Orang Melayu Singapura | |
---|---|
![]() A Malay Singaporean wedding | |
Total population | |
545,498 13.5% of Singapore resident population (2020)[1] | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Woodlands (25.6%) and Tampines (21.8%)[2] | |
Languages | |
| |
Religion | |
Predominantly Islam 98.8% Minority: Christianity 0.6% • Irreligion 0.4% [3] | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Part of a series on |
Singaporeans |
---|
Malay Singaporeans (Malay: Orang Melayu Singapura) are Singaporeans with general ancestry from the Malay world.[4] They constitute approximately 13.5% of the country's residents, making them the second largest ethnic group in Singapore.[5] Under the Constitution of Singapore, they are recognised by the government as the indigenous people of the country, with Malay as the de jure national language of Singapore.
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 approximately 1,000.[6] 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.[6] 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.[6] However, as the British needed "coolies",[a] 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.[7]
Today, a significant portion of Malay Singaporeans have ancestors from the Malay Archipelago. Although the exact numbers are not available, it is known that many Malay families in Singapore originate from regions such as Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and the Riau Islands. This migration has enriched the cultural heritage of the Malay community in Singapore. These groups share the same culture, customs, language, and religion with the broader Singaporean society. They are active in all areas of Singaporean culture and society, with independent representation in fields such as media, politics, and sports.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha>
tags or {{efn}}
templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}
template or {{notelist}}
template (see the help page).
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search