Dress
The traditional dress in Singapore is heavily reliant on an individual's ethnicity. The ethnic Chinese tended to wear the cheongsam for women and the changshan for men, the Malays tended to wear baju melayu for men and baju kurang for women, while the Indian men wore dhoti kurta and women wore the traditional sari.
The Chinese changshan and cheongsam are single-piece outfits that often fit well as they show off a person's figure; they can come in numerous styles, but are similar to dresses and often have short sleeves. The Malays' baju kurang is similar to a dress, while the baju melayu consists of a simple long-sleeved shirt and pants or pants that appear to be more of a kilt or skirt for men. The Indian sari is often times a single piece of cloth wrapped around a woman's body to completely cover herself or can be multiple pieces of cloth and is generally very colorful. The dhoti kurta is a simple shirt (kurta) with basic loose-fitting pants (dhoti).
Today, the people of Singapore dress almost exclusively in western clothing as modern fashion and customs rule in this business-oriented city-state. The main exception to this is the baju melayu and baju kurang, which are often worn to the Mosque. For the rest of the week, most clothing is western-styled and long-sleeved, both long sleeved pants as well as shirts and in business interactions full suits or dress suits for women are standard issue.
Despite the formality of the general populace in Singapore, there are few true dress restrictions in the country. It is expected that you dress modestly and don't show too much skin, but wearing shorts or short-sleeved shirts is common and accepted. If you are at a nice restaurant, a business meeting, at a religious building, or even just going to a high end shop, it is generally considered courteous to wear long pants and shirts.