Singaporean Chinese or Chinese Singaporeans are Singaporeans of Han ancestry. As of the 2020 census, they constitute 75.9% of the resident population, making them the largest ethnic group in Singapore. In Singapore, "Chinese" is an umbrella term defined in both geographical and ethnic-cultural contexts as pertaining to Greater China and bears no necessary relation to the contemporary People's Republic of China, whose citizens are classified separately when in Singapore. As a result, some Singaporeans of Han ancestry would simply just consider themselves "Singaporean", viewing themselves as distinct from the "China Chinese" in terms of culture, identity and social reality.
Evidence of Chinese people trading with and settling among local populations in Singapore dates as early as the 10th century. Prior to the establishment of Singapore as a British trading port, the island was home to a small community of around 120 Malays and 20 to 30 Chinese, mostly traders. The colonial period saw a substantial influx of male Chinese migrants, who often returned to their families in China after earning sufficient income. Over time, more ethnic Chinese arrived in Singapore such as the samsui women and other economic migrants. This led to a more balanced gender ratio and a diversified age distribution, which formed the bulk of the Singaporean Chinese population known today.
The Chinese community in Singapore is internally diverse, with the majority descending from Hokkien ancestry, while significant minorities include Cantonese, Hakka, Teochew and Hainanese groups. Over the centuries, the community has maintained distinct linguistic, cultural and social practices to mainland Chinese culture alongside influences from the Malay and Indian communities, while also contributing significantly to Singapore's broader cultural landscape and social development.
Definition of Chinese Singaporeans
The Singapore Department of Statistics broadly defines "Chinese" as a "race" or "ethnic group", in conjunction with "Malay, Indian and Others" under the CMIO model. They consist of "persons of Chinese origin" such as the Hokkiens, Teochews, Hainanese, Cantonese, Hakka, Henghuas, Hokchias/Foochows, Shanghainese and Northern Chinese, etc."
In Singapore, the Chinese population can be defined by nationality and residency status. Most ethnic Chinese are Singaporeans or permanent residents, commonly referred to as "Chinese Singaporeans" or the local "Chinese community in Singapore." They range from second to fifth generation descendants of migrants from Greater China, many of whom retain minimal or negligible connections to the region and consider its contemporary nations as foreign. Foreign citizens of the People's Republic of China are officially referred to as "Chinese nationals" or informally as "China Chinese" or "PRC", the abbreviation of the country.In his 2006 National Day Rally, Singapore's Prime Minister said "A Chinese Chinese is different from a Singapore Chinese. An Indian Indian is different from a Singapore Indian. In fact, when I met Mr. Koizumi last year and I told him, you know, we are bringing in Chinese Chinese, Indian Indians, he looked at me, he said, "Chinese Chinese?" I had to explain, "Ya, indeed, they come from China. Singapore Chinese come from Singapore. We are different." Chinese foreigners may be further distinguished in terms of residency status.
History Before 1819 As early as the 10th century, there was evidence of Chinese people trading and settling in Singapore and there were also various Chinese records documenting trading activities and Chinese residents on the island from the 10th to the 14th century. Prior to the establishment of Singapore as a British trading port, there was a small population of 120 Malays who were the followers of Temenggong Abdul Rahman, and about 20–30 Chinese living on the island. After Singapore became a British colony, there was an influx of Chinese migrant workers, but these early Chinese migrants to Singapore were predominantly males, as they would usually return to their families in China after they have earned enough. There was only a significant number of Chinese residents permanently settling in Singapore during the early to mid twentieth century, forming the bulk of the Singaporean Chinese population today.
The early records of Singapore in Imperial Chinese sources named Singapore as "Long Ya Men" (), "Dan Ma Xi" ( or ). Later other terms such as "Xi La" (), "Shi le" (), or "Xi Li" (, for "selat" meaning strait) may also refer to Singapore or the surrounding areas.
Archaeological excavations of artefacts such as Chinese coins or ceramics in Singapore, which dated back to the period of the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song (998–1022) and Emperor Renzong of Song (1023–1063), indicated that Chinese merchants or traders had already visited Singapore by the Song dynasty.
The Chinese record Annals of various foreign states (Zhu fan zhi) written by Zhao Rushi in 1225 clearly described Chinese merchant ships arriving in Singapore from Quanzhou and various Chinese trading activities. In this annal, the chapter San Fo Qi ( the Chinese name for Srivijaya) recorded merchant ships passing through "Ling Ya Men" (, although it is not clear however if it is the same as Long Ya Men) before reaching Srivijaya for trading.
The Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan, visiting the island around 1330, described a small Malay settlement called Dan Ma Xi (, from Malay Temasek) in which Chinese residents live together with the Malays.
Following the decline of Srivijayan power, Temasek was alternately claimed by the Majapahit and the Siamese, but the invasion of 1377 and 1391 caused Singapore to be destroyed. Following that, there were little Chinese records of the visiting of Chinese to Singapore. Singapore is marked as Dan Ma Xi in the Mao Kun map that dates back to the naval voyage of Chinese explorer Zheng He in 1403. The earliest groups of Chinese who settled in what is today Singapore were the Peranakan Chinese from Malacca and Riau who were descendants of those who immigrated to the region and married local wives between the 15th to 18th centuries.
The 19th century Chinese record Investigation of Southern Pacific (, Nanyang Li Ce) described the presence of Chinese tombs in Singapore (known as "Xin Ji Li Po" ( in Chinese). On the Chinese tomb, there were words and inscriptions recording the period of Later Liang and Emperor Gong of Song. This may suggest that from 907 to 1274, some Chinese had settled, lived, died and were buried in Singapore.
1819–1937
The writings of Stamford Raffles and William Farquhar indicate that the British found Temenggong Abdul Rahman with 400 to 500 residents in Singapore in January 1819. Another member of the 1819 expedition party, Captain John Crawford, recalled in his diary an encounter with "upwards of 100" of Chinese. British colonial documentations revealed that Temenggong Abdul Rahman had provided these Chinese who were Teochews the cost and expenses of opening gambier plantations at Mount Stamford (now Pearl's Hill) prior to British arrival. He had also "in some instances" advanced money to the Teochew cultivators on the understanding he would be repaid in the form of gambier or other produce. Farquhar had the impressions that the Temenggong's interests in these plantations were represented by a brother-in-law of his named Baba Ketchil and the first Captain China of Singapore, a Teochew merchant named Tan Heng Kim (), was "one of the principal persons concerned". Based on Teochew oral traditions in Singapore published by Phua Chye Long () in Teo-chews in Malaya () in 1950, the first Teochews in Singapore were led by Tan Heng Kim, who was from Siam, and a second merchant named Heng Hong Sung () from Ampou town in Chaozhou, China. Together, they founded the Yueh Hai Ching Temple on the south bank of the Singapore River.
From the founding of modern Singapore by Stamford Raffles until the Japanese occupation in 1942, Singapore was ruled as a colony by the British. When the British first arrived in Singapore, most of the inhabitants on the island of Singapore were fisherman, seamen or pirates, living in small houses. There were about 150 people; a majority of 120 Malay and 30 minority Chinese.
When Singapore became a Straits Settlement, there were very few Chinese, however, after Singapore became a trading post the first batch of Chinese came from Malaysia, predominantly from Malacca and Penang. Amongst these Chinese from Malacca and Penang, many were Peranakans or descendants of Chinese in Malaysia for several generations. Most were traders who could speak Chinese and Malay, though many were also English-educated and could communicate with the British. In the Manners and customs of the Chinese of the Straits Settlements, Singapore, it was described that the Straits-born Chinese regarded themselves as British subjects instead of Chinese subjects; their lifestyle was more westernised. By the time of the first census of Singapore in 1824, the Chinese migrants were noted as being either Peranakans, or from Macau, Guangdong and Fujian.
The Chinese quickly formed the majority of the population in Singapore, by the census of 1826 there were already more Chinese (6,088) than Malays (4,790) excluding Bugis (1,242) and Javanese (267). The Chinese became the dominant group by the 1830s (the largest ethnic group at 45.9% in the 1836 census), and by 1849, 52.8% of the total population of 52,891 were Chinese. The Chinese population reached over 70% of the total by 1901 and has stayed there since.
The early Chinese migrants to Singapore were predominantly males. In 1826, the official census figures show that out of a total population of 13,750, there were 5,747 Chinese males but only 341 Chinese females. Most of the Chinese females in this early period of Singapore were nyonyas from Malacca as women from China were discouraged from emigrating. It was noted in 1837 that there were no Chinese women in Singapore who had emigrated directly from China; even as late as 1876, a British official in Singapore wrote that he did not know of any respectable Chinese woman who had emigrated with her husband. The imbalance of the sexes in Chinese community continued for a long time with the continual flow into Singapore of male migrant workers who were either single or had left their wives and children behind in China; for example, the 1901 census figures show that there were 130,367 Chinese males compared to 33,674 Chinese females. For a long period, most of the Chinese population in early Singapore were immigrants as many did not intend to settle permanently to raise their family there; even by the late 1890s, only around 10% of the Chinese population in Singapore were born there. The early migrant Chinese workers worked to send money back to their family in China, and many would then return to China after they had earned enough money. However, an increasing number would also choose to settle permanently in Singapore, especially in the 1920s when more chose to remain in Singapore rather than leave. Change in social attitude in the modern era also meant that Chinese women were freer to emigrate from China, and the sex ratio began to normalise in the 20th century. This gradual normalisation of sex ratio led to an increase in the number of native births. Immigration would continue to be the main reason for the Chinese population increase in Singapore until the 1931–1947 period when the natural increase in population would surpass the net immigration figures.