Q&A on Cultural Celebrations

Question: Since there are more and more Myanmar settling in Singapore, we have opportunity to enjoy more occasions such as Thingyan, Kahtein, Saya PuZaw Pwe and even a literature talk last year. Do you think such events are important to you? Why is that so? How about to the community, do you think they are important to the Myanmar community in Singapore?

Answer: Myanmar population in Singapore is constantly growing. Is it brain drain as the home country had invested in the citizens’ education and they migrated to a foreign country once they are ready to join the work force? Or is it better to make use of the human capital else where and take part in making the world a better place? Whatever the answer maybe; we are here in the high-speed Singapore.

When I came to Singapore in 2001, Myanmar population was still small and young. We have to ask friends to bring Myanmar food when they came back from their home trips. While walking in the sea of people along Orchard road, we could be assured that no one understood if we were talking to each other in our mother tongue. Many of us were also not comfortable to mingle with locals for the language and cultural barriers. Peninsula Plaza and Burmese Buddhist Temple are the only two places we can go to be more like ourselves. After a year or two of solitary confinement, I started to feel lost and question my own identity? The word “identity” seems to be big but it is part and parcel of day-to-day life. It started from selecting an appropriate outfit – can I wear this wide-open neck; can I wear this short skirt, can I …, can I …? The lists went on and on in making choices and keeping the values as these are the reflection of who I am. I was crashed while trying to explain which type of person I was, which kind of society we lived in and which level of culture and civilization we had at home. It is worse by the fact that when we talked about “home” we had more negative scenarios than the positive ones to share.

Now in 2010, you will have difficulty to count how many ingredients (for cooking a Myanmar dish) you CANNOT find in Singapore. The population has become so big that importing any Myanmar food to Singapore is economically viable. Now that many monks are settling in Singapore, we have many places to go for religion. We can even attend extensive Dhama talks such as Bamaw Sayadaw Taya Pwe. We can also enjoy the celebrations such as water festival (started from Polytechnics), Kahtein Pwe and even literature talks. Such events express the devotion to the religion, the deep culture that we have rooted on and the values we maintained. These occasions remind me who I am and what I do as a person. It provides the affirmation that I come from a civilized society. The glass palace maybe shattered on the surface but there are precious gems embedded inside. Thus I think the celebrations for the culture and traditions is important not only to me but to the community as a whole. I would also like to thank people who put time and effort in such activities. Bravo, do celebrate our culture!