Update: In a clarification to TISG on Feb 3, DSTNCT, the agency of record for the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre (SCCC), said: “Regarding the specific taboo on married daughters, this taboo has also been removed from the CNY Microsite after monitoring comments from our audiences on social media.
“We would also like to reassure our stance that these customs originated from a long time ago and SCCC does not advocate them, but was simply just presenting them as information from our culture and history. Our website has also been updated to further clarify this”.
Many readers especially found the reminder by the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre to married daughters to not visit their parents on the first day of the Chinese New Year lest it bring bad luck and poverty to be offensive.
The Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre’s (SCCC) list of Chinese New Year rules have come under fire for being superstitious and suggesting that married daughters should be alienated during the first day of the festive period.
The SCCC is a government-backed body that promotes the Singapore Chinese way of life. It is a landmark of goodwill and friendship between Singapore and China.
The SCCC was officially opened by their Patron PM Lee Hsien Loong on 19 May 2017. The SCCC’s stated mission is to collaborate with arts and cultural groups and community partners to promote and develop local Chinese culture.
The online guide is part of the SCCC’s festive offerings to help Singaporeans usher in the Year of the Tiger. Since being published on Facebook on January 29 the online guide has had over 800 shares with many chiding the government-backed agency for promoting superstitious beliefs and backward thinking, especially on married daughters.
One commenter on the SCCC’s Facebook post pointed out that culture and superstitions are separate and that she was shocked that the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre “would encourage people to not be clean and alienate married daughters from their families during this festive period”.
The SCCC responded to the commenter saying, “The content listed on the microsite is a collection of customs and practices, which is a part of the culture and history. We would like to highlight that we are not advocating them, but simply presenting them for information.”
The commenter replied to the SCCC saying its explanation was unacceptable because the “caption is far from just presenting as information”. The SCCC had captioned its post as a “guide to remind you what to avoid doing this auspicious period” and asked readers to “just follow the list”.
Others asked the SCCC to treat married daughters with respect and fairness. Yet others reminded the SCCC that some daughters are bringing more money home than sons nowadays. Some said in jest that parents of married daughters struck the lottery when their daughters visited them on the first day of the Chinese New Year.
Some commenters took issue with other reminders on the SCCC’s list, like not washing clothes, not showering and not cleaning the house.
“It is a big fat no no in today’s modern day context. Personal hygiene and cleanliness is ever more important than these so-called “traditions” or “taboos” or “superstitions” or whatever you call that. In the modern context, with this kind of hot climate, how to expect people to not shower for a few days? Even more so in the context of the ongoing Covid situation! No one wants to bring home viruses and other dirt and microbes and then not shower and wash clothes for days!”
Chinese culture is thousands of years old, and some taboos like foot-binding have long been got rid of. Other customs are localised in certain parts of China during a certain part of its history and not universally practised by all Chinese.
Some readers have suggested to the SCCC that in this 21st century one should not hold on to customs that, for example, unfairly discriminate between sons and daughters.
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