A group of friends of different races eating together at a hawker centre
Since our days as a colony in the 19th and 20th centuries, immigrants from India, China and all around the Malay Archipelago have flocked to the island in search of a better life—and they’ve formed the bedrock upon which this city was built.
Today, Singapore’s resident ethnic makeup predominantly comprises the Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian and Peranakan* communities. While we live, work and play together, there remain traditional ethnic enclaves that you can explore to learn more about each community—for example, Joo Chiat/Katong is a historic Peranakan neighbourhood, while the earliest Indian settlers laid their roots in what is known today as Little India. And the indigenous people of the land, the Malays, have long considered Kampong Gelam as the ancestral seat of their sultans, well before Singapore became a colony.
These ethnicities have their own mother tongues that most Singaporeans still speak today; yet we aren’t divided by them. In fact, these languages have coalesced into the local lingo of Singlish—besides English, Singlish is the other main language we use with our friends, family and even co-workers.
To hear Singlish in all its glory, you won’t find a better place than a hawker centre, where our communities gather and interact with one another.
*The term is an Indonesian/Malay word that means “local born”, which generally refers to people of Chinese and Malay/Indonesian heritage.
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Answer:
Our communities are vibrant and diverse
A group of friends of different races eating together at a hawker centre
Since our days as a colony in the 19th and 20th centuries, immigrants from India, China and all around the Malay Archipelago have flocked to the island in search of a better life—and they’ve formed the bedrock upon which this city was built.
Today, Singapore’s resident ethnic makeup predominantly comprises the Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian and Peranakan* communities. While we live, work and play together, there remain traditional ethnic enclaves that you can explore to learn more about each community—for example, Joo Chiat/Katong is a historic Peranakan neighbourhood, while the earliest Indian settlers laid their roots in what is known today as Little India. And the indigenous people of the land, the Malays, have long considered Kampong Gelam as the ancestral seat of their sultans, well before Singapore became a colony.
These ethnicities have their own mother tongues that most Singaporeans still speak today; yet we aren’t divided by them. In fact, these languages have coalesced into the local lingo of Singlish—besides English, Singlish is the other main language we use with our friends, family and even co-workers.
To hear Singlish in all its glory, you won’t find a better place than a hawker centre, where our communities gather and interact with one another.
*The term is an Indonesian/Malay word that means “local born”, which generally refers to people of Chinese and Malay/Indonesian heritage.