Singapore Day is an event organised by the Overseas Singaporean Unit under the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (Singapore) to engage Overseas Singaporeans and their families. Held in cities with a significant community of Overseas Singaporeans, it is a single-day annual event designed to give Singaporeans a "slice of home while overseas" through food, performances, information updates on the situation in Singapore and career options to entice them to return to the country. Political leaders would often make unannounced visits, such as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's visit to the London event in 2014. As of 2015, Singapore Day has been held eight times in five cities, starting with

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 2007. While the event has seen generally good turn-outs of between 5,000 and 8,000 with positive reviews amongst visitors, its multi-million price-tag to stage each event has come under scrutiny in Singapore where the costs involved were questioned in parliament. A controversy over admission to the 2013 event in Sydney also erupted when a local Australian accused the event of being "racist" and "outrageous", despite the event being a ticketed event and the man was turned away as he held no ticket.

Programmes

Singaporean cuisine Singaporean cuisine is derived from several ethnic groups in Singapore and has developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes in the cosmopolitan city-state. Influences include the cuisines of the Malays, the Chinese ...

comprising local hawker fare is prepared and served at the event by Singaporean hawkers. Singaporean artistes and performers who have participated in Singapore Day include

MediaCorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd., doing business as Mediacorp and stylised as mediacorp, is a media conglomerate in Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the holding company of the Government of Singapore—it owns television, radio, and digital media prope ...

artistes, local comedians

Hossan Leong Hossan Leong (; born 10 July 1969) is a Singaporean stage and screen actor, television host, radio deejay and comedian. Personal life He was born 10 July 1969 in Singapore, Leong was educated at Anglo-Chinese School and Anglo-Chinese Junior Col ...

and

Jack Neo Jack Neo (born 24 January 1960) is a Singaporean actor, television host, comedian and film director. He was prominently a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1983 to 2003. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was best known for his cross-dressing roles ...

, singers

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and

Rui En Loh Rui En (born 29 January 1981), better known by her stage name Rui En (瑞恩), is a Singaporean actress and was named as one of the Seven Princesses of Mediacorp in 2006. She was under contract of MediaCorp and managed under Hype Records. ...

, rapper Sheikh Haikel, indie-rock band Cashew Chemists, musical cabaret group Dim Sum Dollies, blogger

mrbrown Lee Kin Mun (), better known as mrbrown, is a Singaporean blogger best known for publishing social and political commentary amid Singapore's tight media restrictions. His podcast attracts some 20,000 downloads per day. In 2007, Lee was the o ...

, actor

Gurmit Singh Gurmit Singh Virk Chainchal Singh (born 24 March 1965; pa, ਗੁਰਮੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ, Gurmīt Siṅgh; ) is a Singaporean actor, comedian and television personality. He was prominently a full-time Mediacorp artiste from 1994 to 2014. A f ...

and acoustic and percussion bands like The Great Spy Experiment, Jack and Rai and Bloco Singapura. Recruitment booths and showcase displays set up on the event grounds allow Singaporeans abroad to keep abreast with the latest developments and career opportunities back in Singapore.

Years

The first Singapore Day in 2007 was targeted at a community residing in

and other neighbouring cities and states such as

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and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It was held on 21 April 2007 and attracted an unexpectedly high response. As a result, the venue was shifted from

Bryant Park Bryant Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas ( Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The e ...

to the

Wollman Rink Wollman Rink is a public ice rink in the southern part of Central Park, Manhattan, New York City. It is named after the Wollman family who donated the funds for its original construction. The rink is open for ice skating from late October t ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

Wong Kan Seng Wong Kan Seng ( zh, s=黄根成, j=Wong4 Gan1 Sing4, poj=N̂g Kun-sêng, p=Huáng Gēnchéng; born 8 September 1946) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore between 2005 and 2011. He has been serving ...

was in New York for the event. 6,000 people attended the event and which included New Yorkers. Singapore Day 2008 was held in Melbourne, on October 4, with a turnout of over 10,000 people. Singapore Day 2009 was held at the Hampton Court Palace to the south-west of London, on 25 April 2009. Over 12,000 people, from various parts of Europe, turned up for this outdoor event. Singapore Day 2011 was held at the Century Park in

Pudong District Pudong is a district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank, directly across from the west bank or Puxi, the historic city ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, on 16 April 2011. The event had attracted over 5,500 Singaporeans and their families from all over China.

Controversies

Allegations of racial discrimination at events

A man wrote to a radio talkshow host on 2GB claiming that he and others were turned away from a public area in the

Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney The Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney is a heritage-listed major botanical garden, event venue and public recreation area located at Farm Cove on the eastern fringe of the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government ar ...

, where the celebration of Singapore day was held in 2013, because they were of

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appearance, whilst people of

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

appearance were allowed in without checking. Material for the event specified that only Singaporeans and their families could attend. Replying to queries from Yahoo News, the organizers said the event was a pre-registered and ticketed event for crowd control purposes, and that registered Singaporeans were allowed to bring non-Singaporean friends and family members. The acting executive director of the Botanic Gardens responded to questions from the '' Daily Telegraph'' by stating that the event had caused community concern and that they would be reviewing whether it is appropriate for the Botanic Gardens to be involved with Singapore Day in the future.

References

External links

Singapore Day official siteOverseas Singaporean Portal
{{Authority control Annual events in Singapore Central Park