Singapore marked its Diamond Jubilee as a sovereign nation, or SG60 as Singaporeans call it, on 9 August 2025. To celebrate this milestone, the Singapore High Commission in Pretoria hosted a dinner reception at its Chancery on 14 August. About 300 guests attended, including friends and partners from the South African government, the business community, academia, civil society, members of the diplomatic corps, and representatives of the small Singaporean community resident in South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.
Among the guests were Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, the Honourable Maropene Ramokgopa, former Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Dr Naledi Pandor, former Minister of Public Service and Administration Dr Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, and ActionSA Party Leader Mr Herman Mashaba. Also present were Gauteng Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Ms Vuyiswa Ramokgopa and Tshwane Councillors Ms Siobhan Muller, Ms Leanne de Jager, Mr André le Roux, and Mr Shane Maas.
Attendance reflected the strong people-to-people links between Singapore and South Africa, sustained over more than three decades of mutual learning and collaboration.
Hawker Culture Comes to Pretoria
To give guests a true taste of Singapore, the High Commission transformed the grounds of BabaHouse@ZA, its annex building, into a vibrant hawker centre. Colourful stalls recreated the atmosphere of Singapore’s UNESCO-listed Hawker Culture, serving iconic dishes such as Hainanese chicken rice, laksa noodles, fried kway teow, yong tau foo, satay, beef rendang, thosai, and prata with spicy curries. Dessert featured sweet treats like sugee cake, tau huay, ondeh-ondeh, and kueh lapis. Guests sat side by side at communal benches, capturing the spirit of Singapore’s lively street food culture.
The celebration also showcased Singapore’s rich diversity. Booths displayed artefacts from the country’s Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Peranakan communities, while blown-up images of orchid hybrids highlighted Singapore’s tradition of Orchid Diplomacy. A special feature was the Sealara Nelson Mandela orchid, named after Madiba during his state visit to Singapore in 1997.
by Marion Kate
