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» Art Culture » Singapore Religions |
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Singapore Religions |
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Religion is an integral part of the cosmopolitan society. Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and Judaism are principle religions of Singapore. When Raffles arrived in Singapore, he brought along Indian immigrants who settled in Singapore and worked as cattle raisers and livestock traders.
The Indian immigrants were predominantly Hindus and soon as they as began to integrate into the Singaporean community they established Hindu temples.
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The Chinese, who came to Singapore to find their fortunes, brought their beliefs, culture and ancient traditions. The Chinese are predominantly followers of Buddhism, Taoism, Shenism and Christianity.
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A sizeable proportion of the Indian population also includes Muslims and Sikhs. The Malay population in Singapore is mainly Muslim while some Muslim communities are from the Middle East. Singapore from the surface appears to be a very modern and cosmopolitan place but entirely anonymous without an identity of its own as is the case with many modern places in the present day. But if one takes care to probe beneath its modern and upbeat image then one would find that Singapore is a quintessentially Asian city despite being a colony under the British for a long time.
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All types and kinds of people together make up the population in Singapore. Likewise there are people belonging to all the major denominations to be found in Singapore. The major reason for this multi-religious nature of this country is that it is a place with people having diverse origins. But the main religion practiced and prevalent in Singapore is Buddhism. Around 42.5% people in Singapore adhere to Buddhism as their religion as per the census taken in the year 2000. The other religions of Singapore are Christianity with 14.6%, Islam with 13.9%, Taoism with 8.5%, Hinduism with 4% and the other religions contributing 1.6%. but there is also14.8% of the population which do not belong to any religion. Religious tolerance is advocated and practised in Singapore.
People belongiong to different religions in Singapore live side by side and celebrate several festivals together. Many of the important places to see in Singapore also has religious connotations. There are a melee of Indian temples, Sikh temples, churches and mosques in Singapore. Sometimes one place even signifies to different religions as in the case of Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple which merges Taoism, Hinduism and Islam under the same roof. Thus religious tolerance is of utmost importance in Singapore. All the religions in Singapore co-exist peacefully with the exception of small differences and fights. This is possible because of the efforts of the government and other ruling institutions.
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