Symbols & Festive Meals

Symbols are a language that can help us understand our past. As the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words, but which words? Understanding our past determines actively our ability to understand the present.” said Tom Hanks in the movie The Da Vinci Code, 2006 as an opening statement. You cannot equate one symbol to another without context – like the swastika which is a spiritual symbol for the Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains, but represents terror and anti-Semitism for the races that were hunted during the world wars.

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Or the way the Spanish priests dress or may still dress is likened to the Klu Klux Klan in the United States. With regards to festive celebrations, you can’t put all the festivals in one bag. In the Singapore context, the way the Indians would celebrate Deepavali, the way the Malays would celebrate Hari Raya and the Chinese would celebrate Lunar New Year and the westerners would celebrate Christmas: every occasion is unique. Likewise when it comes to food and the festive cultures, different races in different regions celebrate differently. Take Russia for example, they celebrate Christmas on the 7 January – long after everyone else is done. As for the Christians, it’s done very differently in the northern countries than the south. If you take into consideration the history, the age groups and the locations – there’s an endless list of variations.

Dining Culture