Singapore People & Culture

Singapore has about 4.5 million people, including citizens, permanent residents and foreigners on short-term permits.  The three largest ethnic groups are Chinese, Malays and Indians; it is estimated by some sources that they constitute about 75%, 14% and 9% respectively of the entire population.  There is a fairly large expatriate population because many of them are either sent in by multinational organisations or come to Singapore to work as it welcomes foreign talents who can contribute to the well-being of Singapore.

As Singapore had a tiny population population of around 1,000 before Stamford Raffles came to Singapore in the early 1800s, most of the current inhabitants are descendents of people who came from elsewhere.

When one steps onto Singapore soil and travels from  Changi International Airport to the city centre, one would see a modern and seemingly westernise cosmopolitan city.  Yet, when more time is spent in the country, one can easily find very distinctive cultures projected by the three main ethnic groups of Chinese, Malay and Indian.  The Chinese way of life can be found in the China Town area located around North Bridge Road and South Bridge Road in the city centre, where one can find shops which sell Chinese herbs, Chinese style jewellery and gold ornaments, and Chinese ceramics and potteries, as well as Chinese (or localised Chinese) food, as they have been sold for a hundred years or more.  Throughout the island, there are many Chinese temples worshipping different deities.

"Little India" located around Serangoon Road has a concentration of Indian shops selling all kinds of wares, and restaurants and Indian temples. 

One can also spot Malay culture everywhere; the most prominent forms being mosques and Malay food stalls in hawker centres and food courts, as well as people who are dressed in traditional Malay dresses.

Finally, there is something which I would call a "Singapore culture", which is a mix of everything, i.e. a population of over 4 million people, speaking a common language that is not the mother tongue for most people and often speaking each other's ethnic language, eating and cooking each other's cuisine, sharing the same neighbourhoods, schools and work places, and at the same time absorbing cultures coming in from the west and from other countries.  It is an amazing place.

When one wants to know about Singapore food, one can easily look at the foods found in Malaysia, since both countries have the same major ethnic groups, even though the percentage compositions are different.  Further, many people in both countries have relatives and friends living in the other country.  As an illustration, Malaysia is well-known for its Penang hawker foods, Nonya cuisines, Ipoh kway teow (rice noodle), satays, laksa, durians, etc.  All of these are commonly found in Singapore, even though some hotels sometimes would hold Penang or Ipoh food fairs with chefs brought in from the north to serve the real thing.  One can refer to the food section in the Malaysia site for more information.

Something which deserves special mention concerns Cantonese, Shanghaiese and certain northern and western Chinese food. Singaporeans have long been admirers of Hong Kong style of cooking.  Many restaurants and food stalls display prominently the fact that they serve real Hong Kong dim sum, or have Hong Kong chefs, and they do.  For one thing, some restaurants hire Hong Kong chefs at great expense to entertain their customers, and some food stalls which sell roast duck and other meat have their owners / chefs trained in Hong Kong.  Some restaurants are branches of well-known restaurants in Hong Kong.  Therefore, the standard of Cantonese cuisines in Singpapore now is probably as good as many restaurants in Hong Kong.  In fact, one well-known Cantonese restaurant chain started by a Singaporean has established branches in Hong Kong which are widely patronised!

For cuisines from other parts of China, such as Shanghaiese and other Chinese food, one can find many outlets which are operated by chefs and their families who have moved from China to Singapore.  For example, there are several very good quality Shanghaiese restaurants in the Tanjong Pagar Road area in the city serving things such as "lai-meen" (pulled noodles), fried spring onion pancakes, dumplings and traditional style baked cakes with meat stuffings.  Some also serve lamb stew and other dishes from north western China.  All these have added extra colour and tastes to the culinary scene in Singapore   

There are four official languages in Singapore: English, Mandarin (Chinese), Malay and Tamil, but English is widely spoken and understood by the majority of the population because it is taught in all schools with the other languages taught as a second language.  Although English is not the "mother-language" for all three major ethnic groups, it was chosen as a common language when Singapore was founded as a nation because it is a way to unify the entire country and because English is widely used in international commerce.

Most Singaporeans can speak more than one of the four languages, and many (if not most) can also speak more than one dialect.