Malay Singaporeans
Ethnic group of Singapore / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Malay Singaporeans (Malay: Orang Melayu Singapura) are Singaporeans of Malay ancestry, including those from the Malay Archipelago.[3] They constitute approximately 13.5% of the country's citizens, making them the second largest ethnic group in Singapore.[4] Under the Constitution of Singapore, they are recognised by the government as the indigenous people of the country, with Malay as the national language of Singapore.
Orang Melayu Singapura | |
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Total population | |
545,498 13.5% of Singapore resident population (2020)[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Woodlands, Tampines, Bedok, Jurong West | |
Languages | |
| |
Religion | |
Predominantly Islam 98.8% Minority: Christianity 0.6% • Irreligion 0.4% [2] | |
Related ethnic groups | |
At the time of the arrival of British colonial official Stamford Raffles in 1819, the native Malays were the majority living on the island, which at the time had a total estimated population of 1,000.[5] Another estimate placed that at the time of his arrival, the population was 120 Malays, 30 Chinese and some local tribes such as the Orang Laut.[5] From the 19th century until World War II, the Malays enjoyed favourable treatment whereby they were not resettled for labour and their traditional lifestyles were generally left undisturbed.[5] However, as the British needed "coolies",[lower-alpha 1] this resulted in particularly lower rates of immigration as compared to the Indians and Chinese, with the latter notably becoming the majority ethnic group by the mid-19th century.[6]
Nowadays, Malay Singaporeans often come from various backgrounds in the Malay world such as Malay, Javanese, Buginese (or Bugis) & Kedayan, though many are nonetheless tied together by a similar culture, customs, language and religion as Singaporeans. They are active in all spheres of Singaporean culture and society, with independent representation in areas such as media, politics and sport, among others.