This Week's NATIONAL ETIQUETTE AWARD goes to... Singapore!

Singapore Page in Wikipedia

Uniquely Singapore- Tourist site

Singapore Infomap

Singapore Government Information

I hereby grant the National Etiquette Award to Singapore, as it is customary in that country to remove shoes when entering homes.

There are three main ethnic groups in Singapore, Chinese, Malays and Indians. In all three cultures it is generally the custom to remove shoes in homes.

If I go out as a missionary to Japan with the particular agency I am in discussions with, I will be required to spend a month in Singapore. All of their missionaries to East Asia are required to do this in order to give them an introduction to East Asia. A lady at work who had visited Singapore and Thailand helped me to see why this was necessary, pointing out that Singapore is far more westernized than other Asian countries, thus providing a gentle introduction to Asian life.

The particular mission agency apparently has few British workers in Japan, but a large number of Singaporeans. There are a large number of Singaporean missionaries out there; there are many Christians in Singapore. They are sadly predominantly of Chinese origin, Christians among the Malays are rare, being a Muslim people. There are restrictions on evangelism.

The Jehovah's Witnesses have experienced some persecution in Singapore; I understand this is mainly because of their resistance to military service.

I have recently had some lively discussions about Free Grace with a blogger called Jenson. He is a Singaporean living in London. You can visit his blog:

Jenson's Blog

His theology is firmly Reformed Baptist and he adheres to the Baptist Confession of Faith (1689).