Singaporeans

Singaporeansare thecitizensandnationalsof the sovereign islandcity-stateofSingapore.Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being amulti-racial,multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-denominational, multi-lingual, and multi-ethnic country. Singaporeans ofChinese,Malay,IndianandEurasiandescent have made up the overwhelming majority of the population since the 19th century.The Singaporean diaspora is also far-reaching worldwide.
In 1819, the port of Singapore was established bySir Stamford Raffles, who opened it to free trade and free immigration on the island's south coast. Many immigrants from the region settled in Singapore. By 1827, the population of the island was composed of people from various ethnic groups².
Singapore is a multilingual andmulticulturalsociety. It is home to people of many different ethnic, racial, religious, denominational, and national origins -- the majority of which are ofChinese,Malay,Indian, andEurasian. The Singaporean identity was fostered as a way for these different groups to integrate and identify as one with the nation, while preserving the culture and traditions of each group withoutassimilatingminority cultures into a single majority culture.
According to a 2017 survey by theInstitute of Policy Studies, 49% of Singaporeans identify with both the Singaporean identity and their ethnic identity equally, while 35% would identify as "Singaporeans" first and 14.2% would identify with their ethnic identity.As of 2019, the population of Singaporeans stands at 4,026,200 and the population ofOverseas Singaporeansstands at 340,751, with 217,200 individuals retaining their citizenship.
The earliest records of settlement on the island date back to the 2nd century, where the island was identified as a trading port which was part of a chain of similar trading centres that linkedSoutheast Asiawith theTamil Indiansand theMediterranean.The earliest settlers of the island were known as theOrang Laut, and the island was an outpost of theSrivijaya Empireuntil it wasinvadedby theTamilEmperorRajendra Chola Iof theChola Empirein the 11th century.According to the 19th century Chinese recordInvestigation of Southern Pacific(南洋蠡測) (Nanyang Li Ce), it described the presence of Chinese tombs in Singapore. Words and inscriptions recording the period ofLater LiangandEmperor Gong of Songwere found on these tombs and this may suggest that from 907 to 1274, some Chinese had settled, lived, died and were buried in Singapore.
A small Malay kingdom, known as theKingdom of Singapura, was founded in 1299 by a fleeing Srivijayan prince,Sang Nila Utama, who was crowned as theRajaof the new state. After the fall of the kingdom in 1398, the island fell under the suzerainty of various regional empires and Malayan sultanates until its destruction byPortugueseraiders in 1613.
Prior to the arrival of Raffles, there were about a hundred indigenous Malays living on the island under theJohor Sultanate. Most of the indigenous Malays came from theMalay Archipelago.There were an estimated 150 people living on the island, who were predominantlyOrang Lautwith small population of 120 Malays who were the followers of Temenggong Abdul Rahman, and about 20–30 Chinese.
The majority of Singaporeans today are descendants of immigrants who settled on the island when Singapore was founded as aBritish trading portby Raffles in 1819, except for the Malays who are indigenous to the region of Malaya.At that time, Raffles decided Singapore would be afree portand as news of the free port spread across the archipelago,Bugis,Javanese,Peranakan Chinese,South AsianandHadhrami Arabtraders flocked to the island, due to the Dutch trading restrictions.After six months of Singapore's founding as a free port, the population increased to 5,000, with the first census of 1824 showing that 6,505 out of the 10,683 total were Malays and Bugis settlers.Within the first few months of becoming a British settlement, a large number of Chinese migrants also started to settle on the island. In 1825, the population of the island had passed the ten thousand mark and by the census of 1826, there were more Chinese with a population of 6,088, as compared to 4,790 Malays excluding the Bugis and Javanese.
By 1871, due to the influx of migrants fromMalaya, China, India and other parts of Asia, Singapore's population had reached nearly 100,000, with over half of them being Chinese.Many of these early migrants were predominantly male and they would usually return to their home countries after they had earned enough money. By the early to mid twentieth century, an increasingly significant number of migrant workers chose to stay permanently, with their descendants forming the bulk of Singapore's population today.
In 1957, Singapore attained self-governance and Singaporean citizenship was granted to selected residents who were born in Singapore or theFederation of Malaya, British citizens who had been resident for two years, and others who had been resident for ten years.On September 16, 1963, all Singaporeans effectively becameMalaysian citizensas Malaya, Singapore,North BorneoandSarawakweremergedto form Malaysia.However, about two years after the merger, Singapore seceded from Malaysia on August 9, 1965, and Malaysian citizenship was withdrawn from Singaporean citizens. Singaporean nationality law was incorporated into the newConstitution of Singapore. The constitution repealed the 1957 Ordinance, and all persons who were citizens as of 16 September 1963 by virtue of the Ordinance continued to be Singaporean citizens.
Today, Singaporean citizenship is granted by birth, by descent, or by registration. Although provided for in the Constitution, citizenship bynaturalisationis no longer granted. The government instead uses the constitutional provision for citizenship by registration to grant citizenship to resident aliens.
Singaporeans withChineseancestry make up 75.9%,Malaysmake up 15.4%,Indiansmake up 7.4%, and residents of other descent make up 1.6% of the 3,498,200 of the resident population (excluding persons holding Permanent Residency).To avoid physical racial segregation and formation of ethnic enclaves common in other multi-racial societies, the Singapore government implemented the "Ethnic Integration Policy" (EIP) in 1989 where each block of units are sold to families from ethnicities roughly comparable to the national average.
Today, the Chinese-Malay-Indian-Others (CMIO) model is the dominant organising framework of race in Singapore.The country also celebratesRacial Harmony Dayto commemorate the1964 race riots in Singaporeand to remember the consequences of racial disharmony the country experienced during the 1964 racial riots,which were a series of riots that resulted in a total of 36 deaths and 560 others suffered severe injuries.
Singaporeans of other ethnicities notably theArabs,Armenians,EurasiansandSri Lankansare classified into broader ethnic groups under the CMIO model. TheJavaneseare classified under the Malay ethnic groupand thePeranakansare classified under the Chinese ethnic group are two examples of the classification of race and ethnicity in Singapore.Other foreign communities in the country or Singaporeans of other ethnic origins includes theAustralians,Americans,Burmese,Canadians,Chinese,Filipinos,Japanese,Koreans,Malaysians,Nepalis,Pakistanis,Afghans,Africans,English,Italians,Irish,Greeks, andPacific Islanders.
Singaporean culture is a mix ofEast,SouthandSouth East Asian,Middle Eastern,African, andEuropeancultures, with influences from theMalay,Indian,Chinese,Eurasian, andEuropeancultures. This is reflected in the architectural styles of buildings in several distinct ethnic neighbourhoods, such asLittle India,ChinatownandKampong Glam.Singlishis a localcreole languagethat is primarily and understandably English with a local accent and smattering of words fromMalay,Hokkien,Teochew,CantoneseandTamilused by Singaporeans in an informal setting. Due to Singapore's diverse ethnic makeup, theSingapore Constitutionprohibits discrimination based on ethnicity, race, religion, denomination, descent, and place of birth. The state thus promotes the cultural diversity of multiculturalism and multiracialism, instead of a single cultural assimilation.
About 70% of Singaporeans also identify with other ethnic cultures in Singapore, notably the Chinese, Malay and Indian cultures.Major festivals includingChinese New Year,Hari Raya Puasa,Deepavali,Vesak Day,Christmas,Good Friday,Easter, andNew Year's Daywhich are celebrated by the different major racial and religious groups are designated as public holidays.
Former Prime Ministers of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, have stated that Singapore does not fit the traditional description of a nation, calling it a society-in-transition, pointing out the fact that Singaporeans do not all speak the same language, share the same religion, nor have the same customs.Each Singaporean's behaviours and attitudes are influenced by, among other things, his or her homelanguageand his religion. Singaporeans who speak English as their native language tend to lean towardWestern cultureandChristian culture,while those who speak Chinese as their native language tend to lean towardChinese cultureandConfucianism. Malay-speaking Singaporeans tend to lean towardMalay culture, which itself is closely linked toIslamic culture.
Singaporean cuisinehas been largely influenced by different cultures because of its position as an international shipping port since its founding as a British port in 1819. The main influences on Singaporean cuisine came from Chinese, Malay and Indian cuisines, similar to the ethnic makeup of Singaporeans.It is believed that certain dishes that are part of Singaporean cuisine today predates thearrival of Rafflesin 1819, some of these dishes includelaksa,biryaniandbetel quid. However, it is unknown when these dishes arrived in Singapore, as historical records on them are largely scattered and inaccurate.
A large part of Singaporean cuisine centres around thehawker culturein the country. Hawker stalls first began around mid 1800s and were largely made up of street food stalls selling a huge variety of foods.From 1971 to 1986, the government moved thousands of hawkers off the streets into cleaner and better hawker centre facilities.In 2020, the hawker culture in Singapore was listed byUNESCOas anIntangible Cultural Heritage.Due to the affordability and wide variety that a hawker centre provides, Singaporeans prefer to dine out rather than cook after work.
Some well-known Singaporean dishes includeskaya toast,chilli crab,fish head curry, laksa androti prata.TheHainanese chicken riceis also widely considered to be one of Singapore's national dish.
Singapore's historicalroots as a trading settlementgave rise to an influx of foreign traders,and their languages were slowly embedded in Singapore's modern day linguistic repertoire. With the influx of traders into Singapore,Bazaar Malay(Melayu Pasar), acreoleofMalayand Chinese, emerged as thelingua francaof the island, which was the language of trade in theMalay Archipelago.However, under the British colonial government, English gained prestige as the language of administration, law and business in Singapore, and eventually displaced Bazar Malay as the bridging language among the population.As government administration increased, infrastructure and commerce developed, and access to education further catalysed the spread of English among Singaporeans.
Today, Singapore has four official languages,English,Malay,Mandarin, andTamil.Malayis the ceremonialnational languageof the country and is the home language to 13% of the population.Although most of the younger generation of non-Malay people are non-proficient in the Malay language, Malay is used in thenational anthem of Singaporeand also in citations forSingapore orders and decorationsand military parade drill commands.Almost all Singaporeans arebilingualsince the introduction ofSingapore's bilingual language education policySingapore English, however, remains thede factolingua francaspoken by Singaporeans today.It is the main language of instruction in all school subjects except for Mother Tongue lessons and also the common language of administration, law and business.In 2009, more than 20 languages were identified as being spoken in Singapore, reflecting a richlinguistic diversityin the city.
Singaporean literature consists of literary works that is written in either of the 4 official languages. Although these works may be considered as literature works to their specific languages, they are also viewed as a distinct body of literature portraying various aspects of Singapore society and forms a significant part of the culture of Singapore.
Singaporean literature in English was first started by thePeranakan communityin colonial Singapore during the 1830s. Singaporean English literature first gained notability in 1937, with a poetry known asF.M.S.R. A Poem, written byTeo Poh Lengand was followed byWang Gungwu's work, Pulse, in the 1950.By 1965 when Singapore became an independent nation, authors such asEdwin Thumboo,Arthur Yap,Robert Yeo,Goh Poh Seng,Lee Tzu Pheng, Chandran Nair and Kirpal Singh were mostly focusing on poetry, which makes up most published works of Singapore writing in English.
Singaporean literature in Malay can be traced back to 1841. One of the earlier known works of Singaporean literature in Malay was written by Abdullah Bin Abdul Kadir, a Malay scribe, with his workCherita Kapal Asap. Some of the other earlier known Malay writers include Tuan Simi and Masuri S. N.Singaporean Malay literary works were similar to its Malaysian counterpart before the early 1970s. Many early pioneers of Singaporean literature in Malay relocated to Malaysia before Singapore became independent as they wanted to be part of the larger Malay community in Malaysia due to the common language in writing. By the 1970s, due to the difference in governance between Singapore and Malaysia, literary works in Malay between the 2 countries became more distinguishable, with Singapore literature in Malay revolving around the themes of freedom, authenticity, and criticality.
Singapore is the world's most religiously diverse nation,with Singaporeans following various religious beliefs and practices due to the country's diverse ethnic and cultural mix. The Inter-Religious Organisation, Singapore (IRO) recognises 10 major religions being practiced in the city state.Dharmic religionshave the highest number of adherents in Singapore, with 33% of the population practisingBuddhismand 5% of the population practisingHinduism. Many Singaporeans are also adherents ofAbrahamic religions, with 18.7% of the population identifying asChristian, and 14% identifying asMuslim.
Other prominent faiths practised by Singaporeans includeTaoism(10%),Chinese folk religion, and otherDharmic religionslikeSikhismandJainism. A small percentage of Singapore's population practicesZoroastrianismandJudaism. 18.5% not identifying with anyreligionand 0.9% of Singaporeans identify asatheist. In addition, practice of hybrid religions is also common such as the incorporation of Taoism and Hindu traditions into Buddhism and vice versa.