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The Importance Of National Culture

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It is difficult and vague to solely define the term “national culture” as it includes several elements and dimensions that cannot be specified. The role of culture definitely plays a crucial role in order for the collective mindset to have a shared value and build up the nationhood. As according to Hofstede (2001), these values hold a broad tendency to determine the way of doing things over the others. The core of culture consists of the traditional ideas and self-attached values such as the way we think, feel and react by symbols (Kluckhohn 1951). In a broader sense, national culture often being defined as the values, beliefs and presumptions that are built up since childhood that help differentiating a group of people from another (Beck and …show more content…

Also, this essay will also discover and discuss whether “national culture” has evolved over time.

Besides, the key theme or issue of “national identity” is often being discussed in relation with national culture. To add on, cultural nationalists refer “identity” to their origin or native land as ‘motherland’ or ‘fatherland’ that often determined by one’s birth (Jusdanis 1995, 37). In the 1970s, there was a huge population in Australia that was “born outside the country or has at least one parent born overseas” and therefore resulting Australia being a diasporic society (O’Regan 1996, 305). In this case, this is contrasting with the previous statement that people of the non-native land can also be included and represent as national identity, yet in a former way that is giving out former citizenship instead of one’s origin. As according to O’Regan (1996, 305), Australia’s current dominant ethnicity is of cultural hybridization, no longer of a certain ancestral …show more content…

Thus, Singapore is well-known for being a multicultural society as all individuals share a common cultural heritage such as language and religion, receiving fair and equal treatment and opportunity, also maintaining and developing skills for economic development (Jupp 2001, 264). Back then, the concept of nationhood was usually defined and tied with government project, yet the idea of it has evolved due to the work of various multicultural artists with diverse backgrounds that able to generate a new hybridized cross-cultural art (Gunew 1994, 6). For example, famous local filmmakers Anthony Chen’s Ilo Ilo has successfully reflected the local lifestyle between Singaporeans and the immigrants; the famous landmark - Merlion Park that portrayed a historical and cultural side of Singapore, establishment of the Malay Heritage Centre, Tiger Balm Garden reflecting the Chinese diasporic society and the oldest Hindu temple – Sri Veeramakaliamman temple in Singapore. All these are of the multicultural artists effort that are now currently providing a sense of belonging and a framework to negotiate over the content of national culture. Hence, the idea of nationhood is no longer fixed but and open-ended formation that emphasize more

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