title: Proso millet

text: "Panicum miliaceum" is a tetraploid species with a base chromosome number of 18, twice the base chromosome number of diploid species within the genus "Panicum". The species appears to be an allotetraploid resulting from a wide hybrid between two different diploid ancestors. One of the two subgenomes within proso millet appears to have come from either "Panicum capillare" or a close relative of that species. The second subgenome does not show close homology to any known diploid "Panicum" species, but some unknown diploid ancestor apparently also contributed a copy of its genome to a separate allotetraploid species "Panicum repens" (torpedo grass). The two subgenomes within proso millet are estimated to have diverged 5.6 million years ago. However, the species has experienced only limited amounts of fractionation and copies of most genes are still retained on both subgenomes. A sequenced version of the proso millet genome, estimated to be around 920 megabase pairs in size, was published in 2019.


title: Proso millet

text: Weedy forms of proso millet are found throughout central Asia, covering a widespread area from the Caspian Sea east to Xinjiang and Mongolia. These may represent the wild progenitor of proso millet or feral escapes from domesticated production. Indeed, in the United States, weedy proso millet, representing feral escapes from cultivation, are now common, suggesting current proso millet cultivars retain the potential to revert, similar to the pattern seen for weedy rice. Currently, the earliest archeological evidence for domesticated proso millet comes from the Cishan site in semiarid north east China around 8,000 BCE. Because early varieties of proso millet had such a short lifecycle, as little as 45 days from planting to harvest, they are thought to have made it possible for seminomadic tribes to first adopt agriculture, forming a bridge between hunter-gatherer-focused lifestyles and early agricultural civilizations. Archaeological evidence for cultivation of domesticated proso millet in east Asia and Europe dates to at least 5,000 BCE in Georgia and Germany (near Leipzig, Hadersleben) by Linear Pottery culture (Early LBK, Neolithikum 5500–4900 BCE), and may represent either an independent domestication of the same wild ancestor, or the spread of the crop from east Asia along trade routes through the arid steppes. Evidence for cultivation in southern Europe and the Near East is comparatively more recent, with the earliest evidence for its cultivation in the Near East a find in the ruins of Nimrud, Iraq, dated to about 700 BC.


title: Proso millet

text: Proso millet is a relatively low-demanding crop, and diseases are not known; consequently, it is often used in organic farming systems in Europe. In the United States, it is often used as an intercrop. Thus, proso millet can help to avoid a summer fallow, and continuous crop rotation can be achieved. Its superficial root system and its resistance to atrazine residue make proso millet a good intercrop between two water- and pesticide-demanding crops. The stubbles of the last crop, by allowing more heat into the soil, result in a faster and earlier millet growth. While millet occupies the ground, because of its superficial root system, the soil can replenish its water content for the next crop. Later crops, for example, a winter wheat, can in turn benefit from the millet stubble, which act as snow accumulators.


title: Proso millet

text: Due to its C4 photosynthetic system, proso millet is thermophilic like maize, so shady locations of the field should be avoided. It is sensitive to temperatures lower than 10 to 13°C. Proso millet is highly drought-resistant, which makes it of interest to regions with low water availability and longer periods without rain. The soil should be light or medium-heavy. Due to its flat root systems, soil compaction must be avoided. Furthermore, proso millet does not tolerate soil wetness caused by dammed-up water.


title: Proso millet

text: The seedbed should be finely crumbled as for sugar beet and rapeseed. In Europe, proso millet is sowed between mid-April and the end of May. About 500 g/acre of seeds are required, which is roughly 500 grains/m2. In organic farming, this amount should be increased if a harrow weeder is used. For sowing, the usual sowing machines can be used similarly to how they are used for other crops such as wheat. A distance between the rows of 16 to 25 cm is recommended if the farmer uses an interrow cultivator. The sowing depth should be 1.5 to 2 cm in optimal soil or 3 to 4 cm in dry soil. Rolling of the ground after sowing is helpful for further cultivation. Cultivation in no-till farming systems is also possible and often practiced in the United States. Sowing then can be done two weeks later.


title: Proso millet

text: Only a few diseases and pests are known to attack proso millet, but they are not economically important. Weeds are a bigger problem. The critical phase is in juvenile development. The formation of the grains happens in the 3- to 5-leaf stadium. After that, all nutrients should be available for the millet, so preventing the growth of weeds is necessary. In conventional farming, herbicides may be used. In organic farming, harrow weeder or interrow cultivator use is possible, but special sowing parameters are needed.


title: Proso millet

text: For good crop development, fertilization with 50 to 75 kg nitrogen per hectare is recommended. Planting proso millet in a crop rotation after maize should be avoided due to its same weed spectrum. Because proso millet is an undemanding crop, it may be used at the end of the rotation.


title: Proso millet

text: Harvest time is at the end of August until mid-September. Determining the best harvest date is not easy because all the grains do not ripen simultaneously. The grains on the top of the panicle ripen first, while the grains in the lower parts need more time, making compromise and harvest necessary to optimize yield. Harvesting can be done with a conventional combine harvester with the moisture content of the grains around 15-20%. Usually, proso millet is mowed into windrows first, since the plants are not dry like wheat. There, they can wither, which makes the threshing easier. Then the harvest is done with a pickup attached to a combine.


title: Proso millet

text: Possible yields are between 2.5 and 4.5 tonne/ha under optimal conditions. Studies in Germany showed that even higher yields can be attained.


title: Proso millet

text: About half of the millet grown in the United States is grown in eastern Colorado on 340,000 acres. Historically grown as animal and bird seed, as of 2020, it has found a market as an organic gluten-free grain.


title: Proso millet

text: In the United States, former Soviet Union, and some South American countries, it is primarily grown for livestock feed. As a grain fodder, it is very deficient in lysine and needs complementation.


title: Proso millet

text: Proso millet is also a poor fodder due to its low leaf-to-stem ratio and a possible irritant effect due to its hairy stem. Foxtail millet, having a higher leaf-to-stem ratio and less hairy stems, is preferred as fodder, particularly the variety called moha, which is a high-quality fodder.


title: Proso millet

text: To promote millet cultivation, other potential uses have been considered recently. For example, starch derived from millets has been shown to be a good substrate for fermentation and malting with grains having similar starch contents as wheat grains. A recently published study suggested that starch derived from proso millet can be converted to ethanol with an only moderately lower efficiency than starch derived from corn. The development of varieties with highly fermentable characteristics could improve ethanol yield to that of highly fermentable corn. Since proso millet is compatible with low-input agriculture, cultivation on marginal soils for biofuel production could represent an important new market, such as for farmers in the High Plains of the US.


title: Proso millet

text: The demand for more diverse and healthier cereal-based foods is increasing, particularly in affluent countries. This could create new markets for proso millet products in human nutrition. Protein content in proso millet grains is comparable with that of wheat, but the share of some essential amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, and methionine) is substantially higher in proso millet. In addition, health-promoting phenolic compounds contained in the grains are readily bioaccessible, and their high calcium content favors bone strengthening and dental health. Among the most commonly consumed products are ready-to-eat breakfast cereals made purely from millet flour, and a variety of noodles and bakery products that are, however, often produced from mixtures with wheat flour to improve their sensory quality.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: Waking Up the Neighbours is the sixth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, released on September 24, 1991. The album was recorded at Battery Studios in London and The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, mixed at Mayfair Studios in London, and mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk in New York City.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: The album received critical acclaim and reached the number one position on the album charts in at least eight countries, becoming Adams' second best-selling album worldwide. Its first single, "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", stayed at number one on the UK Singles Chart for a record sixteen consecutive weeks. The album was also notable in Canada for creating controversy concerning the system of Canadian content.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: The performance of Adams' 1987 album "Into the Fire" was felt as somewhat of a disappointment. Although it reached No. 7 on the Billboard album chart and No. 2 in his native Canada, it fell short of the massive commercial success enjoyed by his fourth album "Reckless" released in 1984. "Into the Fire" was also Adams' last album recorded together with his longtime collaborator Jim Vallance; their songwriting partnership ended in August 1989.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: An attempt to record a new album was made in 1988 with Steve Lilywhite producing, but nothing from these sessions was released. Over a year after that, Adams joined forces with Robert John "Mutt" Lange, previously known for his work with AC/DC, The Cars, Foreigner, and Def Leppard to start work on Adams' next album, recording at Battery Studios in England and the Warehouse Studios in Canada. Recording began in March 1990, and along with mixing, finished in June 1991. According to Adams, Lange changed his way of thinking about the songwriting process making him work meticulously on each song. As a result, the recording process went on for more than a year, and the release of album, originally scheduled for the fall of 1990, had to be postponed several times. Lange is credited on all 15 tracks of the album including four songs whose demos were originally recorded with Vallance.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: "Waking Up the Neighbours" was released after a number of delays in September 1991. The album peaked at number six on the "Billboard" 200. The album was released in September and album and single topped the charts in many countries with "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" spending record-breaking 16 weeks at number one on UK Singles Chart and topped the charts in 17 countries. It also made record-breaking sales of 4 million copies in the US. Canadian content regulations were revised in 1991 to allow radio stations to credit airplay of this album towards their legal requirements to play Canadian music. The album has become Adams second best-selling album worldwide. Adams won a Grammy Award in 1992 for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television for "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You".


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: Released prior to the release of the album, "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" was the most successful single off the album, and has become one of the most successful songs of all time, having spent seven weeks at number one in the United States' "Billboard" Hot 100, sixteen consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart, 11 weeks on the Dutch Top 40 and nine weeks at number one on the "Canadian" singles chart in Canada. The song won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television at the 1992 Grammy Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song of 1991.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: The song came about when Adams was approached to write something by the producers of the then-upcoming Kevin Costner film, "", and was asked to work on a theme song. He was provided a tape of orchestration written by the composer of the film score, Michael Kamen. With this, he and Lange used a section of Michael's orchestration and created "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", which was then placed deep into the closing credits of the film when it opened on June 14, 1991.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: The song went to number 1 in the United Kingdom the week before the film's British release and went on to top the charts in 16 countries and sold over 10 million copies worldwide, becoming one of the biggest selling singles of all time. The song was nominated for an Academy Award but lost to "Beauty and the Beast" from the eponymous film; it won a Grammy Award for Best Song from a Motion Picture. Years later when the BBC asked Bryan (about the recent acoustic live version from his "Bare Bones" CD), "Do you ever get bored of hearing your record-breaking hit 'Everything I Do'?" Bryan said:


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: Julien Temple directed the music video for "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"; it was shot in Sheffield, England over May 17–18, 1991.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" was the second single from the album. A rock song in contrast to "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", it peaked at number 2 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 behind Prince's "Cream".


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" received two nominations at the Grammy Awards of 1992 for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance, Solo, winning none.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: "There Will Never Be Another Tonight" was the third single from the album. The title came from a fragment Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance wrote in late 1980s. Originally titled "Buddy Holly Idea" because of its resemblance to Buddy Holly's song "Peggy Sue", it was developed into a song by Lange and Adams.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: "Thought I'd Died and Gone to Heaven" was the fourth single released from "Waking up the Neighbours". Written by Lange and Adams, the song was the first song written for the album. "Thought I'd Died and Gone to Heaven" reached number 13 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and 14 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks. In the UK, it reached number 8.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: "All I Want Is You", "Do I Have to Say the Words?" (number 11 on the "Billboard" Hot 100) and "Touch the Hand" were also released as singles but didn't get the heavy rotation as the first four singles released.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: The album caused controversy in Canada concerning the system of Canadian Content. Although Adams was one of Canada's biggest recording stars at the time, the specific nature of his collaboration with non-Canadians, coupled with his decision to primarily record the album outside Canada, meant that the album and all its songs were not considered Canadian content for purposes of Canadian radio airplay. Under the system then in place, a piece of recorded music had to meet any two of the following four criteria in order to qualify as Canadian content:


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: As Adams co-wrote both the music and the lyrics with Mutt Lange, who is from Zambia, and he did not primarily record the album in Canada, he only fulfilled one of the criteria. It was noted that if Adams had written all the lyrics, and Lange all the music (or vice versa), the collaboration would have counted as Canadian content. As a result, under CRTC regulations none of the album's songs was considered Canadian content.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: In protest, Adams briefly threatened to boycott Canada's annual Juno Awards, where his album had been almost completely ignored by the awards committee. He did end up winning the Entertainer of the Year Award (voted on by the public) and Producer of the Year Award.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: Adams publicly criticised the CRTC policy, calling it "a disgrace, a shame...stupidity". He continued his attack with:


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: "You'd never hear Elton John being declared un-British [...] It's time to abolish the CRTC. Not everyone agrees."


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: As a result of the controversy, in September of that year, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission announced that Canadian content rules would be changed. The new regulation allows non-Canadians to contribute up to 50% of the finished content to each of both the music and the lyrics of a recorded piece, and still qualify for Canadian content status—provided the recording artist is Canadian, or the song is recorded in Canada. Accordingly, the Adams/Lange songs, and the Adams/Lange/Vallance songs on the album now count as Canadian content, as Jim Vallance is also Canadian. However, the Adams/Lange/Kamen co-written "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" still does not count as Canadian content, as two of the three writers are non-Canadians, and the track was not recorded in Canada.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: Before releasing the album, Adams had already started a tour promoting it, and on June 8, 1991, he held large concerts in Europe co-headlining with ZZ Top. Shortly after the tour started, "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" was released as the debut single for the album. The single became a worldwide hit. Adams further supported the new album with his tour Waking Up the World, which started in October 1991 and ran through to the end of December 1993. On October 4, 1991, the world tour started in Belfast, Northern Ireland. On December 18, 1991, Adams played his two first-ever shows in Reykjavík, Iceland. After his tour in Europe, as well as a concert at Wembley Stadium attended by more than 72,000 people, Adams left for the United States, where he performed at the Ritz Theatre on January 10. That concert sold out in less than 20 minutes. In attendance were Ben E. King and Nona Hendrix.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: The Canadian leg of the 'Waking Up the World' Tour kicked off in Sydney, Nova Scotia on 12 January 1992, and wrapped up with a standing room only concert in Vancouver, British Columbia, on 31 January. In February 1992, he toured New Zealand and Australia for seven dates, kicking off with a press conference in Sydney. On February 21 the tour headed to Japan for close to a dozen shows in six cities. Bryan taped an interview with MuchMusic's Terry Dave Mulligan in Calgary, Alberta and the air date was scheduled for mid-March. The tour continued through several European countries in June 1992, including Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, and in July 1992, Bryan performed for the first time in Hungary and Turkey. September through December 1992 saw the tour in the U.S. The Asian tour headed to Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong in February, 1993, before returning to the U.S. during March through May.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: Adams' visit to South Africa during his Waking Up the World tour, following the release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners from prison and the unbanning of black political parties, has been left relatively undocumented. Adams' concert at Cape Town's Green Point stadium during the tour was called one of his most emotional and memorable performances.


title: Waking Up the Neighbours

text: Coca-Cola was one of the official partners and sponsors of the tour, and the beverage company released a commercial promoting the tour. It featured the song "House Arrest" with Adams and his band playing the song in a neighborhood and also featured actress Neve Campbell.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: The 2014 Survivor Series was the 28th annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on November 23, 2014, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri, and was the first Survivor Series event to air on the WWE Network, which launched in February. The event was notable for the WWE debut appearance of former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) wrestler Sting and also the first Survivor Series since 2001 to not feature a world championship match.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: Eight matches were contested at the event, including two on the Kickoff pre-show. The main event saw Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, Big Show, and Ryback) defeat Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane, Luke Harper, Mark Henry, and Rusev) in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match, with Ziggler emerging the lone survivor. Ziggler was the second wrestler to survive a 3-on-1 situation in a Survivor Series elimination match, eliminating Kane, Harper, and Rollins. The only other person to survive a 3-on-1 situation was Ric Flair at the 2006 event. The event had 100,000 buys (excluding WWE Network views), down from the previous year's 177,000 buys.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: Survivor Series is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV), produced every November by WWE since 1987. The second longest running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam, referred to as the "Big Four". The event is traditionally characterized by having Survivor Series matches, which are tag team elimination matches that typically pits teams of four or five wrestlers against each other. The 2014 event was the 28th event in the Survivor Series chronology and was scheduled to be held on November 23, 2014, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition to airing on traditional PPV, the event was available through WWE's online streaming service, the WWE Network, which launched in February, which made it the first Survivor Series to air on the WWE Network.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: The card consisted of eight matches, including two on the Kickoff pre-show. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers. Storylines between the characters played out on WWE's primary television programs, "Raw" and "SmackDown".


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: On the October 27 episode of Raw, after John Cena, the #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, rejected an offer to join The Authority, Triple H scheduled a traditional Survivor Series tag team elimination match, with a team representing The Authority facing a team captained by Cena. Later that night, it was hinted that Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler had joined Team Cena; both Cena and Ziggler saved each other from post-match attacks. The next week on "Raw", Vince McMahon announced that if Team Authority loses at Survivor Series, The Authority will be out of power (Triple H will be fired as COO; Kane will be fired as Director of Operations and Stephanie McMahon would no longer be a Principal Owner of WWE). Seth Rollins, Kane and Randy Orton joined Team Authority with Rollins as captain, while Ziggler joined Team Cena. Later that night, Orton was ejected by The Authority after he attacked members of The Authority, and turned face in the process for the first time since 2013. The next week on "Raw", Rusev joined Team Authority after The Authority helped him retain the United States Championship from Sheamus. Sheamus joined Team Cena along with Big Show and Jack Swagger, while Mark Henry and Ryback joined Team Authority. But, by the end of the night, Swagger dropped out of Team Cena after Rollins injured him, while Ryback attacked and left Team Authority after Kane interfered in his main-event match against Cena. Luke Harper applied to join Team Authority by attacking Ziggler. The next week on "Raw", Harper was confirmed as the final member of Team Authority. While Cena was scouting Ryback to fill out his team, team Authority attacked the rest of Team Cena, which played a part in Ziggler losing his Intercontinental Championship to Harper, and Sheamus dropping out of Team Cena after Mark Henry injured him. Later that night, Erick Rowan and Ryback joined Team Cena. On the November 21 episode of "Smackdown", in response to comments made by Cena stating that he felt responsible for his team, Triple H announced that if Team Cena lost, all of Team Cena, except Cena himself, would be fired. Later that night, with Cena absent, Team Authority and a chair-wielding Triple H attacked the rest of Team Cena.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: On the October 31 episode of SmackDown, Nikki Bella won a Battle Royal to face AJ Lee for the WWE Divas Championship. On November 10, WWE.com announced that AJ Lee would defend the title against Nikki at Survivor Series.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: At Hell in a Cell, Bray Wyatt attacked Dean Ambrose during his Hell in a Cell match against Rollins. On the November 10 episode of Raw, it was announced that Ambrose would face Wyatt at Survivor Series.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: On November 17, it was announced on WWE.com that WWE Tag Team Champions Gold and Stardust would defend the titles against The Miz and Damien Mizdow, The Usos, and Los Matadores in a Fatal 4-Way tag team match at Survivor Series.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: On November 17, it was announced on WWE.com that the Survivor Series kickoff show would feature the return of Bad News Barrett from injury and Fandango, accompanied by Rosa Mendes, against an unknown opponent.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: On November 18, it was announced on WWE.com that Alicia Fox, Natalya, Emma and Naomi would face Paige, Cameron, Layla and Summer Rae in a Survivor Series elimination tag team match at Survivor Series.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: The analysis team was hosted by Renee Young and consisted of Alex Riley, Booker T, and special guest Paul Heyman.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: Later, Jack Swagger faced Cesaro. Swagger forced Cesaro to submit to the "Patriot Lock" to win the match.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: The event began with Mr. McMahon calling The Authority and John Cena to the ring. He added the stipulation, that should Team Authority lose, the only person who can bring The Authority back to power would be Cena himself. Cena then responded by saying "there is no chance in hell" he would bring The Authority back to power.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: The first match saw Gold and Stardust defend the Tag Team Championship against The Miz and Damien Mizdow, The Usos and Los Matadores. After Goldust was incapacitated by a "Samoan Splash" from an Uso, Mizdow stole the pin to win the titles for his team.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: Next, Team Natalya (Alicia Fox, Emma, Naomi, and Natalya) faced Team Paige (Paige, Cameron, Layla, and Summer Rae) in a traditional 4-on-4 Survivor Series elimination tag team match. Cameron was eliminated by Naomi after Naomi pinned her with a bridging rolling reverse cradle pin. Layla was eliminated by Fox after a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Summer Rae was eliminated after Emma forced her to submit to the "Emma Lock". Paige was eliminated by Naomi after a handstand modified headscissors driver.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: After that, Dean Ambrose faced Bray Wyatt. Ambrose was disqualified after he hit Wyatt with a chair. After the match, Ambrose attacked Wyatt with "Dirty Deeds" on the chair, a diving elbow drop through a table and buried Wyatt underneath a table and chairs and climbed a ladder.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: In the fourth match, Adam Rose and The Bunny faced Slator Gator (Heath Slater and Titus O'Neil). The Bunny executed a missile dropkick on Slater to win the match.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: Next, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield interviewed Roman Reigns via satellite, who announced he would return in late December.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: In the fifth match, AJ Lee defended the Divas Championship against Nikki Bella. After Brie Bella kissed AJ, Nikki executed the "Rack Attack" on AJ to win the title.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: In the main event, Team Cena (John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan, and Ryback) faced Team Authority (Seth Rollins, Kane, Mark Henry, Rusev, and Luke Harper) (with Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, Jamie Noble, Joey Mercury, and Lana) in a traditional 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination tag team match. Henry was the first man eliminated by Big Show after a "KO Punch". Ryback was eliminated by Rusev after a Curb Stomp from Rollins and a jumping savate kick. Rusev tried to put Ziggler through a broadcast table with a splash but missed, fell through the table and was counted out. Rowan was eliminated by Harper after a discus clothesline. Cena was eliminated by Rollins after a KO Punch from Big Show, who betrayed Cena. Big Show shook Triple H's hand and walked out on the match, eliminating himself by countout and turning heel. Ziggler eliminated Kane with a "Zig Zag" and Harper with a schoolboy. Ziggler executed a Zig Zag on Rollins but Triple H pulled the referee out of the ring. The Authority attacked Ziggler, but he fought them off and executed a second Zig Zag on Rollins as another referee came out to the ring. Triple H attacked the other referee and attacked Ziggler, executing a "Pedigree" on him. He called out Scott Armstrong to count the pin, but WCW wrestler Sting appeared, making his WWE debut. Sting knocked out Armstrong and had a staredown with Triple H. Sting then executed a "Scorpion Death Drop" on Triple H and pulled Ziggler on top of Rollins for the pin and win. In the orders of the stipulation, Triple H was fired as the COO, Stephanie was no longer a principal owner of WWE and Kane lost his role as the Director of Operations (The Authority was removed from power). The show ended with Triple H and Stephanie heartbroken that they lost their power, and they realized that they were nothing better than the people that clean the floors and they realized that since they were fired from power, they lost the privilege to fly on the corporate jet to WWE events, and they can only work at WWE headquarters and no longer influence the careers and lives of the superstars. The fans chanted “Yes, Yes, Yes” and “You got fired!” Stephanie would throw a tantrum and not accept the results as she would cry as the event went off the air.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: Survivor Series received generally positive reviews, with particular praise going toward the main event. Speaking of the Ambrose-Wyatt match, Larry Csonka of 411mania said "The match was good, and they set up next month so I really don’t have a lot of complaints with this." He gave the match ***3/4 (out of *****). He gave the main event ****, calling it "a very good main event presentation." He gave the entire event a score of 7 out of 10. The main event received the Slammy Award for match of the year 2014.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: On the November 24 episode of "Raw", Triple H and Stephanie McMahon bid farewell to the WWE Universe, but were interrupted by Daniel Bryan, who returned and served as the general manager for both "Raw" and "SmackDown" that week, putting members of Team Authority in unfavorable situations. Mark Henry was put in a match against Ryback, which he lost quickly. Luke Harper defended his Intercontinental Championship against Dean Ambrose, which ended in a disqualification due to interference from Bray Wyatt. Kane was put into concessions for the night as Concessions Kane. Rusev and Lana were forced to speak out the Pledge of Allegiance or defend the United States Championship in a Battle Royal, which Rusev did successfully on "SmackDown". Seth Rollins lost a 3-on-2 handicap match against John Cena and Dolph Ziggler, with Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury chosen as his partners by fans poll. At the end of the show, it was announced that the Anonymous Raw General Manager would be returning the following week.


title: Survivor Series (2014)

text: On the December 29 episode of "Raw", after threatening to Curb Stomp guest host Edge (who had to retire due to multiple neck injuries that could leave him paralyzed), Rollins coaxed Cena into bringing back The Authority after just over a month of exile. The following week on "Raw", The Authority rewarded Rollins by placing him in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at the Royal Rumble also involving Cena and defending champion Brock Lesnar. In the same show, the Authority had also gave out the pre-match stipulated consequences to Team Cena, firing Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback. Later on January 19, 2015, on Raw, John Cena defeated Seth Rollins, Big Show and Kane in a 3-on-1 handicap match (with his #1 contendership on the line) with the help of Sting, and thus Ziggler, Rowan and Ryback managed to get their jobs back. On January 22, 2015, on "SmackDown", Daniel Bryan welcomed Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback to celebrate their return to the WWE. Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan, and Ryback would continue to team as a faction well into 2015 before going separate ways just before WrestleMania 31.


title: French maid

text: French maid was a term applied in the Victorian and early 20th century periods to a lady's maid of French nationality. A lady's maid was a senior servant who reported directly to the lady of the house, and accompanied her mistress on travel. She helped her mistress with her appearance, including make-up, hairdressing, clothing, jewellery, and shoes, and sometimes served as confidante. A French maid was considered likely to be more expert in current fashions, and was also able to apply her knowledge of the French language when travelling in Europe.


title: French maid

text: Erotic fantasies revolving around young French women later led to the appearance of French maids as desirable and stereotypical soubrette characters in burlesque dramas and bedroom farces. This stock character was a flirtatious, cheeky, and saucy figure.


title: French maid

text: The term "French maid" is now often applied to an eroticised and strongly modified style of servant's dress that evolved from typical housemaid's black-and-white afternoon uniforms of 19th-century France, despite a housemaid being junior to a lady's maid. Some styles are conservative while others are revealing. The French maid costume is often used in cosplay, sexual roleplaying, and uniform fetishism. Depending on design details, some forms can be classified as lingerie.


title: French maid

text: In the anime and manga fandom, and especially among , maid outfits are considered to be . In the 21st century, restaurants known as "maid cafés" have been opened in Japan and other countries to appeal to the aforementioned "moe" aesthetic.


title: French maid

text: Though not strict to historically accurate uniforms, the French maid outfit has an easily recognizable pattern and black-and white theme that remains the template for other forms of the costume.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Indian Singaporeans (Tamil: "") are Singaporeans of Indian or South Asian ancestry, who constitute 9.0% of the country's citizens, making them the third largest ancestry and ethnic group in Singapore.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: While contact with ancient India left a deep impact on Singapore's indigenous Malay culture, the mass settlement of Indians on the island only began with the founding of modern Singapore by the British in 1819. Initially, the Indian population was transient, mainly comprising young men who came as workers, soldiers and convicts. By the mid-20th century, a settled community had emerged, with a more balanced gender ratio and a better spread of age groups.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Indian Singaporeans are linguistically and religiously diverse, with ethnic Tamils and Hindus forming majorities. The Indo-Singaporean culture has endured and evolved over almost 200 years. By the 1990s, it had grown somewhat distinct from contemporary South Asian cultures, even as Indian elements became diffused within a broader Singaporean culture. Since then, new immigrants have increased the size and complexity of the local Indian population. Low-cost carriers, cable television and the Internet now connect the Indian Singaporean community with the culture of India and the Indian diaspora.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Several in-depth studies have been conducted and published in the recent years on the Indian communities in Singapore such as Rajesh Rai's, Indians in Singapore, 1819 -1945: Diaspora in the Colonial Port City, Anitha Devi Pillai's, From Kerala to Singapore: Voices from the Singapore Malayalee Community, Mathew Mathews, The Singapore Ethnic Mosaic, S A Nathanji's Singapore: Nation Building and Indians' Legacy amongst others.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Prominent individuals of South Asian descent have long made a mark in Singapore as leaders of various fields in national life. Indian Singaporeans are also collectively well represented, in areas such as politics, education, diplomacy and the law.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: The Singapore Department of Statistics defines Indians as a race (or ethnic group), comprising "persons of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Sri Lankan origin such as Telugus, Tamils, Malayalis, Punjabis, Bengalis, Sinhalese etc."


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Indians 'in Singapore' may be further defined in terms of nationality and residency status. Most ethnic Indians are Singapore citizens, known in local parlance as 'Singaporean Indians', or 'local Indians'. They are usually the locally-born and nativised second, third, fourth or even fifth generation descendants of settlers from the Indian subcontinent. In addition, there are many ethnic Indian immigrant workers in Singapore. Citizens of the Republic of India are called 'Indian nationals', or even 'Indian Indians'. Foreign Indians may be distinguished in terms of residency status.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Well educated professionals or entrepreneurs with a high earning capacity are granted renewable Employment Passes. These entitle the holder's spouse, children and parents to Dependents Passes. Students may enter on Students Passes. Pass holders may apply for Permanent Residence, which lets them live in Singapore on a long term-basis. As part of Singaporean nationality law, they are also eligible to apply for Singapore Citizenship. In contrast, unskilled foreign workers enter Singapore with Work Permits. They are rarely allowed to stay in Singapore for more than two years and are never allowed to bring dependents with them. Nor are they eligible to apply for either Permanent Residence or Citizenship.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Demographic statistics are generally restricted to 'Singapore residents', defined as both Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents. Many of the statistics about Indians in Singapore in this article are restricted to this group. Scholars have noted "(o)fficial figures for workers on temporary contracts are difficult to obtain because the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore considers the information sensitive." Consequently, there is limited information about short-term or 'non-resident' Indians in Singapore. Note that use of the term 'non-resident' Indian should not be confused with the concept of the Non Resident Indian or NRI, which the government of the Republic of India uses to describe its citizens living abroad. In Singapore, an NRI may be statistically non-resident (in the case of work permit or pass holders) or he/she may be considered a Singapore resident (in the case of permanent residents).


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Indian Singaporean are grouped according to their respective ethnolinguistic backgrounds in the Indian subcontinent or 'dialect group'. Most Indians in Singapore have ancestral links to Southern India and Sri Lanka, with substantial groups from Northern India and Western India accounting for most of the remainder. These are generally the descendants of both free and indentured settlers from India during the 19th and early half of the 20th century.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: In 2010, the Singapore census categorised 237,473 Singaporeans and 110,646 permanent residents into a number of 'dialect' groups. However, these groups included Sikhs, who are a religious rather than linguistic group. Virtually all of the Sikhs are Punjabi, which was also captured as a separate 'dialect' category (comprising mainly Hindu Punjabis). Given their small absolute and relative numbers, the following table adapts the 2010 census data by combining the 'Sikh' (12,952) and 'Punjabi' (5,672) category under 'Punjabi'.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: The percentages in the table refer to the proportion of each language group within the larger Resident Indian community in Singapore.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: The Singaporean Indian demographic is characterised by an ethnic majority (54.18%) and a large number of smaller groups. Ethnic Tamils in Singapore include the descendants of Tamil settlers from India and Sri Lanka (sometimes referred to as 'Ceylonese'). Ethnic Malayalees, tracing their heritage to Kerala in southern India, form the second largest community, making up 7.57% of the local Indian population. Tamils and Malayalees are the two main south Indian ethnolinguistic communities in Singapore, forming two-thirds of the Indian population. Meanwhile, the three main north Indian ethnolinguistic groups in Singapore (the Punjabi, Gujarati, and Sindhi communities) constitute 7.67% of the Singaporean Indian populace. The remaining 29.68% is composed of many smaller groups with ancestry from both southern India (such as the Telugus) and northern India (such as the Hindustanis, the Malay colloquial term for Hindi-speaking Indians), or ethnically mixed Singaporeans with paternal Indian ancestry.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Ancient India exerted a profound influence over Southeast Asia through trade, religious missions, wars and other forms of contact. Pre-colonial Singapore was part of 'Indianised Kingdoms' like Srivijaya and the Majapahit, which formed part of a cultural region known as Greater India.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Prior to the spread of Islam, Singapore and the rest of the Malay world, was Hindu-Buddhist. One of the most extensive and enduring Indian influence in Malay culture is the vast number of Indian loan words in the Malay language.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Indian influence is also seen in symbols and mythology associated with ancient Singapore. The Sejarah Melayu or Malay Annals describe the Indian prince who founded Singapore – Sang Nila Utama – as being a descendant of Alexander the Great and an Indian Princess. Meanwhile, the royal and sacred associations of Fort Canning Hill, the seat of ancient rulers, are related to the Hindu Mount Meru concept.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Archaeological digs have unearthed Hindu-Buddhist artefacts from the pre-colonial period. In 1822, John Crawfurd documented the ruins of a Hindu or Buddhist temple on Fort Canning Hill. Singapore's two most important pre-colonial artefacts are the Singapore Stone, which is inscribed with an Indic script and a gold armlet bearing the motif of a Hindu 'kala' head.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Following the Portuguese colonisation of Malacca (Malaysia) in 1511, the Portuguese government encouraged their explorers to bring their married Indian women who were converted already to Roman Catholic Christianity, under a policy set by Afonso de Albuquerque, then Viceroy of India. These people were Goan Catholics (Konkani Catholics) and East Indians (Catholics of Marathi descent). Kuparis who were of mixed Samvedic Brahmin, Goan and Portuguese descent also arrived. Sinhalese and their children from Portuguese that include Portuguese Burghers from Portuguese Ceylon also came later. Their children already intermarried with Malay population, losing their ethnic identities. Indian contact was rekindled from 1819 to World War II, when both India and Singapore were under British colonial rule. Unlike earlier forms of contact, this led to mass migration and, eventually, the formation of a large, settled and distinct population. By 1824, Singapore's first census counted 756 Indian residents, or about 7% of the total population. In 1826, official figures give a total population of 13,750, of which 1,021 are Indians – 244 from Bengal and 777 from the Coromandel Coast, most of whom were males.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Initially, Indian immigrants were predominantly adult men who came from India to find work, serve military duties or prison sentences for several years before returning home. There was a constant flow of Indians in and out of the city, keeping the local community fairly transient. A minority of Indians were also wealthy merchants who settled in Singapore and built local commercial and social institutions. Best known amongst them was Naraina Pillai, the earliest Indian community leader and the island's first building contractor. In 1827, he also founded the Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore oldest Hindu place of worship.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: The influx of Indians in the half century after 1819 led to a brief period when Indians, for the only time, overtook the Malays to become the second largest ethnic group. In 1860, they formed 16% of the population. However, their number then fell from 13,000 that year to 12,000 in 1880, or 8.7% of the population. Following this, Indians slowly began to settle permanently in greater numbers and the relative size of the community in colonial Singapore became stable, fluctuating between 7.7% and 9.4%.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Scholars have characterised the Indian community in colonial times as being diverse and highly stratified along class lines. According to Dr Rajesh Rai, the social hierarchy comprised four main groups: the educated professional elite (over 0.5% of the Indian community), mercantile groups (under 10%), the white collar middle class (5–7%) and the uneducated labourers (over 80%).


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Economic class and job functions were also aligned with the ethnic origins of immigrants. For example, Sri Lankan Tamils and Malayalees formed the core of the English educated upper middle class. Mercantile families tended to be Sindhi, Gujarati, and Tamil Muslim. South Indian upper caste Hindus tended to perform traditional skilled jobs, such as moneylenders (Chettiars) and priests (Brahmins). Sikhs were often policemen or private security guards. Most of these migrants were voluntary migrants who entered and left Singapore freely on their own resources. Unskilled coolies tended to be landless Tamil peasants from the Shudra caste as well as Adi Dravidas or 'Untouchables'. These were often indentured labourers who were brought through various labour recruitment systems to work on rubber plantations in Malaya. Many later came to work in Singapore once free of their bonds. Another group which was less than free was the military. The first Indians in Singapore were 120 sepoys in the Bengal Native Infantry and a 'bazaar contingent' of washermen, servants and others who came with Stamford Raffles on his first visit in 1819. Throughout the colonial period, military personnel came from all over India. Most returned home after their service without settling in Singapore.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Finally, there were the convicts. In the 19th century, the British shipped Indian convicts to Singapore to relieve overcrowded Indian jails. These men (and some women) were used as labour to build public buildings and roads in Singapore. Like the sepoys, they came from all parts of India. While some returned to India, several settled in Singapore after serving their sentences.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: From the 19th century, Hindu reform movements emerged in India as part of a broader cultural modernisation. These movements sought to promote what they saw as a more authentic form of Hinduism while addressing social abuses, such as the Hindu caste system. These movements spread to overseas Indian communities, including Singapore. Groups like the Ramakrishna Mission, Arya Samaj and Sree Narayana Mission were active conduits of this reform movement. Traditional religious practices, especially among lower caste Hindus, centred around various rural folk traditions, esoteric rituals and superstitions. In contrast, the new movement appealed to better educated urban Hindus, by conducting religious education classes for children and adults, and interpreting the values, concepts and principals behind the religion for lay people. These groups also encouraged a more direct relationship with God, unmediated by Brahmin priests and rituals, through individual devotion (stemming from the Bhakti movement), chanting Bhajans, or hymns, as well as through yoga. Charitable service was also promoted. The Ramakrishna Mission in Singapore set up a home for boys from troubled homes, while the Sree Narayana Mission set up a home of the destitute elderly.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Another social reform movement was the Self-Respect Movement, which emerged in Tamil Nadu in the 1920s to liberate Dravidian people, and especially Adi Dravidas and lower caste Tamils from what was seen as Brahmin oppression. This movement sought inspiration from Tamil history and culture. In Singapore, groups like the Tamil Reform Association were inspired by this movement. They imported publications from India that promoted the movement, and they also hosted visiting leaders of the Self-Respect Movement from Tamil Nadu when they visited Singapore. The Singapore groups focussed on moral, social and religious reform. For example, they campaigned against caste distinctions and alcohol abuse. These groups also promoted the use of the Tamil language, and the development of Tamil literature in Singapore, through the establishment of Tamil newspapers and schools. They were also involved in the union activism, especially in those work sectors dominated by Tamils. Tamil-educated journalists and teachers were at the forefront of this movement. Leaders like Thamizhavel G. Sarangapani were especially instrumental in championing the rights of Tamils and Indians, by encouraging Indians to register for Singapore citizenship in the 1950s and by campaigning to make Tamil one of Singapore's official languages.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: The 1915 Singapore Mutiny, also known as the 1915 Sepoy Mutiny, was an incident concerning 850 Indian Army soldiers who mutinied against their British superiors on 15 February 1915 in Singapore, as part of the 1915 Ghadar Conspiracy (not to be mistaken for the Indian Mutiny of 1857). The predominantly Muslim soldiers mutinied because they believed they were being sent to fight against Islamic Ottoman Empire as part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. This mutiny lasted nearly seven days, and resulted in the deaths of 47 soldiers and civilians at the hands of the mutineers, who were subsequently arrested and court-martialled; those who were found guilty of capital crimes were executed by the Singapore Volunteer Corps. In general, the mutiny was restricted to Muslim soldiers, and did not involve the wider Indian population in Singapore. While the mutiny was a significant event in Singaporean history, and one of the most important ones specifically involving the Indian diaspora, it was somewhat distinct from the mainstream development of nationalist sentiments among the Indian population in Singapore, which emerged most prominently around the time of the Second World War.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Nationalist movements in India established branch organisations in Singapore to draw on local Indian support for Indian independence. The Indian Independence League was a political organisation operated from the 1920s to the 1940s to organise those living outside of India to remove the British from India. Founded in 1928 by Indian nationalists Subhas Chandra Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru, the organisation was active in Singapore and Malaya following Japan's successful Malayan Campaign in the Second World War.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: The Indian National Army (INA) was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in South east Asia, also during World War II. Their aim was to overthrow the British Raj in colonial India, with Japanese assistance. Many Indian soldiers and civilians were recruited in Singapore and Malaya to join the INA during the Japanese occupation. Many of them died fighting alongside the Japanese against the British in Burma during the war.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Indian nationalist sentiments in Singapore and Malaya were paralleled by the rise of Chinese nationalism amongst the overseas Chinese in these territories. As these colonies progressed towards independence, Indians and Chinese in Malaya organised themselves along the lines of ethnic political parties. For instance, the Indian Association in Singapore, today a social and recreational club, was one of a network of such clubs in early 20th century Malaya which came together to form what would become the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the current ethnic Indian party within Malaysia's ruling Barisan National coalition government.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Unlike Malaysia's delicate ethno-demographic balance, Singapore had a large Chinese majority. This rendered ethnic-based politics less viable, and tended to support class-based politics instead. For example, several Indian professionals supported the more conservative pro-British parties, as they had been beneficiaries of the colonial system. In contrast, the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) espoused an ideology of social democracy which gained the support of Indian union workers. S. Rajaratnam was one of the founding members of the PAP, and he worked to define and champion its vision of a multi-racial country, in contrast to the Malaysian model.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: More left-leaning Indian leaders and intellectuals, such as C.V. Devan Nair and James Puthucheary initially supported more radically left-wing groups. They had been imprisoned by the British for their radical union activism. Later, some of these men join the more moderate wing of the PAP. Devan Nair went on to build the modern trades union movement in Singapore, the National Trades Union Congress. Consequently, Indians in Singapore tended to align themselves, both individually and as groups, with parties advocating specific political or economic ideologies, rather than along purely racial lines. This basic difference between the Indian communities of Singapore and Malaysia has endured to the present day.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Scholars have identified two phases in the development of the Indian community after Singaporean independence in 1965. The first phase, from 1965 to the early 1990s, saw a decline in the proportion of the community from 9% in 1957 to a low of 6.4% in 1980. One reason was the withdrawal of British military forces in the early 1970s, which led to the repatriation of many Indian base workers. Another factor was the retirement of older men, who chose to return to families in India. Meanwhile, post-1965 immigration restrictions ended new migration from India. Furthermore, there was a rise in the emigration of Indian Singaporeans to the West in the late 1980s. During this time, the Indian population continued to grow in absolute terms due to natural increase. Even as it grew proportionally smaller, the community also became more settled, with several new generations born locally. A historical novel titled 'Sembawang: A Novel' explores this notion as well traces the lives of Indian migrants who lived in an Indian enclave outside the HM Naval Base in the 1960s.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: From the 1960s to 1980s, the People's Action Party government tried to cultivate a shared national identity and to end the historical tendency of Singaporeans to identify with the national – and often nationalistic – politics of their ancestral homelands. While different ethnic groups were allowed and sometimes encouraged to retain their cultural identities, they were also pushed to integrate socially, politically and economically across ethnic lines. The government pursued policies to integrate the races in public housing estates and national schools. Young men underwent two years of compulsory national service in ethnically mixed military or police camps. Traditional family businesses were superseded by government agencies or foreign multi-national corporations, which hired multi-ethnic workforces on the basis of meritocratic ability rather than kinship or ethnicity. Consequently, "the cultivation of a Singaporean identity has been largely successful in converting Indian migrants into Indian-Singaporeans." In general, Indian social patterns and political activities became aligned and integrated within the national mainstream from the 1960s.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Although the Singapore government championed public policies and a political discourse of racial integration and national identity, it came to recognise that important differences in the socio-economic profiles of the three main races continued to endure in the post-colonial period. Initially, it had set up Mendaki, a quasi-autonomous Malay community self-help group to promote educational advancement within that community to address underperformance by Malay students. In the 1980s, this approach – which was initially seen as an exceptional measure taken in the case of the Malay community – became entwined with the rhetoric of Asian values, which saw the promotion of a greater consciousness and pride in each citizen's own ethnic heritage, as a bulwark against the supposedly negative influence of Western culture. Consequently, the government established the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) in 1991 to address the educational and social problems of the Indian community. Shortly after, a similar body was set up for the majority Chinese community.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Apart from ethnic self-help groups like SINDA (which remain controversial in Singapore), the government has in the main pursued policies emphasising racial integration and national identity. It is against this backdrop that immigration policies were liberalised in the 1990s, leading to an influx of foreigners in Singapore, particularly Indian nationals. This led to a new phase in the history of the Indian community in Singapore.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: A second phase began in the early 1990s, when immigration policies were liberalised to attract foreign professionals to boost the size and skills of the local workforce. The government was keen to draw in well educated migrants from Asian countries who, it was hoped, would be both keen and able to settle permanently. This also addressed the problem of Singapore's extremely low fertility rates. In addition to these professionals, unskilled foreign workers were recruited as low cost manual labour for construction sites and the cleaning sector, albeit without the prospect of permanent settlement. As a result of these policies, the Indian population grew faster than other groups. The proportion of Indian citizens and permanent residents rose from 6.4% in 1980 to 9.23% in 2010. This was mainly due to rapid growth in the number of Indian nationals who acquired Singapore citizenship or permanent residency.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: For some years now, the Department of Statistics has stopped providing ethnic data about the short-term or 'non-resident' foreign citizens living in Singapore (i.e. those without Singapore Permanent Residence). As of end June 2007, there were 1,005,500 such persons, or 21.5% of the total population. This group includes two-year work permit holders as well as those holding renewable Employment, Dependant and Student Passes. In 2005, Dr Rajesh Rai from the National University of Singapore has observed that "independent surveys approximate the number of South Asians on work permits to be… approximately 90,000–100,000." In November 2007, a cabinet minister said "more than 20,000 Indian professionals had set up home" in Singapore, although it is unclear if this referred only to Employment Pass holders, or if it included Permanent Residents, Student Pass and/or Dependant Pass holders. Based on these figures, the number of short-term or 'non-resident' Indians in Singapore in 2007 is likely to be in the region of 100,000. As such, the proportion of Indians in the total population is likely to range from 9% to 10% (suggesting 89,000 to 135,000 'non-resident' Indians).


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: The advance release figures from Singapore's 2010 Census show, for the first time, the number of ethnic Indian Singapore citizens, and ethnic Indian Singapore Permanent Residents, separately – instead of combining the two. As of 2010, there were 237,473 Indian Singapore citizens, or 7.35% of the citizen population. There were 110,646 Indian PRs, or 20.45% of the PR population. In total, ethnic Indians formed 348,119, or 9.23% of the 'resident' population of citizens and PRs.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Alongside other ethnic groups, Indians from all social backgrounds have achieved significant advances in their educational levels, income, life expectancy and other social indicators. Singapore's extraordinary economic growth from the 1960s to 1990s lifted many out of poverty and created a broad middle class. In the process, many Indians experienced upward social mobility for the first time. Despite this progress, Indians remain somewhat stratified in terms of class relative to other ethnic groups. With the influx of highly qualified Indian Permanent Residents, the socio-economic indicators of the Indian community have improved, arguably masking the under-achievement of some Indians. In 2005, both the average and median monthly income for Indian Residents (S$3,660 and $2,480 respectively) exceeded those for all Residents (S$3,500 and S$2,410 respectively). In the same year, 25% of Indian Residents had a university degree as their highest qualification attained. In contrast the national average was only 17%.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Other educations statistics are less positive. In 2004, 73% of Indians among the Primary One cohort were admitted to a post-secondary institution, compared with 86% for the Chinese, and 75% for the Malays. In the same year, 73.7% of Indian students received 5 or more passes in the Singaporean GCE 'O' Level examinations, compared with 86.5% of Chinese students and 59.3% of Malays. Given their performance in the 'O' level examinations, it would appear Indians would have been under represented among students who sat for the 'A' level examination. However, those Indians who did reach the 'A' level and sat for this exam marginally outperformed the national average. 93% of Indians received 2 'A' and 2 'AO' level passes, compared with 92.6% among Chinese students, and 92.3% nationally. The socio-economic problems, and especially educational under-performance, facing Singapore Indians is addressed by the community through Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), the national self-help group for the Indian community.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: The official languages of Singapore are English, Malay, Chinese (Mandarin) and Tamil. The national language of Singapore is Malay for historical reasons, and it is used in the national anthem, "Majulah Singapura".


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Persons of ethnic Tamil ancestry form about 58% of Singapore's Indian residents. Minority Indian groups include Malayalees, Telugu, Kannadigas, Punjabis, Sindhis, Gujaratis, Sinhalese, and Hindi-speaking people, among others. In terms of actual daily language use, 39% of Indian residents speak mainly English at home, and a similar number use Tamil. The remainder speak either Malay (11%) or other languages, including other Indian languages and Kristang (11%).There are about 3000 families which speak Marathi at home.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: 3.1% of all Singapore residents speak mainly Tamil at home and it is one of the country's four official languages. Tamil is taught as a second language in most public schools. Tamil content (produced locally or abroad) is available on free-to-air and cable television as well as radio channels, and in libraries, cinemas, theatres and bookshops. Tamil is used in temples, mosques and churches catering to the community. Some business and non-profit groups, especially those in the Little India neighbourhood, use Tamil on a daily basis.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Many Indian loan words are found in Malay, and, to a lesser extent, in English. The influence of Indian vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation are also found in Singlish, the local English dialect. At the same time, Singapore Tamil is slightly distinct from the versions spoken in India and Sri Lanka, with its closest cousin being the Malaysian Tamil spoken across the border. Local usage includes some words from English, Malay and other languages. Meanwhile, certain Tamil words or phrases that are archaic in India and Sri Lanka are still used in Singapore.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Majority of the Indian Singaporeans are Hindus. The proportion of Indians following Islam, Christianity and Buddhism are relatively higher as the Singaporean Census calculate Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankan etc. under ethnic Indian Category.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: According to the latest 2020 Census, 57.3% of Singapore's Indian population declared themselves as Hindus, including 23.4% Muslims, 12.6% Christians, 4.6% other religions and 2.2% non-religious, as stated in the following statistics.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Based on the latest 2020 Census, 5.0% of the resident population aged above 15 years, were Hindu. Almost all Hindus in Singapore were ethnic Indians (99%), with the majority of Singapore's ethnic Indians (57.3%) being Hindu.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: There are approximately 35 temples serving Hindus in Singapore. Most are built in the South Indian Dravidian style. Specific communities have established their own temples. For instance, the Sri Lankan Tamil community built the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple at Ceylon Road, while the Chettiar community set up the Sri Thandayuthapani Temple at Tank Road. The North Indian community also established the Sri Lakshminarayan Temple, built in the North Indian style. Two Hindu temples have been gazetted as National Monuments of Singapore.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Although temples may be historically associated with certain communities, Hindu temples in Singapore are open to all regardless or language, caste or religion (non-Hindus may visit the temples). A unique feature of Hinduism in Singapore is the fact that a noticeable number of non-Indians, usually Buddhist Chinese, do participate in a variety of Hindu activities, including praying to Hindu deities, donating money to the temple funds and participating in Hindu festivals like the fire-walking ceremony, and Thaipusam.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: The most visible Hindu festivals in Singapore are Deepavali and Thaipusam. Minor celebrations include the Fire walking festival and Hindu temple chariot processions. Deepavali is a national public holiday in Singapore. For a month before it, the Little India district is decorated with ornamental fairy lights. Bazaars are held in different parts of the district, with stalls selling religious paraphenilia, greeting cards, food, decorations, clothes, etc. Deepavali day itself is marked with a ritual bath and prayers in the morning, followed by feasting and visits to family and friends.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Thaipusam is celebrated prominently in Singapore, Malaysia and other countries with large Tamil populations. As a penance, participants carry 'kavadis' along a processional route. Some men carry kavadis attached to their bodies via hooks and spears that pierce their skin. Thaipusam is the only time when major Singapore roads are closed for a religious procession. The festival is a major religious and urban event, drawing thousands of devotees, supporters and onlookers.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Singapore's approximately 10,000 Indian Sikhs formed 3.4% of the Indian Singaporean population aged above 15 years. Most Sikhs in Singapore are of Indian Origin(accounting to 80-90% of Sikhs). There is a smaller Jain community consisting of a few thousand in population.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Among over 15% Muslim Singapore Residents, approximately 13% were Indian, with most of the remainder being Malay (82%), including some Chinese (2.2%) and other ethnicity (2.8%); Indian Muslim Singaporeans easily intermarried with Malays. predate the Islamic period (c. 570-632 AD), or the birth of Islam. In reality, Indonesians and Malays came to know about Islam through the merchants of South India and not through Arab missionaries. Among Christian Singapore Residents, about 5.8% were Indian, with most of the remainder being Chinese (86%), including small Malay (0.4%) and other ethnicity (7.8%). Within the Christian community, Indians formed 10.3% of Roman Catholics (including Kristangs of part-Indian descent), and 3.9% of Non-Catholic Christians (mainly Protestants).


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Within the wider Muslim and Christian communities, Indians have established their own places of worship, where sermons, services and prayers are conducted in Indian languages. Consequently, there are a substantial number of 'Indian' churches, mosques and Buddhist temples in Singapore. For example, the Masjid Jamae, built in 1826, is the oldest Tamil mosque in Singapore, and a National Monument. In 1888, the Tamil Catholic community set up the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Singapore's oldest Tamil Catholic Church, as well as a National Monument. The Sakya Muni Buddha Gaya Temple is a Theravada temple, built in a mix of Chinese, Indian, Sri Lankan and Thai styles, and is quite different from most Chinese Buddhist Mahayana temples in Singapore. The small Indian Buddhist community (mainly Sri Lankan Sinhalese) in Singapore often frequents this temple, which is located in Little India.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: The great variety of Singapore food includes Indian food, which tends to be Tamil cuisine and especially local Tamil Muslim cuisine, although North Indian food has become more visible recently. Indian dishes have become modified to different degrees, after years of contact with other Singapore cultures, and in response to locally available ingredients as well as changing local tastes. The local forms of Indian food may be seen as localised or even regional variations of Indian food, or in some cases, a form of hybrid Indian-Singaporean cuisine. Popular 'Indian' dishes and elements of Indian cuisine (although sometimes prepared and sold by non-Indians) include achar, curry (such as laksa and Fish head curry), Indian rojak, Indian mee goreng, murtabak, nasi biryani, roti john, roti prata and teh tarik.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Other dishes were popular during the colonial period, when Indian ingredients and other culinary influences spread with the Empire to places like Singapore. Many of them endure in some homes and restaurants. Some of these dishes include mince, mulligatawny soup, fish moolie, curry tiffin, pork vindaloo and spiced Mutton chop.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: There are also many other Indian foods that are less widely available foods, but which can still be found in several areas serving a more specifically Indian clientele, especially in and around Little India, Singapore. These include appam, bhatura, chutney, sambar, idli, muruku, putu mayam, samosa, tandoori, thosai, upma and various sweets, including jalebi, halva, laddu, paayasam and gulab jamun.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: The Indian imprint on Singapore's urban landscape can be seen most prominently in the form of the Little India neighbourhood. On 7 July 1989, at the start of architectural conservation in Singapore, this area was gazetted for conservation, which makes its buildings legally protected from unauthorised modifications and demolition. Bounded by Serangoon Road, Sungei Road and Jalan Besar, the area is recognised as the hub of the Indian community in Singapore. It contains mainly two-storey shophouses of the Early, Transitional, Late and Art Deco Shophouse Styles, as well as several places of worship for different faiths. Apart from serving the social, cultural and commercial needs of the Indian community, the area is established as one of the more historic urban districts in Singapore, with a colourful personality that makes it an indelible part of the national landscape and identity. In 2004, it was also Singapore's third most popular free-access tourist attraction, after Orchard Road and Chinatown.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Because of their linguistic and religious diversity, Singapore Indians use a variety of naming conventions. Traditionally, most Tamil Hindus place their father's name after their given name, linked by 's/o' (son of) or 'd/o' (daughter of), e.g. 'Ravi s/o Govindasamy'. Similarly, Tamil Muslims have names in the form 'Abdul s/o Rahman' (in contrast to Malay Muslims, who use the connector 'bin' (son of) or 'binte / bte' (daughter of) instead). Likewise, a Tamil Christian name might be Daryl s/o David. The use of these connectors arose during the colonial period. However, this format is somewhat rare today.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Often, an individual will reduce their father's name to an initial, hence 'G. Ravi'. This approach is popular among many Singapore politicians, as it simplifies names that, to non-Indian Singaporeans, can be very long, complicated and difficult to pronounce. Thus, the late Senior Minister Sinnathamby Rajaratnam was known as S. Rajaratnam, while late former President Sellapa Ramanathan is known as S.R. Nathan. Likewise, other prominent Indians include S. Dhanabalan, S. Jayakumar and J. B. Jeyaretnam (also known simply as 'JBJ'). Likewise, Tamil Muslims and Christians also use initials in a similar way. This convention is regularly used in South India.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Another popular approach is to omit the 's/o' or 'd/o' connector altogether, e.g. 'Ravi Govindasamy'. While the name appears to conform to a Western format, the last name (Govindasamy) technically remains the father's name, and is not the family surname. As such, the individual should properly be addressed as 'Mr Ravi', rather than 'Mr Govindasamy'. However, some people use their father's name as a surname, i.e. Ravi calls himself 'Mr Govindasamy' and uses it as a surname for his children. Instead of naming his son 'Arun (s/o) Ravi', he would name him 'Arun Govindasamy' (or even 'Arun Govind'). This approach is also adopted among several Tamil Christians. Some new surnames have been created in this way.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Several South Indians use caste names as surnames in the Western mode. Common examples of such names in Singapore include Iyer and Pillay/mudaliyar (Tamil), Nair and Menon (Malayalee). While Telugu people use caste as the middle name Reddy/Naidu and family name as surname.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Some Tamil Christian families have retained Indian names (as given names or 'family' names), generally alongside or in place of Western or Christian names, e.g. Vivian Balakrishnan.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Some West and East Indian groups, such as the Gujaratis, Marathis and Bengalis, use family surnames, although the Gujaratis may choose whether to merge their father's name with the surname. Sikh men invariably adopt 'Singh' as their surname, while Sikh women adopt 'Kaur', as is their traditional practice. However, some Sikhs have also re-introduced supplementary family or clan names, thus instead of simply 'Charanjit Singh', an individual might adopt the name 'Charanjit Singh Siddhu' for himself or his son.


title: Indian Singaporeans

text: Many of the clubs and associations established by and for Indians in Singapore are defined along narrower linguistic, religious or other sub-ethnic lines. The following groups are among the more important national Indian organisations in Singapore that cater to all Indians, regardless or cultural background.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: The culture of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Văn hoá Việt Nam) is highly multicultural. The early culture in Vietnam started with the Bronze Age Đông Sơn culture considered to be one of its most important progenitors for its Ancient history. Vietnamese culture was heavily influenced by Chinese culture due to the 1000 years of Northern rule. In this period of time, Classical Chinese was used to write which was known as Hán văn. Vietnamese was written with chữ Hán, a Chinese script, and a Vietnamese derived script ("chữ Nôm") from Chinese characters, but which included invented characters to represent native Vietnamese words. These scripts were known collectively as chữ Hán Nôm. This large impact on Vietnamese culture means that Vietnam is often considered to be part of the Sinosphere (with China, South Korea, North Korea, and Japan).


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Following independence from China in the 10th century, Vietnam began a southward expansion and annexed territories formerly belonging to Champa and Khmer, resulting in various influences on the Vietnamese. During the French colonial period, Catholicism and a Latin alphabet (the Vietnamese alphabet), called "chữ Quốc Ngữ" (National Language Script), romanising the Vietnamese language, was introduced in Vietnam.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Some elements considered to be characteristic of Vietnamese culture include ancestor veneration, respect for community and family, manual labour and living in harmony with nature.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Vietnam is one of the most linguistic diverse countries in Southeast Asia. Although Vietnamese is set as the official language of Vietnam, there are currently more than 100 speaking languages in the country. They belong to five different major linguistic families: Austronesian, Austroasiatic, Hmong–Mien, Sino–Tibetan, and Kra–Dai.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: The Vietnamese language is an Austroasiatic language with monosyllabic and tonal features, sharing similarities with some Northern Austroasiatic languages, such as Bolyu. The writing of Vietnamese started with Vietnamese script ("chữ Nôm") in the 13th century which used Chinese script as a basis, to the current Latin iteration ("chữ Quốc Ngữ").


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: The current Vietnamese alphabet uses diacritics (glyph added to a letter) to represent tones in Vietnamese writing. When computerised, digraphs are used. For example, input 'a' generates 'a', but input 'aa' generates â.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: The Vietnamese Latin alphabet uses the horn for the letters ""ơ"" and ""ư""; the circumflex for the letters ""â"", ""ê"", and ""ô""; the breve for the letter ""ă""; and a bar through the letter ""đ"".


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: It also has six tones: ""á"", ""à"", ""ả"", ""ã"" and ""ạ"", the five tones used for vowels along with flat tone ""a"".


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: The first evidence of writing in Vietnam appeared after the Han conquest of Nanyue (111 BC) with the introducing of Old Chinese and Classical Chinese in modern-day North and Central Vietnam. They, however, only had been materialized in form of fragments, short sentences engraved on bricks and coins. The first surviving literature in Vietnam is the Sanskrit Võ Cạnh inscription (4th century AD) near Nha Trang, which belongs to either Funan or Chamic culture. Following Võ Cạnh is the Old Cham Đông Yên Châu inscription near Trà Kiệu, dating from late 4th century, was erected by King Bhadravarman I of Champa, and was written in Old Southern Brahmic script. It remains today as the oldest attested epigraph of any Southeast Asian language, predating Mon, Khmer, Malay by centuries.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Historically Vietnamese literature was initially written in chữ Hán and then chữ Nôm. Literature using Nôm script began roughly in the 10th century. Up until the 21st century, there had been two components existing at the same time: works written in Literary Chinese (with poems and prose demonstrating Vietnamese history and realities; thus, they are regarded as Vietnamese literature) and works written in Nôm script (mostly poems).


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Since the 1920s, literature has been mainly composed in the national language script (Vietnamese alphabet) with profound renovations in form and category such as novels, new-style poems, short stories and dramas, and with diversity in artistic tendency. Written literature attained speedy development after the August Revolution, when it was directed by the Vietnamese Communist Party's guideline and focused on the people's fighting and work life.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Classical literature include "Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kieu)" (Nguyễn Du), "Cung Oán Ngâm Khúc (Complaint of a Palace Maid)" (Nguyễn Gia Thiều), "Chinh phụ ngâm" "(Lament of the soldier's wife)" (Đặng Trần Côn), and "Quốc âm Thi Tập" ("Poetry Collection") (Nguyễn Trãi), all of which are transliterated or annotated in chữ Quốc ngữ. Some famous female poets include Hồ Xuân Hương, Đoàn Thị Điểm, and Bà Huyện Thanh Quan.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Modern Vietnamese literature has developed from romanticism to realism, from heroism in wartime to all aspects of life, and developed into ordinary life of the Vietnamese.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Vietnam has had a diverse range of cultural poetry throughout its history. Historically, Vietnamese poetry consists of three language traditions. Each poetry was written exclusively in Classical Chinese and later incorporated Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary. It was also often centered around the themes and traditions of Buddhism and Confucianism.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: This style of poetry remained prominent until the 13th century. Thereafter, poetry and literature in the Vietnamese language emerged as the primary rival to literature written in Classical Chinese.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: The chữ Nôm writing system for the Vietnamese language was adapted for Vietnamese poetry. This writing system was also sanctioned by the Vietnamese government and recognized as the primary language of the nation. It remained as the main writing system for Vietnamese poetry until the end of the 20th century.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: However, this was changed upon the advent of European rule from the introduction of the romanized script (known as chữ Quốc Ngữ) As a result, the precise meaning of Vietnamese poems in Hán Nôm may have gotten lost in the translation process to chữ Quốc Ngữ.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Traditional Vietnamese art is a part of art practiced in Vietnam or by Vietnamese artists, from ancient times (including the elaborate Đông Sơn drums) to post-Chinese domination art which was strongly influenced by Chinese Buddhist art, as well as Taoism and Confucianism. The art of Champa and France also played a smaller role later on.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: The Chinese influence on Vietnamese art extends into Vietnamese pottery and ceramics, calligraphy, and traditional architecture. Currently, Vietnamese lacquer paintings have proven to be quite popular.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Calligraphy has had a long history in Vietnam, previously using chữ Hán along with chữ Nôm. However, most modern Vietnamese calligraphy instead uses the Roman-character based Viẹtnamese alphabet, which has proven to be very popular.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: In the past, when literacy in the old character-based writing systems of were restricted to Vietnamese scholars, calligraphy nevertheless still played an important part in Vietnamese life. On special occasions such as Lunar New Year, people would go to the village teacher or scholar to make them a calligraphy hanging (often poetry, folk sayings or even single words). People who could not read or write also often commissioned at temple shrines.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Vietnamese silk painting is one of the most popular forms of art in Vietnam, favored for the mystical atmosphere that can be achieved with the medium. During the 19th and 20th centuries, French influence was absorbed into Vietnamese art and the liberal and modern use of color especially began to differentiate Vietnamese silk paintings from their Chinese, Japanese and Korean counterparts. Vietnamese silk paintings typically showcase the countryside, landscapes, pagodas, historical events or scenes of daily life.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: A folk art with a long history in Vietnam, Vietnamese woodblock prints have reached a level of popularity outside of Vietnam. Organic materials are used to make the paint, which is applied to wood and pressed on paper. The process is repeated with different colors.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Vietnamese music varies slightly in the three regions: North, Central, and South. Northern classical music is Vietnam's oldest and is traditionally more formal. Vietnamese classical music can be traced to the Mongol invasions, when the Vietnamese captured a Chinese opera troupe. Central classical music shows the influences of Champa culture with its melancholic melodies. Southern music exudes a lively laissez-faire attitude.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Vietnam has some 50 national music instruments, in which the set of percussion instruments is the most popular, diverse and long-lasting such as "đàn đáy, đàn tranh, đàn nhị, đàn bầu" ... The set of blowing instruments is represented by flutes and pan-pipes, while the set of string instruments is specified by "đàn bầu" and "đàn đáy".


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Vietnamese folksongs are rich in forms and melodies of regions across the country, ranging from "ngâm thơ" (reciting poems), "hát ru" (lullaby), "hò" (chanty) to "hát quan họ, trong quan, xoan, dum, ví giặm, ca Huế, bài chòi, ly". Apart from this, there are also other forms like "hát xẩm, chầu văn", and "ca trù."


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: In the 20th century, in contact with the Western culture, especially after national independence, many new categories of arts like plays, photography, cinemas, and modern art had taken shape and developed strongly, obtaining huge achievements with the contents reflecting the social and revolutionary realities. Up to 1997, there have been 44 people operating in cultural and artistic fields honored with the Hồ Chi Minh Award, 130 others conferred with People's Artist Honor, and 1011 people awarded with the Excellent Artist Honor. At the start of 1997, there were 191 professional artistic organizations and 26 film studios (including central and local ones). There have been 28 movies, 49 scientific and documentary films receiving international motion picture awards in many countries.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Water puppetry (), is a distinct Vietnamese art form which had its origins in the 10th century and very popular in northern region. In Water puppetry a split-bamboo screen obscures puppets which stand in water, and are manipulated using long poles hidden beneath the water. Epic story lines are played out with many different puppets, often using traditional scenes of Vietnamese life. The puppets are made from quality wood, such as the Southeast Asian jackfruit tree. Each puppet is carefully carved, and then painted with numerous successive layers of paint in order to protect the puppets.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Despite nearly dying out in the 20th century, water puppetry has been recognized by the Vietnamese government as an important part of Vietnam's cultural heritage. Today, puppetry is commonly performed by professional puppeteers, who typically are taught by their elders in rural areas of Vietnam.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Vietnam also has 54 different ethnicities, each with their own tradition. Among the ethnic Vietnamese majority, there are several traditional dances performed widely at festivals and other special occasions, such as the lion dance.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: In the imperial court, there also developed throughout the centuries a series of complex court dances which require great skill. Some of the more widely known are the imperial lantern dance, fan dance, and platter dance, among others.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Vietnamese cuisine is extremely diverse, often divided into three main categories, each pertaining to Vietnam's three main regions (north, central and south). It uses very little oil and many vegetables, and is mainly based on rice and fish sauce. Its characteristic flavors are sweet (sugar), spicy (Bird's eye chili), sour (lime), "nước mắm" (fish sauce), and flavored by a variety of mint and basil.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Vietnam also has a large variety of noodles and noodle soups. Different regions invented typically different types of noodles, varying in shapes, tastes, colors, etc. One of the nation's most famous type of noodles is phở (), a type of noodle soup originating in North Vietnam, which consists of rice noodles and beef soup (sometimes chicken soup) with several other ingredients such as bean sprouts and scallions (spring onions). It is often eaten for breakfast, but also makes a satisfying lunch or light dinner. The boiling stock, fragrant with spices and sauces, is poured over the noodles and vegetables, poaching the paper-thin slices of raw beef just before serving. Phở is meant to be savored, incorporating several different flavors: the sweet flavour of beef, sour lemons, salty fish sauce, and fresh vegetables.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Besides folk religion, religion in Vietnam has historically been a mix of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, known in Vietnamese as the Tam Giáo ("the three religions"). Recently, scholars have provided empirical evidence on the existence of the socio-cultural phenomenon called "cultural additivity" in Vietnamese history and society.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Ancestor worship and filial piety is commonly practised amongst the older generation of Vietnamese. Most Vietnamese, regardless of religious denomination, practice ancestor worship and have an ancestor altar at their home or business.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: One of the most popular folk traditions is the worship of Mother Goddess (or Đạo Mẫu) Mother worship is the belief, admiration, honor, and worship of Goddess associated with natural and cosmic phenomena. The Vietnamese people come to Mother Goddess to find support and protection and has been worshipped for many generations.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: When a death occurs in a Vietnamese household, the family members of the deceased would hold a wake ceremony or vigil that typically lasts for approximately five to six days. However, the duration of the ceremony may extend if the family is expecting the arrival of relatives residing abroad. The body is washed and dressed. A chopstick, is laid between the teeth and a pinch of rice and three coins are placed in the mouth. The body is put on a grass mat laid on the ground according to the saying, "being born from the earth, one must return to the earth." The dead body is enveloped with white cloth, "lễ khâm niệm", and placed in a coffin, "lễ nhập quan". Finally, the funeral ceremony, "lễ thành phục", is officially performed.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: The surviving family wear coarse gauze turbans and tunics for the funeral. There are two types of funeral processions:


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: In feudal Vietnam, clothing was one of the most important marks of social status and strict dress codes were enforced. After the Ming conquest of Vietnam, Ming-style clothing was imposed by a Ming official within a month. Due to the previous centuries of conflict between China and Vietnam, Ming administrators said that their mission was to attempt to "civilize" the unorthodox Vietnamese "barbarians", which ironically reduced the amount of Taoist institutions in the process.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Prior to the Nguyễn dynasty, people not of noble birth could dress quite liberally with only few restrictions on styles. For example, wearing yellow color in the Lý dynasty was tolerable since the Imperial clan wore red and white color. However, things changed at the beginning of the Nguyễn dynasty. Commoners now had a limited choice of similarly plain and simple clothes for every day use, as well as being limited in the colors they were allowed to use. For instance, commoners were not allowed to wear clothes with dyes other than black, brown or white (with the exception of special occasions such as festivals), but in actuality these rules could change often based upon the whims of the current ruler.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: The áo tràng vạt was a traditional cross-collared robe worn by Vietnamese before the 19th century. During the Nguyễn dynasty, it was replaced by the áo ngũ thân and became obsolete.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: The áo tứ thân or "four-part dress" is one such example of an ancient dress widely worn by commoner women, along with the áo yếm bodice which accompanied it. Peasants across the country also gradually came to wear silk pajama-like costumes, known as "áo cánh" in the north and áo bà ba in the south.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: The headgear differed from time to time. People of the Lý dynasty and Nguyễn dynasty often put on a plain piece of cloth wrapped around the head (generally called khăn đóng), while in Trần dynasty and Lê dynasty leaving the head bare was more common. Beside the popular nón lá (conical hat), a vast array of other hats and caps were available, constructed from numerous different types of materials, ranging from silk to bamboo and horse hair. Even the nón lá (conical hat) came in several different shapes and sizes, now only two styles still persist. For footwear peasants would often go barefoot, whereas sandals and shoes were reserved for the aristocracy and royalty.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Nguyễn emperors had the exclusive right to wear the color gold, while nobles wore red or purple. In the past the situation was different, Đinh dynasty and Lý dynasty rulers wore red, and Trần dynasty emperors wore white. Each member of the royal court had an assortment of different formal gowns they would wear at a particular ceremony, or for a particular occasion. The rules governing the fashion of the royal court could change dynasty by dynasty, thus costumes of the Vietnamese court were quite diverse. However, certain fundamental concepts applied.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: The most popular and widely recognized Vietnamese national costume is the . Áo dài is worn by both genders but today it is worn mainly by women, except for certain important traditional culture-related occasions where some men do wear it. Áo dài consists of a long gown with a slit on both sides, worn over cotton or silk trousers. Adoption and enforcement of áo ngũ thân (the predecessor of the áo dài) took place in the mid 18th century by the rulers of Đàng Trong. They decided that their garments had to be distinctive to set themselves apart from the people of Đàng Ngoài where "áo tràng vạt" and "nhu quần" were worn. White áo dài is the required uniform for girls in many high schools across Vietnam. In some types of offices (e.g. receptionists, secretaries, tour guides), women are also required to wear áo dài.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: In daily life, the traditional Vietnamese styles are now replaced by Western styles. Traditional clothing is worn instead on special occasions, with the exception of the white áo dài commonly seen with high school girls in Vietnam.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Vietnamese martial arts are highly developed from the country's long history of warfare and attempts to defend itself from foreign occupation. Although most heavily influenced by Chinese martial arts, they have developed their own characteristics throughout the millennia in combination with other influences from their neighbours. Vietnamese martial arts are deeply spiritual due to the influence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and are strongly reliant on the "Việt Võ Đạo" (philosophy of Vietnamese martial arts).


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Vietnamese martial arts remain relatively unknown in the world today when compared to their counterparts from China, Japan, Korea or Thailand. However, this is seeing a definite change as schools teaching various styles of Vietnamese martial arts are starting to pop up all over the world, notably in countries such as Spain.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: In traditional Vietnamese culture, kinship plays an important role in Vietnam. Whilst Western culture is known for its emphasis on individualism, Vietnamese culture places value on the roles of family. For specific information, see Vietnamese pronouns. In current rural Vietnam, one can still see three or four generations living under one roof.


title: Culture of Vietnam

text: Communication culture in traditional Vietnamese families tends to follow the top-down stereotype and is highly hierarchical. Vietnamese people transmit the family culture through teach communication. The three core relationships in the Vietnamese society are king - people, father - child, wife - husband. The father - child, wife - husband relationship shows that the father has the biggest role and position in the family and has a strong influence on the rest of the family. Today, the father - child relationship has started to transition intoa parent child relationship as both parents have profound influence on their children.