Chinese Singaporean is a term that refers to Singaporeans who
are of Chinese descent.
The population of Chinese in Singapore currently stands at slightly
more than 3 million out of a total of about 4 million, or about
76.8% of the population.
Contents [showhide]
1 Dialect Groups
1.1 Hokkien
1.2 Teochew
1.3 Cantonese
1.4 Hakka
1.5 Hainanese and Northern Min
1.6 Mandarin and Wu
2 Language
3 Religion
3.1 Traditional religions
3.2 Christian
3.3 Other
4 History
5 See Also
6 External Links
[edit]
Dialect Groups
Nearly all Singaporeans are descended from the Han Chinese, the
dominant group of the Chinese in China. The Singaporean Chinese are
descended from several dialect groups, originating from various
parts of China. Around 70% of the Chinese Singaporeans belong to
the Min-nan dialect group, but inter-dialect marriages among the
third and fourth generations are making the dialect lines
increasingly blur.
[edit]
Hokkien
The Hokkien constitute around 45% of the Chinese Singaporean
population. Most came the southern parts of the Fujian province,
primarily Xiamen and Quanzhou. They speak Hokkien, a Min-nan
dialect, though their Hokkien includes words from Malay.
The element of Spirit Worship, known as Tanki-ism in the Hokkien
dialect, was widespread among the older generation. One of the
festivals is that of the Nine Emperor Gods, a Taoist commemoration
of the Emperors who brought peace and prosperity to the people and
the prayer to the Jade Emperor on the 8th day of Chinese New
Year.[1] (http://weecheng.com/singapore/9eg/index.htm)
[edit]
Teochew
The second most populous group after the Hokkiens. Although they
dominate the Chinese population in Thailand, the Teochew in
Singapore constitute around 25% of the Chinese Singaporean
population. They mainly come from eight of the ten Chaozhou
prefectures in China, with the majority coming from Shantou.
Like the Hokkiens, the Teochews speak the Teochew, a Min-nan
dialect. Unlike Hainanese, both Hokkien and Teochew are mutally
intelligible.
Chinese settlements with large populations of Teochews used to be
found along the banks of Singapore River in Chinatown. To honour
their success in their successful commerence, Lee Hsien Loong gave
a speech relating to the Teochews of Singapore in November 2003.
[2] (http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=2875)
[edit]
Cantonese
The Cantonese made up 16% of the Chinese Singaporean population.
Unlike the Hokkien, Teochew and the Hainanese, the Cantonese spoke
a dialect belonging to the Yue family.
[edit]
Hakka
The Hakkas constitute 7% of the Chinese Singaporean population.
Since their dialect was initially somewhat intelligible to
Mandarin, although strongly influenced by Min-nan and Yue, they
were believed to have migrated from Northern China between the 16th
and the 17th century.
[edit]
Hainanese and Northern Min
This group constitutes 5% of the Chinese Singaporean population. Of
them, the majority are Hainanese, from Hainan, speaking Hainanese,
a Mandarin dialect.
The others, who included the Hokchew, Hokchia and the Henghuas, who
came from Northern Fujian and Southern Zhejiang. They speak a
Min-Nan dialect, influenced by Vietnamese. As late-comers to
Singapore (late 19th century), most of them worked as shop helpers,
chefs, and waiters in the hospitality sector.
[edit]
Mandarin and Wu
The Mandarin and Wu people from Shanghai, Zhejiang and other
northern provinces constitute only 2% of the Chinese Singaporean
population.
As they are mainly first and second-generation Chinese
Singaporeans, and are only Permanent residents, most are temporary
migrants who worked as construction laborers, although a few worked
as engineers. They speak Mandarin and Wu dialect with a Beijing or
Shanghai accent, which is so diverse from the local patois that it
is almost unintelligible to the local Chinese Singaporeans.
[edit]
Language
Traditionally, the Singaporean Chinese have a preference of using
the dialects of their place of origin as their main avenue of
communication. However, since independence, the government has
continuously encouraged the Singaporean Chinese to speak only
Mandarin, as a process to unify all the Chinese from different
dialect groups into one group.
As the traditional southeastern Chinese dialects are not taught in
school, the number of their speakers has steadily declined. Many of
the young Chinese in Singapore are unable to use their dialects
fluently - most can utter no more than a few words. This is even
more common among the westernized Chinese Christian community, who
speak acrolectal English. Thus only older people continue to use
dialects, either as the main form of communication or as their
lingua franca. Younger Singaporeans are increasingly using Chinese
surnames based on Chinese dialects with given names based on
Mandarin pronunciation, rather than dialect-based
pronunciations.
English is also used as the business language, and all students are
required to master English as their first language and speak
Mandarin only during Mandarin class. Singlish is also commonly used
among the Singaporeans, including the Singaporean Chinese.
[edit]
Religion
Traditionally, the Chinese are adherents of a mixture of Mahayana
Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and ancestor worship. A sizeable
minority of 13% of the Chinese claimed to profess no particular
religion, and this is increasing among younger people.
[edit]
Traditional religions
About 67% of the Singapore Chinese still adhere to their
traditional religion in varying degrees of devoutness. This group
tends to speak Mandarin and/or Chinese dialects at home and follow
a Chinese-influenced lifestyle. Most the people in this group came
from the lower and middle classes, though some of them belong to
the upper-class. Of these, the majority claim to be Buddhist and
the remainder Taoist.
Most of the traditional Buddhists would place one or two altars at
home, or along the corridors of their HDB flats. The altars often
contain the three ancestral gods, namely Wealth (Fok in Cantonese,
Fu in Mandarin), (Lok in Cantonese, Lu in Mandarin), and Life (Sao
in Cantonese, Shou in Mandarin). The Guan Yin and ancestral tablets
may also be placed on the altar in addition to these three gods. A
brazier, often painted red, may also be seen. They also hang small
urns filled with sand and ash outside the house; this is where joss
sticks are placed and used as offerings to the gods.
The traditional Buddhists also visit temples or columbariums at
least once a year to pay respects to their ancestors, and to pray
for blessings. Temples of this kind, like the Thien Hock Keng
temple, can be found all over Singapore.
When there is a death in the family, the relatives of the deceased
will organise a funeral ceremony. These ceremonies are usually held
at HDB void decks The deceased is placed in a wooden coffin.
Buddhist or Taoist monks are then called to preside, and they chant
mantras and prayers for the deceased to ward off evil spirits.
During the funeral ceremony, the relatives of the deceased will
burn incense paper and pray for the deceased. A typical funeral
ceremony will last around 3 or 5 days.
At the end of the ceremony, a hearse will transport the body to the
crematorium, where the body will be cremated. As the body is
cremated, the monks are also present to pray for the deceased. The
ashes are placed in an urn, which is then placed in a columbarium
or temple, where an ancestral tablet is used to indicate the
location of the urn.
