28 Facts About Chinese Singaporeans

The earliest groups of Chinese Singaporeans who settled in what is today Singapore were the Peranakan Chinese Singaporeans from Malacca and Riau who were descendants of those who immigrated to the region and married local wives between the 15th to 18th centuries.

Chinese Singaporeans quickly formed the majority of the population in Singapore, by the census of 1826 there were already more Chinese Singaporeans than Malays excluding Bugis and Javanese .

The early migrant Chinese Singaporeans workers worked to send money back to their family in China, and many would then return to China after they had earned enough money.

In general, Singaporeans of Chinese descent are grouped according to their respective ancestry to Fujian, Guangdong and Hainan.

Singaporeans of Chinese descent are generally the descendants of non-indentured and indentured immigrants from southern China during the 19th and first half of the 20th century.

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Early Chinese Singaporeans immigrants clustered themselves to form clan and language associations.

Taiwan-born Chinese Singaporeans are predominantly of the Hokkien and Hakka subgroups.

Since the 1990s, the number of mainland Chinese Singaporeans who come to Singapore to study or work has steadily increased every year.

Today, newer Chinese Singaporeans migrants includes migrant workers working in various industries of the Singapore economy, with a mix of blue-collar workers and white-collar workers, as well as students.

Traditionally, Chinese Singaporeans used their respective mother tongues as their main avenue of communication.

The English-educated Chinese Singaporeans were educated with English as the medium of instruction and learnt little or no Mandarin in school .

Mandarin is often spoken in most "traditional Chinese Singaporeans-based" schools, even though English is their medium of instruction.

Colloquially, as with all other languages spoken in Singapore, the Chinese Singaporeans prefer a localised flavour of mixing words from English, Hokkien, Malay, and some other varieties, into their Mandarin speech.

The government of Singapore's continued policy towards bilingualism for all Chinese Singaporeans, which is to continue to pursue English as the first language while making Mandarin the lingua franca amongst all Chinese has drawn mixed responses.

The more English-speaking Chinese Singaporeans generally prefer English as the lingua franca or their home language, while the Mandarin-speakers worry that English will replace Mandarin as the lingua franca, which would eliminate the thin thread of Chinese identity.

Unless the government and Chinese Singaporeans have the awareness and take their own initiative in preserving non-Mandarin varieties, they will inevitably disappear from Singapore in the future.

In 2000, Chinese Singaporeans represented the second-highest proportion of university graduates after the Indian Singaporeans and their new citizenship holders.

The household and median income for Chinese Singaporeans commonly exceed the national average where it remained the highest out of the three major ethnic groups in 2000.

Chinese Singaporeans held the second-highest median and average household income among all three major ethnic groups in Singapore after Singaporean Indians in 2010.

However, to make sure that Chinese Singaporeans still maintain and preserve their mother tongue culture, the Singapore government implemented the teaching of Chinese language in all schools.

On one glance, Singapore's infrastructure and environment might seem Western, but on closer observation, certain aspects of Chinese Singaporeans culture is generally present across all corners of Singapore.

Singapore Chinese Singaporeans literature reflected the immigration and social-historical changes in Singapore.

Singapore Chinese Singaporeans literature had its roots from Malaysian Chinese Singaporeans literature, as Singapore was part of Malaya before independence.

Traditional Chinese Singaporeans festivals are celebrated in Singapore including Chinese Singaporeans New Year, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Zhong Yuan Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Birthday of the Monkey God, Nine Emperor Gods Festival and Dongzhi Festival.

Certain traditional Chinese Singaporeans festivals are made public holidays, including Chinese Singaporeans New Year.

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Xinyao songs are composed and sung by Chinese Singaporeans and it is an outlet for them to express their thoughts and feelings around themes like friendships or love stories.

Colloquially, many Chinese Singaporeans Singaporean speak a creole of Singlish and Singdarin or code-switch between English and Mandarin or a dialect.

Singaporeans and recent Northern Chinese immigrants have had a testy relationship in recent years.