. Thinai, in that sense, is a rich tradition of Tamils that brings together the stable and the impermanent.
Although Singapore is a small island, it has its own Space and Time. Modern Singapore, despite its small size, has rapidly transformed into a new city, largely built on the labour of immigrants. In the collaboration of people from different races, this technological city can be likened to a vast market, a country, and also a city. However, the majority of the city’s residents do not engage in the traditional give-and-take relationship with nature — forests, land, and sea — characteristic of Thinai-based life. Unlike in Thinai-based living, where there is a reciprocal relationship between the land and its inhabitants, city life tends to be more about acquisition. Singapore has evolved into a fully urbanized space, a Thinai liberated from the traditional landscape, a concept that has never existed before.
How is Thinai in Singapore different from that in other cities?
In every way, Singapore has crafted a life within a virtual public space, made technologically possible through globalization. Among the four landscapes — Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Singapore — where Tamils live in large numbers and literature is created, only Singapore Tamil literature has a voice extending beyond the Thinais.
Although there has been continuous immigration and the formation of the Tamil community in modern Singapore since the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was only after a century that a Tamil identity transcending caste, religion, and class differences began to emerge. The Tamil community in Singapore has forged a cultural identity based on shared experiences, perspectives, and language. The goal, task, and achievement of Singapore Tamil literature are to maintain this linguistic and cultural continuity.
City life in Singapore has facilitated the creation of stories, poems, and essays that signify the inception of global Tamil social history beyond geographical boundaries. Only Singaporean poets can sing phrases like “India’s liberation is the liberation of my race,” “Our Malaya,” and “Our land is Singapore where four races coexist.” This is not a manifestation of an unstable mind but a voice beyond Thinais! It represents a continuous effort to establish language as the foundation that unites the social and cultural identity of the Tamil people.
Until the 1970s, works from Malaysia and Singapore were collectively known as Malaya literature. Major newspapers and media in this region, along with significant events like Thamizhar Thirunal, nurtured the literature of both countries together. However, Malaysian literature flourished, rooted in the soil, while Singapore literature grew detached from the scent of the land. This distinction is crucial and precise in differentiating Singapore literature from Malaysia literature and underscores the uniqueness of Singapore Tamil literature.
Do city dwellers also have a bond with their land?
There were no land-based protests in Singapore. Even during the era of rubber and sugarcane plantations, only a small proportion of Indians were involved in agriculture. The sea also remained unfamiliar to the Tamil people, who predominantly worked as daily wage laborers in river basins and ports. Consequently, those who sang of the port’s prosperity found it challenging to incorporate the sea into their literature.
Colonial rule, India’s freedom struggle, World War II, Japanese rule, Netaji’s Indian National Army, Independent Singapore’s problems, rapid economic progress, new language policies, immigration policies, etc., have influenced and confused Tamil thought, disrupting people’s attachment to the land. Singapore’s economic success is marked by its constant evolution into a center in every aspect. In this ever-changing city, people struggle to form lasting connections, as Singapore itself lacks a profound bond with the land.
Are there other factors besides urbanization?
The early political ideology of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s first Prime Minister and the architect of its independent Singapore, is noteworthy. He advocated for the country’s ethnic groups to set aside their traditional pride and connections, urging them to embrace a new national identity. Up until then, the Tamil community had been deeply influenced by a long-standing Tamil identity. However, as the country began to experience economic growth, a generation gradually shifted away from language-based cultural identities, resulting in a significant decline in involvement with Tamil language and literature. It is undeniable that changes in educational policies also contributed to this transformation.
Compared to other national languages, Tamil literacy rates were low, and some Indians began to perceive that Tamil lacked national or regional political and economic significance, unlike English, Chinese, and Malay in Singapore. Numerous works highlight the decline of Tamil culture and the loss of Tamil identity. However, Tamil writers seldom openly discussed the impacts of changes in education policies and the waning support for mother tongue education on Tamil culture and literature. The psychology of Tamil creators, who condemn linguistic deficiency as a racial deficiency while praising the status given to Tamil as an official language and its inclusion in Tamil education through the bilingual education policy, requires further investigation.
In such an environment, multicultural national identity discourses gained strength in Singapore’s journey towards the next stage of development, emphasizing that the flourishing of distinct cultures of the respective races is the unique identity of Singapore. In 1990, during the Indian Culture Month celebrations held on the occasion of Singapore’s Silver Jubilee, 25 Tamil books were published. A couple of these books, written by the younger generation, focused on the changes in life during that time.
Efforts to establish cultural and national identity at the societal level, starting from the late 1970s and then at the national level from the late 1980s, did not deeply resonate with the generation raised in a materialistic mindset. One contributing factor is the shift or institutionalization of responsibility for social development from the community to the government. The sense of collective unity and the superiority of the Tamil identity formed through community collaboration, which emerged when the community worked together for its development, gradually dissipated for the greater good of the community.
Are there new voices in the land liberated from landscape?
Since the 1990s, the labour force, along with a growing number of educated and skilled foreigners, has expanded. The substantial economic development has not only affected the workforce but also catalysed progress in various fields, including art and literature. Government support for art and literature has reached an all-time high during this period.
Adapting to a landless urban life is challenging for newcomers who have grown up amidst the vast landscapes of their birth countries, with both comforts and inadequacies. Simultaneously, new citizens strive to create works reflecting a broader perspective on life. The surge in literary works and events has raised awareness within the community about the recognition that Tamil identity can bring. These efforts have fostered a sense of collective self-defence among newcomers, alongside a developing class consciousness that seizes political, economic, and cultural opportunities for advancement. The significance of this movement has been acknowledged in both identity and class interests.
Due to the influence of new immigrants, there has been an increased awareness among local youth to embrace Tamil cultural identity. The Tamil language has been emphasised as a cultural symbol and a source of interest in literature, sparking curiosity and engagement among the younger generation in literary activities. Government organizations, including the National Library Board, the National Arts Council, and the Tamil Language Council, have played a pivotal role in fostering this change by organizing language-related events and providing financial support.
Sources
- Sojourners to Settlers: Tamils in Southeast Asia and Singapore, Arun Mahiznan, Nalina Gopal (Editors), Indian Heritage Centre & Institute for Policy Studies, 2021
- The Serangoon Times, April 2022
Dr John Solomon, a Singaporean with a Tamil and Hokkien mixed ethnicity in his ancestry, is now a lecturer at Trinity College, University of Melbourne. Before that he was an assistant professor of history at NUS from 2016-2022. He did his undergraduate studies and PhD at University of New South Wales, Sydney. His research interests lie with diaspora, the cultural impact of empire and decolonisation, and the concept of “race”. He is also interested in national and ethnic identities, particularly in how they are constructed, sustained and circulated in different historical contexts. Here are excerpts from his interview to The Serangoon Times on untouchability and caste in Singapore, as your food for thought.
CASTE IN SINGAPORE
Has caste disappeared in Singapore?
Presently, caste has largely disappeared from public life as a marker of social difference and hierarchy. As to whether it is alive in familial choices, this is probably a question for sociologists examining contemporary society, but the sense that I get is that some families and groups are aware of their castes, and treat these as cultural makers of difference, rather than a rank in a hierarchical system. Some people refer to their caste group as a “clan” group for example, to denote kinship ties with groups in India. However, they largely do not use caste to denote inferiority or superiority. In sociological surveys done in Singapore in the 70s, many respondents, even then, indicated that economic status and occupational status were of far more importance to them with regards to their children’s potential spouses, compared with their caste.
The “higher” the caste group the more likely a family is to be aware of their backgrounds, although some scholars have noted that in Singapore, some members of supposedly high caste groups like Brahmins are embarrassed about their caste because of the strong association between the caste system and social injustice, prejudice and hereditary privilege. Although some are aware of their caste, there are many Singapore Indians who are completely unaware of the caste backgrounds of their families or ancestors, and this is likely the result of a conscious effort by their parents to do away with caste identity in the next generation. It is also indicative of how little salience caste has in contemporary Singaporean society.
Any other cultures in the world practice anything similar to the caste system?
In terms of Asian cultures, the Japanese come to closest to having a hereditary caste system with the treatment of the Burakumin closely resembling that of India’s untouchables. As far as I know there are no hereditary caste-like systems amongst the Chinese and Malays. Several notable Chinese emperors were originally peasants. That being said social class of course constitutes an important part of both societies. During the colonial period Malays and Chinese looked at the Indian caste system as something of a curiosity, but as a practice they saw it as something that belonged to another community and therefore didn’t have much to do with them.
How is Singapore handling caste, compared to other Indian diasporas?
A common phenomenon that has been noted by observers is the strength and persistence of caste identity and caste prejudice amongst more recent migrants in the developed countries in the West. Dalits face discrimination from other Indians today in places like the UK, Canada, America and Europe. Arriving over a very different timeframe, like many other older Indian diasporas, the Singapore Indians have had a much longer period to negotiate their attitudes towards caste. Due to a number of different factors, one of which is the full integration of Indians into the mainstream of Singapore society, this long evolution has manifested by and large in a rejection of caste, caste prejudice and the caste system.
Is ‘culturalising of caste’ inevitable?
I don’t think it is inevitable, and I don’t think the impetus to preserve caste in some way is just a response to globalisation and the fear of cultural erosion. Any group or community with access to a form of privilege or power, often finds ways and means to defend and perpetuate that privilege ideologically, institutionally or culturally. Even before globalisation, we have seen that caste is a very sticky social institution. It is highly adaptive and evolves to challenges, different social contexts and situations. I think in many instances (not all) the “culturalisation” of caste, or the idea that caste can be solely about ethnic identity rather than a hierarchical system of injustice, is another manifestation of this.
Source
The Serangoon Times, December 2019 https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=4e6ffa12-f495-452f-b768-b549d1f81101
Dr Laavanya Kathiravelu
Migration on a global scale has become a part of our contemporary life. And it has become inevitable that people migrate to countries like Singapore that do not have the fertility rates necessary to keep the population from diminishing. Immigrants face many challenges in adapting to their new environment. Also, the next challenge is to integrate with the local community as they begin to take root in the new soil. In the last quarter of a century, when migration from India to Singapore has increased significantly, the local Indian – new Indian nexus has faced, and continues to face, many challenges. Dr Lavanya Kathiravelu, who has explored the issues
and frictions of local Indian – new Indian integration in Singapore, has given an interview to The Serangoon Times (March 2021). We have summarized some excerpts from it here - for your food for thought.
WHAT KIND OF INDIAN ARE YOU?
Definition of social integration
Social integration can generally be defined as how well individuals or communities fit within a society – in terms of adapting to its norms, values and structures. Practically, learning the lingua franca of the host society, being part of its education system and workforce are also strong ways in which integration can be facilitated. Developing friendships and social connections either through joining local institutions such as places of worship or civil society groups have also been used to measure integration.
Immigrant integration in Singapore
I think Singapore has fared very well in comparison to other countries. There has been no violent conflict that has erupted and in general things function smoothly day to day. Singapore’s unique challenge may be not to take this for granted and paper over existing frictions that exist below the surface but acknowledge and address them. As my research, as well as that of others shows, assuming that a shared ancestry or broad ‘racial’ identity will mean seamless integration into an existing ethnic group is problematic. The absence of social integration means that some groups may feel less loyalty or belonging to the nation, and I don’t think that is an outcome that is desirable if we want to build a cohesive nation. My chapter in the book ‘Navigating Differences – Integration in Singapore’ (edited by Terence Chong, ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, 2020) outlines the lines along which significant tension exists within the community and interested readers can refer to that for examples.
Is integration an issue only for first generation?
I don’t think we can assume that it is an issue for all first-generation immigrants either. Some people integrate quicker and better than others, so we must be careful about making generalizations. Most research in the field of migration points to better integration into the host society of second and subsequent generations. However, there are prominent exceptions, especially in cases where structural constraints like race and class discrimination don’t allow for communities to be accepted into mainstream society. People’s exhibition of different cultural practices is just one way in which boundaries are drawn between communities and hierarchies articulated. Socio-economic status, religion, language and place of birth all also generate divides. This is also true within the Chinese community in Singapore. We should also not assume that there are no divisions and hierarchies within the Singapore-born Indian community.
Perception of India and its impact on integration
Some Singaporeans, not just local Indians, do think of India as a “third world” country with worse standards of hygiene, productivity and gender equality. This results in stereotyping of NRIs and does affect social networks and relationships that could be built between these groups. There is a lot of common ground – shared language, religion and food in many cases. As well as a shared desire to contribute to the nation and build stronger culture within the Indian community. I think we should, however, start with the assumption that people of different national backgrounds will invariably have differences and work to find ways to live together despite them.
Does striving for meritocracy affect integration?
I can’t really comment on this as I haven’t done research on how meritocracy impacts social integration. But Singapore, like many other countries around the world, values highly skilled migrants. So that is a global trend where countries compete for top talent. Surveys have shown that the ability to speak English is rated as important in social integration. Singlish use is also seen as an important in signifying Singaporean identity – and so a lack of proper use of Singlish could mean not embodying “Singaporeaness”. However, linguists have shown that there are different varieties of Singlish and so expecting one standardized use of it is also problematic.
Perceptions on Race and the Contact Theory
There are many factors that contribute to facilitating integration. It is a process that takes time and work from both sides. I have suggested in my previous work that perhaps it is time to rethink racial categorizations in Singapore, as they no longer signify what they used to. This would be my recommendation. Contact theory assumes that the more contact in terms of everyday interactions you have with people who are different to you, the less you will harbour negative attitudes towards them. In Singapore, this seems to have largely worked with the enforced mixing of different race groups in HDB estates. In providing more opportunities and encouraging casual and everyday interactions between local-born and immigrants, this could also have a positive impact on social integration.
Koh Chye Hock
INTER-CULTURAL EXCHANGE – GETTING TO FAMILIARITY
One would think that the benefits of inter-cultural exchange are so plain that no justification is needed. For a multi-racial and thus, a multi-cultural society like Singapore, this should be intuitive and obvious. Things that seem clear at first blush seldom draw our minds to examine them deeper. The aim of this article is to draw out the inconspicuous from the conspicuous. It is because they seem so clear we do not see them in their true value and depth, and as such inter-cultural exchanges are seldom on any organization’s agenda. The Centre for Singapore Tamil Culture (CSTC) is uncommon in making inter-cultural exchange a core mission.
This article carries themes which are not possible to be fully explicated or argued because of the limitation of space. The intent is to offer a frame for an extended future discourse on these themes in a separate forum.
We, the common laity, intuitively know and feel our culture, and notice the culture of another. We are born into a culture; we grow up in a culture. So much of our life, values, and outlook are shaped by culture. Yet, cultures are sprawling, overlapping, inter-penetrating and relational. This collective cultural experience, in turn, shapes the general culture in a dynamic society such as Singapore. There is always work to advance in this space.
Culture is an expression and reflects our social nature. In the Politics, Aristotle writes: “Man is by nature a social animal.” A homogeneous society’s culture will be homogeneous and a multi-racial society’s culture will be diverse. Singapore has always been identified by the latter, without which it would be unrecognizable. History, geography and demographics have favoured Singapore’s cultural milieu. In a small island, the descendants of several major civilizations have lived cheek by jowl since its founding more than two hundred years ago. This has been possible because each culture has looked at the others with appreciation. They have all enriched and ennobled this island nation; as a result, the combined Malay, Chinese, Indian and Western cultures have become the identity of Singapore.
In most situations, culture is exchanged subconsciously. Such evolution is slow and might lack robustness. Just like any fabric, the social fabric of Singapore will decay without proper maintenance. If the yarns are not twisted tightly, if the bonds lack strength, they will fray at the slightest provocation. By the time we see holes in the fabric, it is too late. In Singapore, we do not wait until there is a trust deficit. Constant work is needed to strengthen and reinforce, to invigorate and renew our societal bonds. Cultural societies such as CSTC do this as daily deposits to our national cultural bank by creating spaces, activities and conditions for cultural exchange between the Tamil community and the others to flourish so that the unfamiliar will become familiar.
Generally, when people do not know another race, group, even a neighbor we do not talk to, engenders a sense of strangeness which can easily sour into estrangement and alienation. The “unfamiliar” is strange, odd and mysterious which gives rise to fear and distrust, marginalization and withdrawal. Familiarity removes strangeness and smooths out awkwardness for friendship to sprout and bloom. Cultural exchanges gradually turn the unfamiliar into familiar, and familiarity breeds conversation, discourse, tolerance, and ultimately, trust and concord.
The importance of getting to cultural familiarity is as important in nurturing relationships among members of a community as among nation states. This significance is best illustrated during the first meeting between Dr. Henry Kissinger and Premier Chou En-lai on July 9, 1971.
Dr. Kissinger: “Many visitors have come to this beautiful, and to us, mysterious land.”
PM Chou: “You will find it not mysterious. When you have become familiar with it, it will not be as mysterious as before.”2
Prime Minister Chou’s response to Dr. Kissinger reflects the wisdom of one who understands the importance of familiarizing oneself with another’s culture in international relations.
Cultural exchanges are the abutments on which the bridge of trust and learning can be built; something found at the core of any culture expresses our common humanity. The immortal words of the Universal Poet (Bishwa Kobi) Rabindranath Tagore in the opening stanza of the Gitanjali best represent the universality of unity in diversity: “The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measure.”
In whatever sphere, cultural exchange is compelling because it is reciprocal. Reciprocity implies equality and the highest form of equality is the respect for each other’s culture. In an equal exchange, no side is disadvantaged and all sides benefit. In such exchanges, the minority race is equal to the majority race, where number is not a factor in measuring the intrinsic value of a culture.
Each of us is a living, breathing ambassador of our culture. It behooves us to understand our culture better. When different races intermingle, it behooves us to understand the culture of the peoples with whom we interact. In Singapore, cultures come together in the public places: in the neighborhood, community, marketplace, workplace, schools and even in parliament. At these cultural intersections, without deliberate effort, exchanges and inter-penetration of cultures might not take place, or even sour into points of contention.
I participated in a CSTC forum which discussed what is in the idea of “New Year” in our four major cultural traditions: the Western, Chinese, Islamic and Indian traditions. I was struck by the fundamental differences in the way each New Year was conceived and commemorated and I also sensed the common thread that ran through all of them. The need for marking time has been universal and the idea of
commemorating the beginning of the annual cycle is also common. Yet the basis of marking time is so different in each culture and the attendant activities to signpost the beginning of the year are also so different. This one event alone showed so much richness in our cultural tapestry that I decided to attend other such events by CSTC. Its work in enhancing the Tamil community’s understanding of its own culture and sharing its rich culture with other communities is laudable and worthy of support.
Who would reject cultural exchange? I argue that culture in essence reveals our social nature; and sharing one’s culture is the highest form of expression of this nature. It is what makes us human, something that gives life to the biomechanical corpus. Sharing cultures is likened to opening the door to each other’s precious living heritage.
I commend CSTC for opening the door of the rich Tamil culture to all and stepping out into those of other cultures.
- Mr Koh Chye Hock is lawyer in the corporate world and has an abiding interest in intercultural issues. He has participated in CSTC events.
- The National Security Archive Document 34.
Malarvele Ilangovan
What is in a Name?
A person’s name is often the most important marker of the person’s identity. Yet we seldom realise how much goes into a name. Living in a multicultural society, we hardly know anything about naming conventions in each other’s cultures. Here’s a start to know about our own Indian community’s naming conventions. Malarvele Ilangovan, a Senior Librarian at the National Library Board, Singapore, takes us on an introductory tour of Indian names.
This article was first published in the Singapore Libraries Bulletin by the Library Association of Singapore in October 2021, and reproduced here with permission.
பெயர்கள் பலவிதம்!
ஒருவர்தம் பெயர் அவர்தம் அடையாளத்தைக் குறிப்பதில் மிகமுக்கிய இடம்பெற்றுள்ளது. இருப்பினும், பெயரில் அடங்கியுள்ள பல்வேறு சிறப்பம்சங்களை நாம் பெரும்பாலும் அறிந்திருப்பதில்லை. அதோடு, பல்லினப் பண்பாட்டுச் சூழலில் வாழ்ந்தாலும், நாம் பெரும்பாலும் பெயர்களில் புதைந்துள்ள வழக்காறுகளை உணர்ந்துவைத்திருப்பதுமில்லை. நமது இந்திய சமூகத்தின் தனிநபர் பெயர்களில் உள்ள வழக்காறுகளைத் தெரிந்துகொள்வதற்கான அறிமுகம் இது. தேசிய நூலக வாரியத்தின் மூத்த நூலகரான மலர்விழி இளங்கோவன், இந்தியப் பெயர்கள் குறித்த ஓர் அறிமுகப் பயணத்திற்கு நம்மை அழைத்துச் செல்லவிருக்கிறார்.
இக்கட்டுரை, சிங்கப்பூர் நூலக மன்றத்தால் (Library Association of Singapore) சிங்கப்பூர் நூலகங்களுக்கான இதழில் (Singapore Libraries Bulletin) முதன்முதலாக அக்டோபர் 2021-இல் வெளியிடப்பட்டது. இங்கு மறுபதிப்புச் செய்வதற்கான அனுமதி வழங்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.
Nilanjana Gupta
Story of Durga Puja
Durga Puja celebrates the victory of the goddess Durgaover the demon king Mahishasura. This webinar by Nilanjana Gupta offers insights about the various practices associated with the worship of Durga in Singapore as well as the observance of the festival and its transformation over the years. Please note the similarities and differences between the Tamil community practice of Navarathri and Saraswathi Puja.
series
Story of Durga Puja
Durga Puja celebrates the victory of the goddess Durgaover the demon king Mahishasura. This webinar by Nilanjana Gupta offers insights about the various practices associated with the worship of Durga in Singapore as well as the observance of the festival and its transformation over the years. Please note the similarities and differences between the Tamil community practice of Navarathri and Saraswathi Puja.
Dr Arun Bala
NINAIVUMALAR
Ninaivumalar in Tamil refers to a Book of Memories or Bouquet of Memories. It is a tribute to the departed. The publication of Ninaivumalars is a long tradition among the Ceylon (Sri Lankan) Tamil Community but uncommon among other Tamils. In this essay, you will find some fascinating aspects of this special tradition. It is written by a leading scholar from the community. Dr Arun Bala is a philosopher by training and has taught at the National University of Singapore and University of Toronto. Dr Bala has published extensively on dialogue of civilisations. Hope you enjoy this offering in our series Food For Thought which is designed to bring different aspects of culture to our audience.
You’re welcome to share your comments and feedback with the author at arun.bala@yahoo.com
Ninaivumalar in Tamil refers to a Book of Memories or Bouquet of Memories. It is a tribute to the departed. The publication of Ninaivumalars is a long tradition among the Ceylon (Sri Lankan) Tamil Community but uncommon among other Tamils. In this essay, you will find some fascinating aspects of this special tradition. It is written by a leading scholar from the community. Dr Arun Bala is a philosopher by training and has taught at the National University of Singapore and University of Toronto. Dr Bala has published extensively on dialogue of civilisations. Hope you enjoy this offering in our series Food For Thought which is designed to bring different aspects of culture to our audience.
You’re welcome to share your comments and feedback with the author at arun.bala@yahoo.com