Singaporean Australians ( zh, 新加坡裔澳大利亞人) are

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

Singaporean Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, India ...

descent. As

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 ...

is a multi-racial country, a Singaporean Australian could either be of Chinese, Malay or Indian descent, the main races of Singapore. According to the 2006 Australian census, 39,969 Australians were born in

Total count of persons: 19,855,288. while 4,626 claimed Singaporean ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry. Total responses: 25,451,383 for total count of persons: 19,855,288. In 2019, 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 ...

statistics showed the Singaporean community in Australia had a population of 64,739, with the number including both Australians of Singapore origin and Singaporeans residing in Australia. It is the 2nd largest community of

overseas Singaporean Overseas Singaporeans refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore, but living outside of Singapore. Most of the Overseas Singaporeans are expatriates accompanied by their families or students study ...

s. Most Singaporeans in Australia consists of

high-income A high-income economy is defined by the World Bank as a nation with a gross national income per capita of US$12,696 or more in 2020, calculated using the Atlas method. While the term "high-income" is often used interchangeably with " First World" ...

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

professionals as well as

skilled workers A skilled worker is any worker who has special skill, training, knowledge which they can then apply to their work. A skilled worker may have attended a college, university or technical school. Alternatively, a skilled worker may have learned the ...

, with many still maintaining close ties with Singapore, especially those who continue to retain Singaporean citizenship while having permanent residency in Australia, as well as students.

History

Early years

Singaporean migration began prior to Singapore's independence as a sovereign country in 1965, during Australia's gold rush period (1851–1914). At the time, Singapore was a British colony, and so was Australia. Therefore, movements within the former British Empire's territories in the then known "

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

" were relatively common. However, Asian immigration to Australia at the time was generally restricted due to the White Australia policy, and so most immigration at this time were people of European or half-European descent (Eurasian), especially British.

20th century

Island transfers

In 1955 and 1958 respectively, the territories of

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

and the

Cocos (Keeling) Islands ) , anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''" , song_type = , song = , image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands , map_caption = ...

were transferred from Singapore to Australia. As a result, its inhabitants went from conventional Singaporeans to one that is considered to be Singaporean Australians. In the lead up to the transfer, there were some opposition by several legislative members in Singapore who felt that they weren't properly consulted on the matter. Then Chief Minister of Singapore,

Lim Yew Hock Lim Yew Hock ( zh, c=林有福, p=Lín Yǒufú; 15 October 1914 – 30 November 1984) was a Malaysian In 1995, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs reported that there were 29,812 people within the Singaporean Australian community, with students accounting for about 40% of population, as the Australian Census of 1996 recorded about 11,000 students from Singapore enrolled in universities in the country. By 1998, the population was estimated to have grown to 35,933 people. With the increase in the population of Singaporeans in Australia, a number of Singaporean clubs and associations were set up to support the communities located across the country.

21st century

From 2005 to 2010, the population of the community had increased from 43,070 to 53,550 and it was during this period that the Singapore government had set up an Overseas Singaporean unit to engage overseas communities of Singaporeans as the number of Singaporeans living aboard increased. Singaporean associations and clubs were also allowed to apply for funding through the unit to organise events during important festivals such as

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...

Hari Raya Puasa , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , date ...

Deepavali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali (IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is on ...

Vesak Day Vesak (Pali: ''Vesākha''; sa, Vaiśākha), also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as Tibet and Mongolia. The festival comme ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...

and

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...

which are celebrated by the different major racial and religious groups back in Singapore. Factors for Singaporeans in Australia remained the same, with a majority of them there for education. In recent years, however, more Singaporean students would often return to Singapore after completing their studies as the Australian government introduced stricter policies on immigration, as well as Singapore being an attractive place itself to live and work, with many Singaporean students not seeing the need to remain in Australia after the completion of their studies.

Demographics

Australian Census 2011 demographic map - Inner Sydney by POA - BCP field 1776 Singapore Total

In 1996, most of the Singaporean communities were concentrated in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The state of Victoria had a sizeable community of Singaporeans or Singapore-born Australians, with 6,557 individuals that were of Singaporean origin. In 2001, that number increased to 7,661, with most of them residing in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. The community had Singaporeans of mixed ethnicities, with most of them being

Chinese Singaporeans Chinese Singaporeans () are Singaporeans of Chinese descent. Chinese Singaporeans constitute 75.9% of the Singaporean citizen population according to the official census, making them the largest ethnic group among them. As early as the 10th ...

, followed by Malay Singaporeans and

Indian Singaporeans Indian Singaporeans (Tamil: ') are Singaporeans of Indian or South Asian ancestry, who constitute 9.0% of the country's citizens, making them the third largest ancestry and ethnic group in Singapore. While contact with ancient India left a de ...

, which echoed the diverse ethnic make-up of Singapore's population. A variety of languages was spoken at home by the community, with 40% speaking

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

and other Chinese dialects like

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

, 6% speaking

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

and 2% speaking

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and the rest speaking English. By 2016, according to the Australian Census, Victoria was home to the highest number of Singaporean Australians, 16,063 people, out of the total of 54,939 in the community. Western Australia was 2nd, being home to 14,987 individuals, followed by New South Wales and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

. 47.7% were of Chinese Singaporean ancestry, 8.8% were of Indian Singaporean ancestry and 6.6% were of Malay Singaporean ancestry. English was the home language of 49% in the community, followed by Mandarin at 28.8% and 6% spoke Malay.

Notable people

Alice Tay Alice Erh-Soon Tay (1934–2004) was an Australian academic lawyer, an eminent jurisprudence and comparative law scholar. She was president of the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission from 1998 to 2003. Early life and educa ...

– president of the

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but oper ...

(1998–2003) *

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 ...

– Tennis player *

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 ...

– Politician *

Jessica Gomes Jessica Gomes (born 25 September 1985) is an Australian model who appeared in the '' Swimsuit Issue'' of the American publication ''Sports Illustrated'' every year from 2008 to 2015. She works extensively in Australia and Asia. Gomes was the f ...

– Model *

Khym Lam Khym Lam (born 1963 or '64) is a Singaporean-born Australian actress. Biography Lam was born in Singapore to a Malayan father and a Eurasian mother—her grandparents were Charles Davis, a Welsh engineer who married May Lawrence, a part-Chine ...

– Actress *

Rex Goh Goh Tee Haut, known professionally as Rex Goh, (born 5 May 1951) is a Singaporean-born Australian rock guitarist. In 1972 Goh moved to Australia. He has been a band member of various groups including Air Supply (1977, 1981–83), QED (1983–85 ...

– Rock guitarist *

Peter Senior Peter Albert Charles Senior (born 31 July 1959) is an Australian professional golfer who has won more than twenty tournaments around the world. Senior has competed mainly on the PGA Tour of Australasia, where he has had the most success and wo ...

– Professional golfer *

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 ...

– Entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO 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 ...

Sashi Cheliah Sashikumar Cheliah (born 10 June 1979) is a Singaporean-born Australian cook. He was a contestant on the tenth series of '' MasterChef Australia'' in 2018, eventually winning the show. Early life Cheliah was born and raised in Singapore wh ...

– Winner of tenth series of '' MasterChef Australia'' in 2018

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

Overseas Singaporean Unit
{{Ethnic groups in Australia Australian people of Singaporean descent Asian Australian Immigration to Australia

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

Singaporean emigrants to Australia