The Mandarin orange (Citrus reticulata) is a tropical and sub-tropical tree belonging to the family Rutaceae. Associated with good fortune by the Chinese, it is a features prominently in local Chinese New Year celebrations. The fruit is high in Vitamin C and its ...
The Speak Mandarin Campaign was launched on 7 September 1979 by the then prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. The campaign was initially started to simplify the language environment, improve communication among Chinese Singaporeans from the various dialect ...
Orang laut, which literally means “sea people” in Malay, refers to the indigenous sea nomads and sea gypsies of Singapore. They were one of the earlier immigrants who settled along the coastlines of Singapore during pre-colonial days. The community typically lived ...
Tay Bin Wee (b. 1926–d. 13 July 2000, Singapore) was a prominent actor and director in the Mandarin theatre scene in Singapore between the 1950s and 1980s. He co-founded the Singapore Amateur Players (now known as the Arts Theatre of Singapore), a Mandarin theatre ...
Liang Wern Fook (Dr) (b. 1964, Singapore) is a writer, singer-composer and educator in Chinese literature and the Chinese language. A pioneer of xinyao, a genre of Mandarin songs that is unique to Singapore, Liang’s name is synonymous with the xinyao movement. ...
Han Lao Da (b. 22 October 1947, Singapore–), original name Han Yong Yuan, is a Mandarin playwright, theatre director and xiangsheng (or crosstalk, which is a traditional Chinese comedic performance featuring witty dialogue) pioneer who has worked in the local Mandarin ...
Char kway teow (炒粿条; chao guo tiao in Mandarin) is a dish of flat rice noodles and tubular yellow wheat noodles fried in garlic, sweet soya sauce and lard, with ingredients such as egg, Chinese waxed sausage, fishcake, beansprouts and cockles. The dish, of Teochew ...
Bee Cheng Hiang (美珍香) is a Singapore-based company that produces and sells a wide variety of food products, most notably its signature bakkwa (meaning “dried meat” in Hokkien; also known as rougan, or 肉干, in Mandarin) – barbequed pork slices. It is currently the ...
Tanya Chua (蔡健雅) (b. 28 January 1975, Singapore–) is a critically acclaimed Singapore Mandopop singer-songwriter who emerged on the music scene in the 1990s. Effectively bilingual in both English and Mandarin, Tanya gained popular success mainly in Taiwan and has ...
The cheongsam (“long dress” in Cantonese), also known as qipao in Mandarin, is a dress style typically worn by Chinese women. The cheongsam was at the height of its popularity between the late 1920s and 1960s, when it was the standard dress for many Chinese women ...
Staged on 10 August 1988, Kuo Pao Kun’s Mama Looking for Her Cat was Singapore’s first multilingual play. Performed by the Practice Theatre Ensemble, the play focuses on the theme of Singapore’s multiracial, multicultural and multilingual society, brought out by ...
Bak kut teh, or pork ribs soup, is a popular Chinese dish in Singapore. The dish consists of pork ribs stewed with a mixture of fragrant herbs and spices such as garlic, cloves, cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds and coriander. Referring to the main ingredient ...
Firecrackers are called baozhu (爆竹) in Mandarin, meaning “bamboo explosions”. In ancient China, bamboo stems were burnt to create small explosions in order to drive away evil spirits. In later times, the lighting of firecrackers signalled a joyous occasion and ...
Pickering Street is located in the Downtown Core, within the Central Region. It was named after William Alexander Pickering, the first Protector of the Chinese, and head of the Chinese Protectorate. He was popular amongst the Chinese population for his ability ...
The Arts Theatre of Singapore (新加坡艺术剧场) is a Chinese-language theatre company whose beginnings can be traced to 1955 when it was established as the Singapore Amateur Players (SAP). In 1995, the SAP registered itself as a non-profit organisation, switched its focus ...
Lin Chen (b. 1919, Singapore–d. 29 August 2004, Singapore) was a pioneer theatre director and playwright who was active in the local Mandarin theatre scene in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also an accomplished writer who wrote short stories and prose under the pen ...
Samfu (also spelt as samfoo) is the Cantonese term for an everyday attire that was popular with the Chinese in South China, Hong Kong and Singapore right up until the mid-20th century. Known as shanku in Mandarin, the two-piece outfit comprises an upper garment ...
Hainanese mutton soup (yang rou tang in Mandarin) is a herbal soup made with mutton, herbs and other ingredients. Traditionally, goat meat is used to make this dish. Its flavours are derived from the meat, the more than 10 kinds of herbs as well as fermented beancurd. ...
Singapore River communities were people living by or around the Singapore River. In ancient times, Singapore, then known as Temasek, was a fishing village. The orang laut (sea gypsies) were the earliest known inhabitants in Singapore. Later, in the early 1800s, ...
Pulau Brani, which means “isle of the brave” in Malay, is an island situated at the south of Singapore’s Central Region. It was once home to the Orang Laut. For a while, the island had a brick kiln, a coal depot, a tin smelting plant and a ship-repairing dock. ...