New Place, Old Ways: Essays on Indian Society and Culture in Modern Singapore
Series: Studies in Sociology and Social Anthropology
Publisher: Hindustan Pub. Corp., New Delhi
Published: 1994
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 298
ISBN-13: 9788170750277
Subjects: East Indians; Literature: Folklore/Mythology; Culture; Singapore; Social life and customs
Genres: Ethnology, History
Description: Indian residents of the island republic of Singapore constitute a mere seven percent of the nation's population. But they are a very visible minority. Ornate Hindu temples and shrines, colourful public displays of Indian religiosity, diverse Indian culinary traditions, busy Indian shopkeepers, astute Indian politicians ...all these make Singapore culturally, socially, economically and politically the richer.
     Taken together, the five essays in this book offer an overview and a series of emotive vignettes of Indian life in Singapore. From them we may learn how peoples who are heirs to one of humankind's oldest surviving civilizations are able both to preserve and to adapt their Indian heritage within a new, mostly non-Indian, social environment. Thus we may come to appreciate something of the strength and adaptability of Indian culture, as well as the contributions it can make to the enrichment of a new, Southeast Asian, nation state.
Table of contents: class: section
title: Preface (vii-x); class: section
title: Contents (xi-xv1); class: section
title: Chapter 1. Indians in Singapore: The Background by Anthony R. Walker (1-46); class: section
title: Chapter 2.  Mother-Goddess Worship: Practice and Practitioners in Three Hindu Temples by Nilavi Mohammed Ali (47-103); class: section
title: Chapter 3. Continuity and Change among Singapore's Bihari Dairymen: The Kampung Sungei Seletar Community by Yeo Chor Siang (104-56); class: section
title: Chapter 4. An Indian Family Business: Traditional Strategies for Commercial Success by Saroja Devi Dorairajoo (157-93); class: section
title: Chapter 5.  Catholic Vellalar: Preserving a Special Identity by Jacintha Stephens (194-243); class: section
title: Bibliography of References Cited (244-60); class: section
title: Index and Glossary (261-98)