Fun Facts About Cultural, Religious and Racial Holidays in Singapore
The only religious holiday with a fixed date is Christmas, on December 25.
All other holidays move dates:
- Muslim holidays follow the lunar calendar, which uses the phases of the moon to measure time.
- Chinese holidays and many Hindu holidays follow the lunisolar calendar, a combination of a lunar calendar and a solar calendar (which has 365 days).
- Easter Sunday, the Christian holiday marking the resurrection of Jesus, is also determined with a lunisolar calendar.
- Lunar months are shorter than solar months at about 29.5 days, creating an 11-day difference between lunar and solar years. This is why Muslim holidays shift to be earlier with each passing calendar year, and can coincide with other cultural holidays such as Chinese New Year or Deepavali after a cycle of several years.
- Many cultural holidays celebrated in Singapore fall on days of the full moon or the new moon.
- In Singapore, Vesak Day is celebrated on the first full moon of the fourth lunar month in the Chinese calendar. Other countries mark the day on the 8th or the 15th day of the fourth lunar month.
- Deepavali, or the Festival of Lights, celebrates the triumph of good over evil and light conquering the dark. It is celebrated on the darkest night, or new moon, in the seventh month of the Hindu calendar – usually in October or November.
- Thaipusam is celebrated on the full moon in the tenth month of Thai in the Hindu calendar, usually in January or February. “Pusam” means the brightest moon.
- New Year’s Day, a secular holiday, goes according to the Gregorian calendar, which follows a solar year.
- Among the official public holidays of Singapore, only the Chinese New Year holiday celebrates a cultural new year.
Now that you’re more aware of why certain holidays don’t have fixed dates, go ahead and optimise your leave dates with the official public holiday dates from the Ministry of Manpower.