Public holidays in Singapore

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The 11 major public holidays in Singapore reflect the cultural and religious diversity of the country. They include the Chinese New Year, the Buddhist holiday Vesak Day, the Muslim holidays Hari Raya Puasa and Hari Raya Haji, the Hindu holiday Deepavali, and the Christian holidays of Good Friday and Christmas Day. This represents a carefully calibrated distribution of public holidays among the religious and ethnic communities in the country. Because of this, certain special days traditionally celebrated by locals have not been given public holiday status. These include Christian holidays such as Ascension Day; Muslim holidays such as Awal Muharram and Mawlid, the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad; and Hindu holidays such as Thaipusam.

Public holidays

The days observed as general public holidays in Singapore are declared in the schedule to the Holidays Act. 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". Other factors taken into account were the impact on business costs and statutory leave provided for under the Employment Act. Thus, some religious holidays such as Easter Monday, Mawlid (the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad) and Thaipusam were removed from the list of public holidays to improve business competitiveness.

There are generally 11 public holidays a year. However, due to the differences between the Islamic calendar and the Gregorian calendar, Hari Raya Puasa and Hari Raya Haji are respectively celebrated twice in a Gregorian calendar year every 32 or 33 years. This occurred in 1968 and 2000 for Hari Raya Puasa and 2006 for Hari Raya Haji, giving Singaporeans 12 public holidays in those years.

If any public holiday falls on a Sunday in Singapore, the following day is declared to be a public holiday if it is not itself already a public holiday. Thus, since National Day (9 August) in 2009 landed on a Sunday, the following Monday (10 August) was a public holiday. In 2010, as Chinese New Year was celebrated on Sunday, 14 February, and Monday, 15 February, the next day, Tuesday, 16 February, was also declared a public holiday. The President is empowered to declare any day to be observed as a public holiday in addition to or substitution for any day specified in the schedule to the Holidays Act, and may also declare any day in a year to be observed as an additional public holiday when in that year two public holidays fall on the same day.

It is legal for employers to agree to give their employees other holidays in substitution for one or more public holidays. 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.

Under the Employment Act, 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.

In September 2009, a campaign by Zuji, an online travel agent, resulted in 5,616 people voting for another public holiday. One of the reasons given by the company for organising the campaign was that well-rested employees are more productive.

2013 public holidays

2013 Date	English Name	Chinese Name	Malay Name	Tamil Name	Remarks
1 January	New Year's Day	元旦/新年	Tahun Baru	புத்தாண்டு	Celebrates the opening of the Gregorian New Year.
10–11 February	Chinese New Year	农历新年	Tahun Baru Cina/Hari Raya Cina	சீனப் புத்தாண்டு	Celebrates the opening of the Chinese holiday.
29 March	Good Friday	耶稣受难日	Hari Jumaat Agung	புனித வெள்ளி	This Christian holiday commemorates the death of Jesus Christ.
1 May	Labour Day	劳动节	Hari Buruh	தொழிலாளர் தினம்	Celebrates the economic and social achievements of workers.
24 May	Vesak Day	卫塞节	Hari Wesak	விசாக தினம்	This Buddhist holiday celebrates the birth and enlightenment and Parinibbana of Gautama Buddha.
8 August	Hari Raya Puasa	开斋节	Hari Raya Aidil Fitri	நோன்புப் பெருநாள்	This Islamic holiday celebrates the close of the fasting month of Ramadan.
9 August	National Day	国庆日	Hari Kebangsaan	தேசிய தினம்	Celebrates the independence of Singapore.
15 October	Hari Raya Haji	哈芝节	Hari Raya Aidil Adha	ஹஜ்ஜிப் பெருநாள்	This Islamic holiday celebrates the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismael as an act of obedience to Allah.
3 November	Deepavali	屠妖节	Hari Deepavali	தீபாவளித் திருநாள்	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	圣诞节	Hari Krismas/Hari Natal	கிறிஸ்துமஸ் பண்டிகை	This Christian holiday celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ.

School holidays

School terms and term holidays

The following tables list school term holidays observed by all students in national schools.

Primary and secondary schools

Term	2013 dates	Holiday after term
Semester 1
Term 1	2 January (Wed) – 15 March (Fri)	16 March (Sat) – 24 March (Sun)
Term 2	25 March (Mon) – 31 May (Fri)	1 June (Sat) – 30 June (Sun)
Semester 2
Term 3	1 July (Mon) – 6 September (Fri)	7 September (Sat) – 15 September (Sun)
Term 4	16 September (Mon) – 15 November (Fri)	16 November (Sat) – 31 December (Tue)

Junior colleges

Semester	Term	2013 dates	Holiday after term
Year 1
Semester 1	Term 1	1 February (Fri) – 15 March (Fri)	16 March (Sat) – 24 March (Sun)
	Term 2	25 March (Mon) – 31 May (Fri)	1 June (Sat) – 30 June (Sun)
Semester 2	Term 3	1 July (Mon) – 6 September (Fri)	7 September (Sat) – 15 September (Sun)
	Term 4	16 September (Mon) – 15 November (Fri)	16 November (Sat) – 31 December (Tue)
Year 2
Semester 1	Term 1	7 January (Mon) – 15 March (Fri)	16 March (Sat) – 24 March (Sun)
	Term 2	25 March (Mon) – 31 May (Fri)	1 June (Sat) – 30 June (Sun)
Semester 2	Term 3	1 July (Mon) – 6 September (Fri)	7 September (Sat) – 15 September (Sun)
	Term 4	16 September (Mon) – end of 'A' level exams	End of 'A' level exams – 31 December (Tue)

Millennia Institute

Semester	Term	2013 dates	Holiday after term
Year 1
Semester 1	Term 1	1 February (Fri) – 15 March (Fri)	16 March (Sat) – 24 March (Sun)
	Term 2	25 March (Mon) – 31 May (Fri)	1 June (Sat) – 30 June (Sun)
Semester 2	Term 3	1 July (Mon) – 6 September (Fri)	7 September (Sat) – 15 September (Sun)
	Term 4	16 September (Mon) – 15 November (Fri)	16 November 2012 (Sat) – 31 December (Tue)
Year 2
Semester 1	Term 1	7 January (Mon) – 15 March (Fri)	16 March (Sat) – 24 March (Sun)
	Term 2	25 March (Mon) – 31 May (Fri)	1 June (Sat) – 30 June (Sun)
Semester 2	Term 3	1 July (Mon) – 6 September (Fri)	7 September (Sat) – 15 September (Sun)
	Term 4	16 September (Mon) – 15 November (Fri)	16 November (Sat) – 31 December (Tue)
Year 3
Semester 1	Term 1	7 January (Mon) – 15 March (Fri)	16 March (Sun) – 24 March (Sun)
	Term 2	25 March (Mon) – 31 May (Fri)	1 June (Sat) – 30 June (Sun)
Semester 2	Term 3	1 July (Mon) – 6 September (Fri)	7 September (Sat) – 15 September (Sun)
	Term 4	16 September (Mon) – end of 'A' level exams	End of 'A' level exams – 31 December (Tue)

Other scheduled holidays

The following table lists scheduled school holidays observed by students in national schools. If a school holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is declared school holiday.

2013 date	English Name	Chinese Name	Malay Name	Tamil Name	Remarks
7 July	Youth Day	青年節	Hari Belia	இளைஞர் தினம்	Date varies (first Sunday of July).
10 August	Day after National Day	國慶日隔天	Hari selepas Hari Kebangsaan	தேசிய தினதிற்கு அடுத்த நாள்	The day after National Day is a scheduled school holiday, if it falls on a school day. However, if the day after National Day falls on a non-school day, the following schooling day will not be declared as a scheduled school holiday.
6 September	Teachers' Day	教師節	Hari Guru	ஆசிரியர் தினம்	With effect from 2013, Teachers' day will be scheduled on the last working day of Term 3, before the September Term break starts; Celebrations are normally conducted the day before and students usually get half a day off.
4 October	Children's Day	兒童節	Hari Kanak-kanak	குழந்தையர் தினம்	Date varies (1st Friday of October); observed in primary schools only.

Other special days observed

The following special days are observed or celebrated by significant segments of the Singaporean population, but are not public holidays.

2013 Gregorian Date	Date on calendar	English Name	Chinese Name	Malay Name	Tamil Name	Remarks	Note
27 January	January–February	Thaipusam	大寶森節	Hari Thaipusam	தைப்பூசம்		Tamil
14 February	Same	Valentine's Day	情人節	Hari Valentine	காதலர் தினம்	Originally the feast day of St. Valentine, a Roman Catholic saint.	Gregorian
15 February	Same	Total Defence Day	全民防衛日	Hari Pertahanan Mutlak	முழுமைத் தற்காப்பு தினம்	15 February 1942 was the date of the surrender of Singapore by the British to the Japanese and the start of the Japanese Occupation of Singapore.	Gregorian
8 March	Same	International Women's Day	國際婦女節	Hari Wanita Antarabangsa	அனைத்துலக பெண்கள் தினம்		Gregorian
31 March	Sunday first Easter	Easter	復活節	Hari Easter (Paskah)	ஈஸ்டர்	This Christian holiday celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.	Christian
4 April		Qingming Festival	清明節	Perayaan Qingming	சிங் மிங் தினம்	This Chinese holiday celebrates the visit, clean and make offerings at ancestral gravesites of spring outing.	Chinese
12 May	Same	Mother's Day	母親節	Hari Ibu	அன்னையர் தினம்		Gregorian
12 June	5th day of the 5th month	Dragon Boat Festival	端午節	Pesta Kapal Naga	நாகக் கப்பல் பந்தயம்		Chinese
16 June	Same	Father's Day	父親節	Hari Bapa	தந்தையர் தினம்		Gregorian
1 July	Same	Singapore Armed Forces Day	新加坡武裝部隊日	Hari Angkatan Bersenjata Singapura	சிங்கப்பூர் ஆயுதப்படை தினம்		Gregorian
21 July	Same	Racial Harmony Day	種族和諧日	Hari Keharmonian Kaum	இன நல்லிணக்க நாள்	The 1st incident of the 1964 Race Riots in Singapore took place on 21 July 1964.	Gregorian
28 August	15th day of the 7th month	Hungry Ghost Festival	中元節	Perayaan Hantu Lapar	பசிகொண்ட பூத விழா	This Chinese holiday celebrates the burn fake paper money and make offerings to ancestors and the dead to appease them they will not come and trouble the living.	Chinese
19 September	15th day of the 8th month	Mid-Autumn Festival	中秋節	Pesta Kuih Bulan / Pesta Tanglung	திங்கள் விழா	This Chinese holiday celebrates the eating of mooncake, family union meal and related to the legend of Chang E.	Chinese