Culture Spotlight: Singapore with Audrey Shing
Welcome to our debut piece in the International section. This will be a portion of the magazine where the diverse cultures and backgrounds of OHS students can be highlighted and shared with others. Thank you, Audrey Shing '19 for sharing so much about Singapore!
Pixel Journal: Where do you live, and can you give us a description?
Audrey Shing: I've lived in several parts of world, first in California and then in Taiwan and I've been here in Singapore for the part 11 years of my life! Not many people in the US know of Singapore just because we're such a tiny island city state! I remember walking into Starbucks in California once and when I told a gentleman that I was from Singapore, he thought I was from Thailand! Haha! So, I thought it would be nice to give a bit of background history. Singapore is located at the tip of the Malayan Peninsula, just far south of Malaysia. We're often called the Little Red Dot simply because the dot on the map to indicate Singapore's location covers the entire island as it is! Singapore has a fairly tropical climate meaning that it rains a lot and is terribly humid and hot. But Singapore has an incredibly diverse ethic makeup with four key racial ethnicities (Chinese predominantly, Malay, Indian and Eurasian) and for a small country we have make astounding progress since the country's independence. We were once a British colony, founded by Sir Stamford Raffles, was occupied by the Japanese during World War II, sought a merger with Malaysia that would provide our country will sufficient protection but then finally separated in 1965 and from then on have gone on to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Singapore was among the Four Asian Tigers: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan to become rising players in the global marketplace during the 1960s -1990s boom. Today, Singapore is a major tourist site, trading port, economic and financial hub. If however you would ask me, there's probably three things that describe Singapore to me as local: 1. Food! 2. Strict - I mean literally! 3. Safe :) There's not a place in Singapore that you can't find good food, won't get fined or won't feel safe.
PJ: What are common foods where you live? Common jobs? Pastimes?
AS: Oooh! Yes! In terms of food there's always the ethic categories divide. Our most famous local delight is a dish called the Hainanese Chicken Rice (海南鸡饭). You have not tasted Singapore if you haven't had Chicken Rice! There's a whole array for Chinese cuisine like Char Siew Noodles（叉烧面）which is just slices of barbecued meat over fried noodles, Ba Kut Teh which is 肉骨茶 or Pork Ribs in steaming broth paired with plain white rice and other condiments. Those are my 3 favorites personally but I also love Black Pepper Crab, Dim Sum (little Chinese style dishes), Hokkien Mee, Char Quay Teow (more fried noodles), and Fried Carrot Cake (a fried turnip cake). Malaysia Chinese fusions are called Peranakan while examples of pure Malay classics are Nasi Lemak (Rice with chicken on a pandan or Banana leaf) and Laksa. The common jobs in Singapore are pretty much in the service sector. We don't much industrial space so we have few factories and we don't have much land so agricultural work is not possible either. Singaporeans like shopping a lot! Singaporeans also like eating! Festivities are a big thing in Singapore too!
PJ: On a day-to-day basis, what activities do you do that are directly tied to your country or culture?
AS: Oh wow this is a tough one! Let's see--whenever I go out I take public transportation which is a big thing in Singapore. My family often eats at a local hawker food court which is like a food center with different stalls with all the best local food. Because I'm online it's a lot harder but if you were to say like when I was in middle school at a brick and mortar in Singapore, we sang the national anthem each morning. The way we communicate has a distinct Singapore accent and that's definitely a key feature of our culture. I've been all across the world, in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, even the US and whenever any Singaporean speaks you can instantly tell that they're from Singapore. We've even given it a new name called Singlish. Sometimes for entertainment, there's local comedy shows like the Noose (a pun on News )that make jokes about daily activities in Singapore. If I go volunteer some days, I take Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) or Metro to get to the residential areas of Singapore. One unique function is how lots of Singapore housing is classified under public housing. Far from the American conception of public housing, Singapore Housing Development Board or HDB flats/apartments are sometimes more expensive than regular apartment buildings! This was the latest HDB flat called the Pinnacle @ Duxton: http://www.rsp.com.sg/photo/3fdad73b-92fa-43cb-a937-de9e5e92fcce/1.jpg
So that's a short introduction to Singapore!
PJ: What is the prominent religion where you live, and how do you see its impact?
AS: This is another tough one! You see Singapore doesn't really have a majority religion because there's Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. Christianity is a major religion in Singapore but so is Buddhism and Islam. The best part I would say about Singapore is our emphasis on racial harmony -- there's even a whole day dedicated to thinking about racial harmony. Just an example might be in the Chinatown Singapore, there's Fairfield Methodist church across the street from the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple which is a five-minute walk away from the Sri Mariamman Temple and the Masjid Jamae Chulia Mosque. It's a rare occurrence nowadays to see so little violence in an age where violence seems to dominate the news. You see influences of religion on food, often the back of hawker stalls holds a mini relic temple of sorts for praying to ancestors. There's also as usual service but Singapore is not really secular in the sense that it adopts no religion but that it embraces all religions. Religion is a deep part of Singaporean culture as it is of every culture. It shape our actions and beliefs and influence how we treat others and certainly for such diversity there is much to be grateful for for living in a country where people are free to practice any religion without facing discrimination.
PJ: As the OHS is made up of mainly students from the US, what differences, if any, do you see between the American students and you or students from other areas? What are some differences between OHS (a US-based school), and schools where you live?
AS: One of the things that Singaporeans pride themselves on is their education system and certainly it’s interesting that Singapore’s math and science education is ranked number 1 of the 57 countries analyzed for the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. There was never a point in my middle school years that I didn’t feel challenged by math and science! However, in terms of students Americans are far more liberal in many ways (as perfectly expected)! Hahahah! I've had to adjust to fact that students take full liberty to express their opinions however controversial they may be. Part of it’s success I speculate is because the Singapore education system rewards academic excellence by far over anything else. After school tuition is definitely a thing in Singapore and parents are willing to pay bucketloads for after school tutoring. Compared to Singaporean student, American students across the board are by far much more lax in terms of studying (you see I can't really use OHS because OHS in many ways is an exception to the typical American high school!). Singaporeans students it seems tend to be far more stressed than the typical American teen. Our secondary school starts in 7th grade and ends in 10th with the largest national exam taken called the O-Levels which is the British version of the SAT. This test score however will determine which school you qualify for. There is no application process where you list your extracurricular activities to get into Junior College, your O'Level score will determine that for you. From 9th grade onwards, Singapore's students spend the next two years studying for this big exam. Unlike the SAT too, you can't choose when you want to take it or choose to retake it. There's no wonder that student's in Singapore feel more stressed than the typical U.S. teen. Singaporean students do find their avenues for fun too though and extra curricular activities are still heavily encouraged.
A typical day in the life of a teen might look something like the following: 6:00 - Wake up for school; 7:30 am - start of school and assembly; 8:00 - start of first period of class; 2:30 - End of school; 3:00 - Start of Extracurricular activities (like debate in my case, or band or softball etc.); 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. - End of Extra curricular Activities; 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Tuition center; 8:00 p.m. - Go home and rest. Students in Singapore require tuition at times often because they need to take far more courses than a typical American student. Many students in Singapore on average take eight courses. If you're academically advanced you can have multiple classes with students taking nine courses, and those that are really outstanding can even opt to take 10! Being online has by far also significantly distinguished OHS from my former brick and mortar school but one of the surest things I appreciate about the American school system is the open discussion classes which is something I didn't really encounter in my Singaporean school!
PJ: Do you find that the OHS curriculum and class material is equally as challenging and/or applicable given your culture? (For example, in DFRL and AP US History, or other classes that are heavily influenced by the United States).
AS: I think so given that American History personally is far more dramatic than Singaporean history was and I've been studying that since 3rd grade, so I was so sick of Singaporean history by then, but I do agree that perhaps instead of making US History mandatory, World History could be considered instead. While it can seem distancing from my own culture, I like to see it as an exploration of sort where I get to taste a bit of American culture and political philosophy through these courses. For me at least I see my future as choosing to stay in the United States and I think that any history or culture is fascinating to learn about so long as we can embrace our differences and learn from the past instead of trying con constantly butt our heads against each other as history has proved we so often do!
Interview edited for length and clarity.