Singapore day tours, sightseeing & culture

Singapore day tours: For travellers who want to explore beyond the immediate sights & sounds of Singapore.

We offer tours in Singapore for visitors to understand the 'whys' behind the 'Whats'. The tours are based on anthropological research and the information presented during the tour is relevant to other places or people you may meet or experience.

In Singapore, almost everyone speaks English and modern high rise buildings form a concrete forest. Visitors often wonder if Singapore is a 'westernized' or a 'western looking' city. Our day tours offer a framework to understand these social phenomena.

The Singapore day tours are presented in non technical language (no complicated jargon!) and no background knowledge is required to understand the tour programs.

About the guide Chan has a background in Anthropology and is licensed by the Singapore Tourism Board as a specialty tour guide, heritage category.

Academic background:
Masters in Social Anthropology, London School of Economics
Lee Kong Chian Research Fellow (2006)
Fellow of The Royal Anthropological Institute (UK)
Member of the American Anthropological Association
Member, International Oral History Association

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Singapore day tours
Our Singapore day tours revolve around specific topics (for example, religion or history) and explore how they relate to larger issues like social change, social reproduction and their relevance to contemporary society. All programs explore issues from an anthropological perspective.

Each tour is about 4 hours. The topics can be mixed and matched to produce a tailor made program to suit your interests. You can choose any combination of the topics below for your tour. If you have an interest in a specific subject matter not listed below, a programme can be designed. All programmes are presented in non technical language and no prior knowledge is required to understand the tour programs. 

Singapore day tours include: Dreams of a sojourner, Multiple faces of Buddhism, Chinese "Religion" and WW2 in Singapore.

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Dreams of a sojourner
These Singapore day tours trace Chinese migrants' social path upon their arrival in Singapore. The places visited during the tour shows what life was like for the majority of migrants and how they made sense of their new environment. Emphasis is placed on the life of ordinary migrants, often the faceless and voiceless side of history.

Despite the difficult environment, some migrants achieved tremendous success. We will visit the institutions they built to understand their social obligations and their relationship with society. As migrants, they often existed in two worlds simultaneously; a physical world and a romanticised cultural world representing home. Events in one place generated reactions in the other.

Notions of home were strong and people were ready to give up economic interests to protect their “home”. However, home could be lost leading to a redefinition of self and notions of home.

These Singapore day tours offer an in depth perspective to understand complex notions of home among generations of migrants and how these developments left an imprint on collective memory of society.

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Multiple faces of Buddhism
These Singapore day tours give you the opportunity to visit different Buddhist monasteries for an overall view of Buddhism and to make sense of things you see in monasteries all over the world. The information will be very useful to travellers who are about to explore the various countries in South East Asia. E.g. Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Laos, Indonesia.

You will find answers that you may have asked or wondered before; What is meant by the terms Buddha, Bodhisattvas, Dharma Protectors? How many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are there? How to tell one Buddha or Bodhisattva from another? Why are there Buddhas who look Chinese, Burmanese, Thai, Japanese, Sri Lankan, even Caucasian...? What are the functions of Buddhist sculptures?

Singapore’s is a multi ethnic and multi racial society. The total land area is 682.7 sq km, about 3.5 times the size of Washington DC. Within this small area, almost all Buddhist traditions/sects can be found; Theravada, Mahayana, Tibetan. Within these broad categories, many subgroups are present; Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Sri Lankan. There are also social groups like Buddhist Counselling groups, Buddhist Childcare Centres, Gay Buddhist Fellowship…

Singapore is most likely the only place in the world where almost all Buddhist traditions are represented in such close proximity. This makes Singapore an interesting social laboratory to understand how “religion” unfolds and interacts with society and modernity.

Religions do not exist in a vacuum but interact with social and cultural forces to form the greater social fabric. This These Singapore day tours explore how Buddhism is practiced in different traditions and the nature of interaction between the different traditions. It puts into perspectives the historical and social dynamics that creates diversity of Buddhist practices while converging in their aspirations. These unique attributes enable the belief system to transcend social/cultural diversity and changes over space and time.

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Chinese “Religion”
What is "Chinese Religion”? Is there a Chinese “Religion”?

There is much misconception on the issue of "Chinese religion" leading to unfortunate and misguided statements such as “This is a syncretic temple embracing paganism, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.” Buddhism for example has been referred to as a “Religion” and sometimes as a Philosophy. So it is a religion or a philosophy? How did this religion vs. philosophy debate arise?

These Singapore day tours take you to temples and monasteries to explore the concept of “Religion” in traditional Chinese society and how it differs from the contemporary notion of religion. The monasteries and temples in the tour illustrate the complications of this difference in concepts and how it unfolds in organization of “religious” institutions and in the creation of a "religious" identity.

Within the broad definition of “religion” the tour explores the main elements of "Chinese Religion” and how these elements relate to each other. More importantly, how these concepts influence the seeing and being of individuals and their interaction with “others”.

These Singapore day tours offer a new perspective to understand the nature of belief systems, its influence on social behaviour and its interaction with diversity.

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WW2 in Singapore
World War Two is a broad term covering a series of conflicts with different beginning and ending dates. To the Chinese in Singapore, World War Two began with the Marco Polo Bridge incident that signaled the beginning of the Sino Japanese War. These different conflicts converged and became known as World War Two after 8 December 1942.

However, as the Japanese march down from Malaya, the distinctions breakdown as a common threat approached. During the Sook Ching Massacre, many accounts emerged to illustrate the complex human relationships that emerged. While ethnic Chinese were massacred, British, Australian POWs risked their lives to save innocent civilians. Some Japanese officers raised concern over the massacre while a known Japanese officer distribute passes to saveas many civilians as possible.

During the tour, we will visit various sites related to the above events and see who they unfold in the lives of individuals. This tour is interesting for anyone interested in WW2. If you have background knowledge on WW2 history from British, Australian perspective, the tour adds gives another dimension to locate your information. If you are interested in WW2, this tour is a window to understand how an event unfolded in lives of individuals. The tour is conducted in an easy to relate to manner and no background knowledge is required.