'India has a profound impact on the culture of Singapore'

Singaporean President Tony Tan said that cross-cultural exhibitions of the kind he inaugurated here "enhance and deepen" bilateral ties between the two nations.

The exhibition - The Peranakan World, Cross-cultural Art of Singapore and the Straits of Malacca - was inaugurated at the National Museum Tuesday evening. It highlights the cross-cultural traditions of the Peranakan Chinese in Singapore and the surrounding region.

"Such an exhibition promotes a better understanding of Singapore's multi-racial communities and how they form the core of its identity," a culture ministry statement quoted Tan as saying.

"India has a profound impact on the culture of Singapore," said Tan, adding that his country would be hosting an India culture festival this year and will also open an Indian Heritage Centre.

The exhibition is part of Tan's first state visit to India to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Peranakan Chinese are the descendants of southern Chinese traders who settled in Southeast Asia and married local women. Their culture is rooted in Chinese traditions, but with strong influences from Southeast Asia and Europe.

The one-and-a-half-month long exhibition will showcase an assortment of artefacts which comprise gold and diamond jewellery, belt buckles, porcelain, furniture and beadwork.

Peranakan art in this exhibition reflects these diverse influences and highlight how Chinese, Malay, Indian and European cultures were fused into a distinctive style.