SMU Professor of Sociology and Dean of Students Paulin Straughan gave her take on whether Singaporeans have a distinct identity. She said that there were “two important baskets of attributes” that contributed to making us Singaporean. The first refers to the uniquely, organic traits that we have – such as the love for different types of food – and the second relates to core values that we share as a nation, that is, the values that we aspire towards.