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Public holidays in Singapore

The schedule of 11 public holidays in Singapore which are gazetted and recognized since the establishment of Singapore's 1998 Holidays Act.[1][2]

List of public holidays in Singapore

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There are generally 11 public holidays a year; however, since the gap between the Islamic calendar and the Gregorian calendar lasts around 11 days, Hari Raya Aidil Fitri and Hari Raya Aidil Adha are respectively celebrated twice in a Gregorian calendar year every 32 or 33 years. This occurred in 1968 and 2000 for Hari Raya Puasa as well as 1974 and 2006 for Hari Raya Haji, giving Singaporeans 12 public holidays in those years, not 13 since they are not close enough to be both celebrated twice in the same Gregorian year, only either one of the two.[3]

Date Name Remarks
1 January New Year's Day Celebrates the opening of the Gregorian New Year marked annual day to commemorate the first day of the Gregorian calendar.
January/February Chinese New Year A two-day holiday. Celebrates the opening of the Chinese holiday marked annual festival to commemorate the first and second days of the Chinese calendar.
March/April Good Friday This Christian holiday marks the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ.
1 May Labour Day Celebrates the economic and social achievements of workers.
May/June Vesak Day This Buddhist holiday celebrates the birth and enlightenment and Parinibbana of Gautama Buddha.
9 August National Day Celebrates the commemorate the nationhood and independence of Singapore
October/November Deepavali The Hindu holiday celebrates the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after defeating the demon king Ravana and vanquishing of the demon Naraka by Lord Krishna
25 December Christmas Day This Christian holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.
1st Shawwal Hari Raya Puasa This Islamic holiday celebrates the close of the fasting month of Ramadan.
10th Dhu al-Hijjah Hari Raya Haji This Islamic holiday celebrates the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to Allah.

Under the Holiday's Act, should a Public Holiday fall on a Sunday, the following day on Monday would be gazetted as a public holiday (also called holiday-in-lieu). There are however, special occasions, that may be gazetted by the President of Singapore to declare any day to be observed as a public holiday by modifying any days specified in the schedule to the Holidays' Act and if any, another day to be observed as an additional public holiday when in that year two public holidays fall on the same day.[4] One such occasion occurred during the 2015's National Day, whereas an additional day of August 7 was gazetted as a public holiday in addition to August 10 being the holiday-in-lieu.

If any public holiday falls on a Saturday in Singapore, the following Monday is declared as a school holiday for students in primary & secondary schools, only if that Monday is not a public holiday itself.

General / Presidential Elections

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Under Section 35 of the Parliamentary Elections Act and Section 17 of the Presidential Elections Act, Polling Day for a general election or a presidential election (but not By-elections) is a public holiday that is gazetted by the Returning Officer from the Elections Department Singapore. Under the Employment Act, employees not required to work on that day are entitled to one day off in lieu or be given one day's pay.[5]

Defunct public holidays

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Up to and including 1968, these few were also gazetted as public holidays but were removed to improve business competitiveness.

  • Boxing Day - Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated the day after Christmas Day.
  • Easter Monday - Easter Monday in the Western Christian liturgical calendar is the second day of Eastertide and analogously in the Byzantine Rite is the second day of Bright Week.
  • Holy Saturday - Holy Saturday, the Saturday of Holy Week, also known as the Great Sabbath, Black Saturday, or Easter Eve, and called "Joyous Saturday" or "the Saturday of Light" among Coptic Christians, is the day after Good Friday.
  • Thaipusam - A Hindu festival celebrated mostly by the Tamil community on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai.
  • Mawlid - The observance of the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad which is celebrated in Rabi' al-awwal, the third month in the Islamic calendar.
  • Second day of Hari Raya Puasa - Second day of Hari Raya

Workers' rights

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It is legal for employers to agree to give their employees other holidays in substitution for one or more public holidays.[6] No act or thing relating to any government department or public authority, any judicial proceeding, any transaction, instrument or any other act or thing is rendered invalid where it is done or executed on a Sunday or public holiday.[7]

Under the Employment Act,[8] an employee who is required to work on a public holiday is entitled to an extra day's salary at the basic rate of pay, in addition to the gross rate of pay for that holiday.

The days observed as general public holidays in Singapore are declared in the schedule to the Holidays Act.[9] According to the Ministry of Manpower, which issues a yearly list of the dates on which public holidays fall, the holidays were "chosen and agreed upon after close consultation with different community and religious leaders in Singapore".[3] Other factors taken into account were the impact on business costs and statutory leave provided for under the Employment Act.[10] Thus, some religious holidays such as Easter Monday, Mawlid (the birthday of Muhammad), Boxing Day and Thaipusam were removed from the list of public holidays to improve business competitiveness.[3]

Festivals of Singapore

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Muslim festivals

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Festival Date Status Ethnic Group
Hari Raya Puasa 1 Syawal Domestic Malay
Hari Raya Haji 10 Zulhijjah Domestic Malay

Buddhist festivals

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Festival Date Status Ethnic Group
Vesak Full moon day of the month of Vaisakha Domestic Chinese, Indian

Christian festivals

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Festival Date Status
New Year's Day 1 January Domestic
Good Friday The Friday preceding Easter Sunday Domestic
Easter Domestic
Christmas Eve 24 December Domestic
Christmas Day 25 December Domestic
New Year's Eve 31 December Domestic

Indian festivals

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Festival Date Status Ethnic Group
Thaipusam mid-January to mid-February Domestic Indian and Tamil
Deepavali Domestic Indian and Tamil

Chinese festivals

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Festival Date Status Ethnic Group
Chinese New Year's Eve January/February Domestic Chinese
Chinese New Year January/February Domestic Chinese
Festival of the Heavenly God or Jade Emperor January/February Domestic Chinese
Lantern Festival January/February Domestic Chinese
Qing Ming Festival April Domestic Chinese
Duanwu Festival / Dragon Boat Festival June Domestic Chinese
Qixi Festival / Chinese Valentine's Day August Domestic Chinese
Hungry Ghost Festival August/September Domestic Chinese
Nine Emperor Gods Festival September/October Domestic Chinese
Mid-Autumn Festival / Mooncake Festival September/October Domestic Chinese
Double Ninth Festival 9th day of the 9th lunar month Domestic Chinese
Dōngzhì Festival / Winter Solstice Festival December Domestic Chinese

References

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  1. ^ "Holidays Act (Chapter 126)". Singapore Statutes Online. 1999. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Holidays Act (Chapter 126), Legislative History". Singapore Statutes Online. 1999. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Jeanette Wang (26 October 2009), "Public holidays: How S'pore compares", The Straits Times, p. B19.
  4. ^ Holidays Act, ss. 5(1) and (2).
  5. ^ "Public Holidays 2011".
  6. ^ Holidays Act, s. 6.
  7. ^ Holidays Act, s. 7.
  8. ^ Employment Act (Cap. 91, 2009 Rev. Ed.)
  9. ^ Holidays Act (Cap. 126, 1999 Rev. Ed.), s. 4(1).
  10. ^ Employment Act (Cap. 91, 2009 Rev. Ed.).
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