Cultural forces of the Chinese

  Culture is the thing that diffrentiates one culture from another. It is something that makes a group of people unique, something that makes them stand out from other people. It is also something that forms our identity, and may shape our personalities as a whole. However, what develops a culture? Those are known as cultural forces.
  In the long history of China, there will be many events that may be essential to the culture of the time period. One of the not so obvious in modern times, but a nevertheless essential cultural force are the dynasties of China. Most of the chinese traditions stemmed from the dynasties of China. For example, the Tang dynasty made chinese poetry popular, as it was integrated into the lifestyles of the scholars and commoners. Henceforth, it became part of Chinese culture, and is being used as a teaching material even today. The events during the Three Kingdoms period inspired a writer to write one of China's four most popular novels, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which are still highly popular today and read by many.
  Another cultural force is the Xinhai Revolution. That revolution overthrew the last emperor of China and ended the last dynasty of China, the Qing Dynasty. That revolution changed the way China was governed, and hence influenced modern chinese thinking.
 

My perception on the similarities and differences in the cultures of China and Singapore.

Chingay reflection

We went for the Chingay parade rehearsal on the 21st of January. It was at the F1 pitstop, and it was raining rather heavily. The theme for this year's Chingay parade is Soundwaves Chingay, WeCare Singapore.
  The parade made me think back and reflect on the culture of Singapore. the Chingay parade was originally meant for the Chinese, as the first Chingay parade started after the ban of firecrackers was imposed. The Chingay parade was supposed to help keep the festive spirit of the Chinese New Year as high as ever, even without the firecrackers. Today, it has evolved into a multi-cultural parade, with ethnic groups from all over the world such as Japan, South Korea and even Yakutia.

  Singapore is famed as a multi-cultural society. I feel that this parade actually reflects the cultural aspect of Singapore, that it is really a melting pot of different cultures, not just the Chinese, Malay and Indian cultures, but many other cultures from other countries as well.
  However, are we truly a multi-cultural society that can accept and understand the culture of others? Or are we simply just tolerant of one another and not speak ill of other cultures in public? I feel that it is the latter that is the case. Often, I hear complains that the neighbour‘s curry is "too smelly", or the malay wedding downstairs is too noisy. To be truly a multi-cultural society, we must accept the different cultures and understand. Only then, in my opinion, can we achieve racial and cultural harmony.