In this piece, we make the case for reinstating Thaipusam as a public holiday in Singapore. In order to understand why we say the time is ripe to make Thaipusam a public holiday again, we need to understand why it was removed in the first place.
Up until 1968, Thaipusam was a public holiday in Singapore. As evidenced above, even in 1927, Thaipusam was celebrated grandly. Historical records indicate that Thaipusam was celebrated in Singapore since the later part of the nineteenth century.
Why was Thaipusam removed as a Public Holiday?
This image from remebersingapore reminds us of the number of public holidays Singapore had prior to the introduction of the Holidays (Amendment) Bill in Parliament on 11 July 1968. For context, this bill was raised in Parliament during a time when the British had just withdrawn from Singapore and our leaders were worried, to put it simply, that too many public holidays would lead to decreased productivity.
After the bill was passed in Parliament, we had a trimmed list of public holidays which looked like this.
As you can see, the 2 holidays that did not make the cut were Thaipusam and Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday.
The Parliamentary Debates
In the course of researching for this piece, we found some gems in the Parliamentary Debates surrounding the removal of Thaipusam as a public holiday. It was evident that the Government’s proposal was not universally attractive.
Mr P Govindaswamy, the then Member of Parliament for Anson SMC urged the Government to reconsider its position. In his speech, he highlights how the processions were not only a celebration for devotees, but something that people from all races and walks of life enjoyed. In particular, he spoke about how tourists have been and will continue to be attracted by all the sights and sounds of the procession.
Thaipusam has been celebrated in Singapore since the later part of the nineteenth century and it has become an important religious celebration not only for the Hindus but also for the whole population. The kavadi procession is an attraction to everyone in Singapore, young and old. Moreover, it is a tourist attraction, as we all must have seen tourists following the procession and busily taking pictures. It will be a great disappointment both to the local people and to the tourists if the number of kavadi processions is reduced because Thaipusam is not a public holiday and, therefore, workers will not be able to take part in the processions. I therefore propose that Government, in order to encourage the tourist trade, should reconsider the deletion of this very popular public holiday.
Sir, whenever the Government reconsiders the question of public holidays, I hope Deepavali Holiday will not be abolished.
The Government’s response, elucidated by the learned Minister for Law EW Barker, contained a promise.
Mr Speaker, Sir, suffice it to say that like other Members of the House, I myself would prefer more and more holidays. But as I pointed out earlier in my opening speech, in view of the British withdrawal – I hope perhaps with no severe unemployment or economic problems following in its wake – this is one of the measures we are taking to ask our people to work harder – which means you, me and everybody else.
I ask Members to bear with me. If our island prospers, I am sure the Government will ask me to come back here and on that day it will be my pleasure to move amendments to increase the number of holidays. But let us first show that we can work hard and that we deserve more holidays.
In essence, it was the Government’s position that when the nation “prospers“, the time would be ripe to reconsider the possibility of reinstating and/or adding more public holidays.
In his response, Mr E. W. Barker also said that “Like the Member himself, I myself would prefer Thaipusam to be a holiday!”
The time is now ripe to reinstate Thaipusam as a Public Holiday
In 1968, we abolished Thaipusam as a public holiday for economic growth, with a promise that we will revisit this decision once we have achieved economic progress. Today, more than 5 decades later, the time that the EW Barker spoke about has arrived.
In 2015, almost 21,000 people signed a petition in favour of reinstating Thaipusam as a public holiday.
It would be fair to say that, if the Government takes the first step to moot the possibility of reinstating Thaipusam as a public holiday, the proposal would receive widespread support. After all, who will complain about an extra holiday?
Currently, many teachers already face a predicament when Thaipusam comes along, as many of their students may need to take off to participate in the procession. As this former teacher notes, some even had to take MCs as their schools, as a matter of policy, did not excuse students for Thaipusam.
If Thaipusam is a public holiday, this will no longer be an issue for students.
This move will also help to strengthen multiculturalism and multiracial relations in Singapore. As Mr Liew Kai Khiun, in a letter to the Straits Times which was published in February 2015, notes:-
My mother-in-law recently recalled her childhood years and her fond memories of accompanying the kavadi processions during Thaipusam from Petain Road to Tank Road.
Although she is not a Hindu, she enjoyed the sounds and colours of the festivities at a time when Thaipusam was an official public holiday. This was, and should be, the multiculturalism that makes Singapore exceptional. I was shocked to read that this, along with other events, like Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, were removed as public holidays as part of the Government’s plans to improve productivity
Thaipusam may be a religious festival, but it can be enjoyed by all Singaporeans. The spectacular sights and sounds of the procession will bring joy to many.
This Thaipusam, we humbly urge our lawmakers to table a motion in Parliament to reinstate Thaipusam as a public holiday. If you have a minute or two, please write to your MPs about this or forward this article to a friend.
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Yes, I warmly & thoroughly support the reinstatement of Thaipusam as a public holiday. Its reinstatement would go a long way in fostering our multiculturalism.
As an added incentive for the reinstatement, think of the tourist dollar$ it would generate for the economy
This reinstatement needs to be done, as soon as possible, so that by calendar year 2023 onwards, Thaipusam is declare a national public holiday. All walks of life, be it Singaporeans & those non-Singaporeans living here in Singapore will definitely foster multiculturalism which the current government has to step up the game, in order not to make barriers within social fragments.
The current government unfortunately, has becoming more one-sided in appreciating the public holidays for Singapore, which is deemed to be unfair & biased.
Hence, personally Thaipusam will be the first step for holidays to be reinstated, before others such as an extra day for Aidilfitri (Hari Raya Puasa). And of course Islamic New Year.
I strongly agree, This will only strengthen our bonding in our community.
Strongly agree.
Strongly agreed. I strongly believe Singaporeans are hard working. At the same time, if the government offers a public holiday on the Indians’ most important and auspicious day, we will feel respected and dignified. One day of public holiday is for sure its not going to cause a drastic decrease in any fields of productivity. This will also bring other races to know more about this ritual prayers and festivals. If Deepavali is a festival or celebration, Thaipusam is a day dedicated for fervent prayers and building spiritual faith.
I feel that the government refuses to make it a public holiday reason being Singapore only recognises the major races as in Chinese, Indian, Malay, and Eurasian and not the sub ethnics. Hence under the race of Indian we have many ethnics like Telugu, Malayalam, Sikh, Odisha which the government is not willing to grant holidays for Onam, Vaisakhi, Subhakanchalu, Rath Yatra or Durga Puja. Deepavali or Diwali it is celebrated by the majority Indians in Singapore be it North Indians and also South Indians hence the government recognises it as public holiday. Thaipusam is still not accepted even by the Hindus like Hare Rama Hare Krishna, so I feel that only when it is celebrated by the North and South Indians, that’s when the government will recognise it. Thats the reason the government didn’t recognise the Prophet birthday too because it is created by the minorities for their happiness sake, in reality it is not mentioned in Islam and theres still a majority of Muslims who doesn’t believe or celebrate it and worst still it is not even in Islam to celebrate birthdays. Very simple if want to make it a public holiday, then we gotta urge the North Indians, South Indians and all the Indians to celebrate Thaipusam =)