Overseas Singaporean
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Overseas Singaporeans refers to citizens or people who identify with the
sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...
island
city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...
of
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, but living outside of Singapore. Most of the Overseas Singaporeans are expatriates accompanied by their families or students studying abroad. According to the
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) is part of the United Nations Secretariat and is responsible for the follow-up to major United Nations Summits and Conferences, as well as services to the United Nations Econ ...
in 2019, the population of the Singaporean diaspora stands at 340,751 and according to official statistics from the
Government of Singapore The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of Singapore to mean the executive branch of the state, which is made up of the president and the Cabinet. Although the president acts in their personal discretion in the exercise ...
, 217,200 of Singaporeans overseas retained their citizenship. Majority of the Singaporean diaspora are located in
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.


Overview

Most Singaporeans abroad are expatriates accompanied by their families as professionals are sought after in various industries in regions such as China, India, the Middle East, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, as they are bilingual and highly skilled. Other reasons for living abroad includes students seeking to study in overseas universities or Singaporeans that settled in the home countries of their foreign spouses. Population of the Singaporean diaspora was at 156,468 in 1990, with the United Kingdom having the largest community of Singaporeans at 33,320 and the second largest in Malaysia, with a population of 31,269. In 2000, the population of the diaspora increased to 192,989, which was a 23.3% increase since 1990. In the same year, the number of
Singaporeans in Malaysia Singaporeans in Malaysia refers to people that are holding Singaporean citizenship or are of Singaporean descent who reside or were born in Malaysia. With a population of 91,002 in 2019, according to the United Nations Department of Economic an ...
increased to 44,779 individuals, surpassing the community in the United Kingdom, which had a population of 39,131. From 2000 to 2015, the number of Singaporeans moving abroad increased to 314,281 individuals. By 2019, there were 340,751 overseas Singaporeans, with 123,551 individuals holding other nationalities. Although more Singaporeans are moving abroad, there was only an average of 1,200 Singaporeans renouncing their citizenship annually, according to official government statistics. In recent years, however, more Singaporean students living aboard have plans to return to Singapore after completing their studies as countries such as
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
introduced stricter policies on working visas and immigration. According to a 2016 survey conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies, 48.5% of Singaporeans aged between 19 and 30 stated that they could achieve the goals they have without migrating and 42.6% "preferred to improve" their socio-economic wellbeing without migrating.


Reasons for emigration

According to a 2014 survey conducted by
Singapore Polytechnic Singapore Polytechnic (SP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established in 1954, the institution is the first and oldest polytechnic in Singapore and is ...
, some of the top reasons why Singaporeans would want to leave the country were "the high costs of living, having more opportunities overseas for work and education and a slower pace of life". Other factors includes different
lifestyles Lifestyle often refers to: * Lifestyle (sociology), the way a person lives * ''Otium'', ancient Roman concept of a lifestyle * Style of life (german: Lebensstil, link=no), dealing with the dynamics of personality Lifestyle may also refer to: Bu ...
, such as having access to more recreational activities in other countries.


Notable people

This is a list of notable people of Singaporean origin that includes people who were born or raised in Singapore and Singaporeans living aboard. *
Amanda Lee Koe Amanda Lee Koe (born ) is a Singapore-born, New York-based novelist and short story writer. She is best known for her debut novel ''Delayed Rays of A Star'', published by Doubleday (publisher), Doubleday in July 2019, and for being the youngest ...
– Singaporean-American novelist *
Anna Cummer Anna Cummer (born January 2, 1977) is a Canadian actress. She was born in Singapore to Canadian parents. She spent half of her adolescence in Southeast Asia and the other half in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. She finished high school in Hong ...
– Canadian actress *
Allan Massie Allan Johnstone Massie (born 16 October 1938) is a Scottish journalist, columnist, sports writer and novelist. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He has lived in the Scottish Borders for the last 25 years, and now lives in Se ...
– Scottish journalist, columnist, sports writer and novelist *
Boey Kim Cheng Boey Kim Cheng (; born 1965) is a Singaporean Australian poet. As a student, Boey won the National University of Singapore Poetry Writing/Creative Prose Competition and has since received the National Arts Council's Young Artist Award (199 ...
– Australian poet * Desney Tan – Singaporean researcher working for
Microsoft Research Microsoft Research (MSR) is the research subsidiary of Microsoft. It was created in 1991 by Richard Rashid, Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold with the intent to advance state-of-the-art computing and solve difficult world problems through technologi ...
, based in the United States *
Paddy Boom Paddy Boom (born Patrick Seacor on September 6, 1968) is an American professional drummer. He was the original drummer in the American glam rock band Scissor Sisters. Biography Early life Born in Singapore, as a teenager he taught himself to pl ...
– American professional drummer * Ross Butler – American actor *
Victoria Chan-Palay Victoria Lye-Hua Chan-Palay (born 9 October 1945) is a Singaporean-born neuroscientist who has worked in the United States and Switzerland. Early life and education Chan is the second daughter of noted Singaporean swimming coach Dr. Chan Ah Kow. ...
– Singaporean neuroscientist, former American citizen *
Ian Goodenough Ian Reginald Goodenough (born 3 July 1975) is a Singaporean-born Australian politician who is the current Liberal Party member for the Division of Moore in the House of Representatives, located in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Austral ...
– Australian politician *
Kevin Kwan Kevin Kwan (born ) is a Singapore-born American novelist and writer of satirical novels ''Crazy Rich Asians'', ''China Rich Girlfriend'', and '' Rich People Problems''. His latest book, '' Sex and Vanity'', was released in June 2020. In 2014, ...
– American novelist *
Michael Chan, Baron Chan Michael Chew Koon Chan, Baron Chan (; 6 March 1940 – 21 January 2006) was a Singaporean-born British physician and life peer who sat in the House of Lords between 2001 and 2006. Early life and education Chan was born in Singapore on 6 Ma ...
– British physician and politician *
Nancy Lam Nancy Lam (born in Singapore in 1948) is a Singaporean celebrity chef famous for her Southeast Asian cuisine and television appearances. Beginnings Nancy Lam moved to London, United Kingdom from Singapore at the age of 22. After originally tra ...
– Singaporean chef based in the United Kingdom *
Patrick Grove Dato Patrick Y-Kin Grove (born 30 April 1975 in Singapore) is a Singaporean and Australian tech entrepreneur of mixed heritage. He is the co-founder and Group CEO of Catcha Group, and a prolific founder of numerous tech companies in the reg ...
– Australian entrepreneur, co-founder of
Catcha Group Catcha Group is an international Internet group founded by entrepreneur Patrick Grove. The Group controls a number of publicly listed and private media, new media, online classifieds and e-commerce businesses, and is one of the largest investors i ...
*
John Burton-Race John William Burton-Race (born 1 May 1957) is a British Michelin starred chef, television personality and celebrity chef, made famous by the Channel 4 series ''French Leave'' and its sequel ''Return of the Chef'' and '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me O ...
– British Michelin starred chef * Jonathan Seet – Canadian singer-songwriter, composer and producer *
Astra Sharma Astra Sharma (born 11 September 1995) is a Singaporean-born Australian professional tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of 84 in singles and world No. 91 in doubles. Sharma has won one singles title and three doubles titles on the W ...
– Australian tennis player *
Peter Whish-Wilson Peter Stuart Whish-Wilson (born 24 February 1968) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Tasmania since 2012, representing the Australian Greens. Formerly a lecturer in economics at the University of Tasmania, Whish-Wilson was ...
– Australian politician *
Quek Leng Chan Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan (; born 8 December 1941) is a Malaysian tycoon who co-founded Hong Leong Group Malaysia. In 2018, Quek Leng Chan ranked #217 on the ''Forbes'' World's Billionaires list, with wealth listed at US$7.2 billion. As for 16 Febr ...
– Malaysian tycoon, co-founder of Hong Leong Group Malaysia *
Francis Seow Francis Seow, born Seow Tiang Siew ( zh, s=萧添寿, p=Xiāo Tiānshòu; 11 October 1928 – 21 January 2016), was a Singaporean lawyer who was Solicitor-General of Singapore and later the President of the Law Society of Singapore. Seow started ...
– Singaporean-born American writer *
Sharon Tay Sharon Tay (born October 15, 1966) is an American journalist and former host of two programs on the MSNBC network and formerly a news reporter for KCBS-TV and KCAL-TV in Los Angeles before being laid off in 2020 after 13 years with the networks.
– American journalist and former host *
Vanessa-Mae Vanessa-Mae (陈美 Chén Měi; born 27 October 1978) also called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, is a Singaporean-born British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the Uni ...
– British violinist *
Wan Azizah Wan Ismail Wan Azizah binti Wan Ismail (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: وان عزيزة بنت وان إسماعيل; born 3 December 1952) is a Malaysian people, Malaysian politician who is the spouse of Anwar Ibrahim, the current Prime Minister of Malaysia. Sh ...
– Malaysian politician and 1st
Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia The deputy prime minister of Malaysia ( ms, Timbalan Perdana Menteri Malaysia; ms, تيمبلن ڤردان منتري مليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is the second-highest political office in Malaysia. There have been 15 ...
*
Brandon Wade Brandon Wade (born Lead Wey; 1970) is an American businessman who is the founder and chief executive officer of InfoStream Group, an online dating company. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and MIT Sloan School o ...
– American businessman, of Singaporean descent * Wilfred Skinner – Singaporean national athlete, migrated to Canada


References


Notes


External links


Overseas Singaporean Unit official website
{{Singaporeans abroad and their descendants Singaporean diaspora Overseas