Interview 1

Proband 1

A: How old are you?

P: I'm 22 years old.

A: Were you born in Singapore? If not, where are you from? Since when have you moved to Singapore?

P: No, I wasn't. I was born and raised in Vietnam. However after graduating my high school, I moved to Singapore in 2007. I've been here for 4 years.

A: What are you doing in Singapore?

P: I am currently working in education industry as a marketing executive and an adminstrator

A: Which do you like in Singapore?

P: Alright, that's a good question. To summarize, I love the evironment, food, traffic and people here. You won't be able to find a cleaner and greener city than Singapore. Staying in Singapore, you would have the chance to taste all types of food from everywhere in the world. Travelling is very convenient here, you can catch up with your friends anywehere within half an hour without a car.

A: Singapore is known as a multi-culture social. Do you think that right? And why?

P: That's much right! Why? If you sit down at crowded street, looked at the flow of people walking, you would see people from every parts of this world, from West to East, Europe to Asia, Buddist to Muslim. Singapore itself contains 7 races of people and more than 10 religions.

A: As I know, there are in Singapore a lot of different religions. Each religion has its own celebrations. So it muss be a number of celebrations. How do you think about this?

P: Yeah, there are quite a number of celebrations. Most of the major celebrations make Singapore's public holiday. And there are 12 public holidays in Singapore. You could enjoy the festivals of all religions in Singapore, if you were here, from Lunar New Year of Asian people, to Christmas of Western people...

A: How many vacation days a year do you have? If on a work day you have your religious celebration, which is very important, what will you do?

P: The answer I have stated in question 6. Other than Public Holiday, as an employee, you still have 14 days of annual leave. You can use it to take a day-off from work to celebrate your religious events.

A: Did you and your schoolmates celebrate festivals together at the school?

P: Yes, we did, numerous of times. We did all the stuff likes selling cakes to raise fund during Christmas events, stuffs or making CDs for sale during Lunar New Year.

I felt excited when doing it. It's really interesting to share the culture with my schoolmates and we understand more about eachother. I ever dressed in Korean traditional when I played a role in our Lunar New Year party and everyone looked admiredly at me when I dressed our Vietnamese traditional male long-dress. Those were most precious memories when I learnt in school, very nice memories.

A: Do you think, that your daily routine will be changed during the time of festivals?

P: Yes, it's tottaly different from lecturing days in school. When you learned from your friends, you practiced on your own and gained various practical experience. Festivals did make the atmosphere become special and warmer, where everyone worked and enjoyed together, brought people closer.

A: Are there any religious festivals in Singapore, which you don´t like? Why?

P: Each religious festivals have its own meaning. I don't hate it and dislike any.

A: Can you describe Singapore in a fews words?

P: A country where you can see the whole world inside it. Singapore would make you feel like you're staying in your home.

A: Thank you very much!