Singapore Social Life and Customs

Singapore has several distinct ethnic neighborhoods, including Little India, Chinatown and Kampong Glam, formed by the Raffles Plan of Singapore in the early 19th century to segregate the new immigrants into specific areas. Although the population is no longer segregated in distribution, mainly due to the policies of the Housing Development Board and the ruling People's Action Party, these ethnic neighborhoods retain unique elements of their specific culture. The usage of such neighborhoods is mostly commercial or for cottage industry specific to the culture of its ethnic neighborhood, and no longer plays a large part in housing the population, although it was once used for that purpose. Hence, these neighborhoods have patronage of all races who wish to either eat or buy something specific to that culture.