Eurasian Singaporeans

Eurasians in Singapore

Total population
~18,060[1] 1–2% of Singapore resident population (2020) Non-declared or unaware figures may be higher.
Regions with significant populations
Singapore
Languages
Predominantly English Also: Mandarin or Malay, as well as Kristang (older generations and declining)
Religion
Predominantly Christianity Also: Sunni Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism and no religion
Related ethnic groups
Kristang people, British people, Portuguese people, Macanese people, Dutch people, Indian diaspora

Eurasian Singaporeans is a term that refers to Singaporeans of mixed European–Asian descent.

The term, which includes – but is not limited to – the creole and indigenous Kristang people, who form a distinct sub-group within the Eurasian community with their own separate language, culture and identity. The Asian ancestry of Eurasians traces to British Malaya, British India, Portuguese India, the Dutch East Indies and French Indochina to other colonies while their European ancestry trace back primarily to Western Europe, particularly the British Isles, although Eurasian settlers to Singapore in the 19th century also came from other European colonies. When the European maritime powers colonised Asian countries from the 16th to 20th centuries, they brought into being a new group of commingled ethnicities known historically as Eurasians.^[2]

Early Europeans were primarily male and often had children with local women, as they were usually not accompanied by their womenfolk on their journey to Asia. Initially, the offspring of such a union were brought up as an appendage of European culture, enjoying further advantages not generally accorded to the rest of the local Asian people.^[3] In time, as colonial attitudes hardened, Eurasians were largely cast aside by the European authorities and treated much like the rest of the local population, with many of them eventually supporting home rule and independence movements.