Nice piece. Just for your interest, interactions between India (specifically south India) and Singapore goes back further. The name Singapura was an india origin
Hello Bala, Thank you so much! Yes, I'm aware that the interactions with India go back a long way. From my understanding, the specific interactions with Tamils was really in the old Suvarnadvipa (the island of Sumatra) when the Cholas launched an attack there in the 11th century. As for Singapore, the evidence of Sanskrit (as in the name Singapura) seemed to indicate the presence of people from the Indian subcontinent but it's not clear they were from Tamil Nadu. That's my understanding but I will get this clarified, thanks for writing in!
There is a legend that the name comes from Odiya clans who worshipped lions. I will look for the source and get back to you too. Looking forward to your next article.
Actually Singapura originates from Sanskrit, but does not necessarily denote direct Indian origins from the language. As an Indo-Aryan language, it may have been the common language of the day (need to confirm more on this). The Sanskrit term was given during the Srivijaya era of Malaya and Sumatra, a Bhuddist Sumatran empire at the time. The Srivijaya kingdom existed around the year 500, declining in the 13 century from Javanese expansion of the Majapahit kingdom and later, the Cholas invaded what is now Indonesia, after which the Sumatran and Javanese empires went into decline.
Lovely article, enjoyed reading it very much. The tudong issue while finally begin debated in parliament has been requested for years in Singapore. The implications of refusing to allow the tudong in key employment has meant an immediate breakdown in fair employment for many Muslims due to having to choose to forego religious beliefs. This in turn prevents them from working in entire uniformed sectors. While there's a lot of positive measures to maintain racial harmony, there's a lot that looks initially like fair trade offs. A lot of interesting justifications have been put forth, ranging form infection control to uniformity and preventing racial bias of patients over nurses. However, if one were to argue over the validity of those justifications, it soon breaks down. It is also worth noting that while a tudong ban on uniformed work/schools is in place in Singapore, Sikh turbans are allowed. Then, the argument that this policy is to prevent discriminating one on religious grounds holds no longer. Furthermore, in terms of infection prevention, there is no validity of hijabs or long clothing transmitting disease. In fact, in laboratories, we tend to ensure long-sleeves, tucking them into gloves before procedures and hair covers in sterile facilities to maximize hygiene. world-over there is no literature to prove that the tudong drives hospital infections either. The politics of racial harmony in Singapore is an interesting one, where we are reminded of who we are all the time and yet told to forget it. A long discussion needed to disentangle all of it for sure!!! :)
Wow, this is so complicated, isn't it, Iman?! I don't know if this will be resolved anywhere in the world to everyone's satisfaction. But rest assured that Singapore handles it better than most nations because it is, literally, cast in concrete in its constitution. Thank you so much for your thoughtful post!
My weekly learning 😊🙏. Again a well written piece . Enjoyed reading it Kalpana .
Nice piece. Just for your interest, interactions between India (specifically south India) and Singapore goes back further. The name Singapura was an india origin
Hello Bala, Thank you so much! Yes, I'm aware that the interactions with India go back a long way. From my understanding, the specific interactions with Tamils was really in the old Suvarnadvipa (the island of Sumatra) when the Cholas launched an attack there in the 11th century. As for Singapore, the evidence of Sanskrit (as in the name Singapura) seemed to indicate the presence of people from the Indian subcontinent but it's not clear they were from Tamil Nadu. That's my understanding but I will get this clarified, thanks for writing in!
There is a legend that the name comes from Odiya clans who worshipped lions. I will look for the source and get back to you too. Looking forward to your next article.
Iman19 min ago
Actually Singapura originates from Sanskrit, but does not necessarily denote direct Indian origins from the language. As an Indo-Aryan language, it may have been the common language of the day (need to confirm more on this). The Sanskrit term was given during the Srivijaya era of Malaya and Sumatra, a Bhuddist Sumatran empire at the time. The Srivijaya kingdom existed around the year 500, declining in the 13 century from Javanese expansion of the Majapahit kingdom and later, the Cholas invaded what is now Indonesia, after which the Sumatran and Javanese empires went into decline.
Iman7 min ago
Lovely article, enjoyed reading it very much. The tudong issue while finally begin debated in parliament has been requested for years in Singapore. The implications of refusing to allow the tudong in key employment has meant an immediate breakdown in fair employment for many Muslims due to having to choose to forego religious beliefs. This in turn prevents them from working in entire uniformed sectors. While there's a lot of positive measures to maintain racial harmony, there's a lot that looks initially like fair trade offs. A lot of interesting justifications have been put forth, ranging form infection control to uniformity and preventing racial bias of patients over nurses. However, if one were to argue over the validity of those justifications, it soon breaks down. It is also worth noting that while a tudong ban on uniformed work/schools is in place in Singapore, Sikh turbans are allowed. Then, the argument that this policy is to prevent discriminating one on religious grounds holds no longer. Furthermore, in terms of infection prevention, there is no validity of hijabs or long clothing transmitting disease. In fact, in laboratories, we tend to ensure long-sleeves, tucking them into gloves before procedures and hair covers in sterile facilities to maximize hygiene. world-over there is no literature to prove that the tudong drives hospital infections either. The politics of racial harmony in Singapore is an interesting one, where we are reminded of who we are all the time and yet told to forget it. A long discussion needed to disentangle all of it for sure!!! :)
Wow, this is so complicated, isn't it, Iman?! I don't know if this will be resolved anywhere in the world to everyone's satisfaction. But rest assured that Singapore handles it better than most nations because it is, literally, cast in concrete in its constitution. Thank you so much for your thoughtful post!