Traditions are important because it provides people with a way to govern themselves in a world where moral standards are now often being compromised. Most traditions have moral and ethical messages embedded within them, and these serve as guidelines as to how people should govern themselves and, therefore, gain a degree of control over their lives. Before the invention of today’s modern laws, people used traditions as their guiding principles and while some traditions were abandoned, most of them are recycled and reused as the basis or foundations for some of the existing laws today. At times, traditions could have such a powerful and pervading influence, so much so that they become unspoken laws, laws of logic that the masses hold to. Examples of traditions that we hold dear would be the Chinese New Year festival, where it teaches the value of sharing and family unity and importance.
Traditions are also important to keep us rooted in our own self identity especially in this globalized world where the spread of Americanization serves to dilute our own culture and values. The unique practices that people still and continually adhere to, serve as a reminder of our origins and give us a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors. It is only through undergoing the activities that our ancestors have undergone, that we are able to understand our personal histories and be aware of the cultural identities that we each possess, particularly, in Singapore where it also serves as a binding force for a heterogeneous society, where a plethora of different cultures and traditions abound.
However, retaining a sense of tradition may not be important as it may lead to segregation and divide people especially in a multi-racial and multi-religious country such as Singapore. While having a sense of tradition unites people together, it only applies to people who belong to a particular group who share the same traditions. This inadvertently creates an “us” versus “them” kind of mind set within the different parties and it would serve to heighten the sense of suspicion and fear. Also, given that Singapore is increasingly globalized and greater influx of people are coming to this city to work and travel, it does not make sense to retain traditions. Traditions in this case no longer serve any purpose and they should be re-adapted to fit the contexts of the present day.
Finally, traditions may not even hold any role in today’s world where people’s lives are getting more and more fast-paced- simply because people do not have the time to uphold these traditions. For example, it has been observed that the annual Chinese Qing Ming festival is in the danger of being virtually extinct. The number of families that turn up on the day of Qing Ming has been decreasing most likely because of tight and busy working schedules which incidentally, has been cited as one of the common reasons by Singaporean Chinese. In a world where stress is placed on individuals to succeed and to attain a degree of sustainable income to support themselves, such traditions serve to hinder their progress and may make them lose out on the race, therefore, traditions may not always be important.
