Eurasian Singaporeans are Singaporeans of mixed European–Asian descent. This group largely includes, but is not limited to, the creole Portuguese–Malay Kristang people, who mostly originate from Malacca. They form a distinct sub-group within the Eurasian community, maintaining their own unique language, culture, and identity.
The Asian ancestry of Eurasian Singaporeans largely traces to Singapore in the Straits Settlements, British Malaya, British India, Portuguese India, the Dutch East Indies and sometimes to a lesser extent French Indochina and other colonies, while their European ancestry trace back primarily to Western and Southwestern Europe; particularly the British Isles, the Netherlands, and Portugal, 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.Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 24 (2), 'The postcolonial ambiguities of Eurasian pan-ethnicity in Singapore', J. Lowe and M. Mac an Ghaill (2015, Page 234); Indonesia and the Malay World 43 (126), 'Children of Decolonisation: Postcolonial (Indo) Eurasian Communities in Indonesia and the Netherlands', R. Hewett (2015, Page 192)
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.Lam Pin Foo blog 'Singapore Eurasians - The Inheritors of Western and Asian Cultures' 31 March 2011 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.
European ancestry
Of Portuguese descent Before the arrival of the Dutch, English and French in Asia, the first Europeans to land and seize territory in Asia were the Portuguese. Portuguese spice-traders first sailed to Malacca in 1509, having already established settlements in Goa and other parts of India. Portuguese explorers and conquerors were accompanied by the first Jesuit priests to Southeast Asia via Goa in Portuguese India. Afonso de Albuquerque, the viceroy of India, conquered Malacca (today just a few hours' drive from Singapore) in 1511, while Jesuit Francis Xavier, (a Basque Spaniard serving the Portuguese Crown) arrived in Malacca in 1545.
The creole/indigenous descendants of mixed marriages between Portuguese colonisers and local Malay residents are today called the Jenti Kristang, with their own distinctive language, the Kristang language. Many are descended from individuals who lived in Malacca or other parts of Malaya. Others have ancestors who lived in Java or other parts of Indonesia as a result of being expelled from Malacca after the Portuguese were forcibly ejected from Malacca by the Johore-Dutch alliance in 1641. A few Macanese people of Cantonese-Portuguese ancestry from Macau are also living in Singapore.
Kristang Kristang Eurasians have their own separate creole culture, identity and language from other Eurasians, and are especially distinct from those who are the offspring of more recent immigrants and expatriates of European and Asian origin (who are also commonly called "Eurasians" in Singapore).
The same or similar distinction exists between those first- or second-generation Eurasians who typically would share the ethnic identity of one parent more closely, that parent typically not being of Kristang or Portuguese-origin; and the multi-generation (i.e. typically third-generation, fourth-generation and fifth-generation, etc) Eurasians who typically might have at least some distant Kristang-speaking or Iberian-origin ancestry, and many of whom would associate with some Kristang or Portuguese-origin cultural practices (e.g. Kristang songs and Portuguese-origin dances like Jinkli Nona) and dine on Kristang Eurasian dishes like devil's curry or curry debal in Kristang.
As a general rule, first or second-generation Eurasians typically do not have any Kristang-speaking ancestry, do not speak Kristang, generally do not adopt Kristang or Portuguese-origin cultural practices and cues and are less familiar with Kristang Eurasian cuisine, language and history. Simply put, first-generation Eurasians are people whose parents are not Eurasians. Multi-generation (typically third-generation, fourth-generation and fifth-generation, etc) Eurasians are people whose parents or forefathers are themselves Eurasians. Before the twenty-first century, the Kristang were generally disdained and demeaned by other Eurasian groups, being often seen as illiterate, coarse, primitive, backward, unrefined and hypersexual.
Of Dutch descent In 1602, the Dutch East India Company, or VOC, was created to conduct trade in the area east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. In establishing their numerous trade stations spanning across Asia, the Dutch created independent settler societies in each of their colonies, where Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia) became the administrative centre and rendezvous point for the company's Asian shipping traffic.
Between 1602 and 1795, the VOC fitted out some 4,700 ships which carried more than a million Europeans to Singapore. More than 70 percent of the one million passengers never actually returned to Europe, making Asia their new home.Dutchmalaysia.net - The Easternization of the West: Children of the VOC by Dennis De Witt (2006) These early seafarers were not only made up of Dutch, but also included English, Germans, French Huguenots, Italians, Scandinavians and other Europeans who were employed by the VOC. In time, many were assimilated into Dutch colonies situated throughout Asia (though primarily in modern Indonesia) where they were stationed and became part of the respective communities.
Intermarriages between VOC employees and locals were encouraged, which led to the creation of communities of Dutch descendants. Today, there are only five surviving coherent and large communities who are descended from those early intermarriages. They are the Cape Coloureds (South Africa), Basters and Oorlam (Namibia), Burghers (Sri Lanka), and Indos (Indonesia). Other Dutch groups have persisted as a strain among the Anglo-Burmese and Kristang.
The Dutch transferred Malacca to the British in 1825 in exchange for territory in Sumatra. The British colonial administration encouraged migration away from Malacca and as a result many Eurasians and other people moved north to thriving Penang (where other Eurasians fleeing Phuket or moving from Kedah also settled) and later south to Singapore as it grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dutch descendants in Malaysia and Singapore are primarily made up of Eurasians originating from Malacca, as well as others who emigrated from the East Indies, India and Sri Lanka. Leo and Hilda Campbell were Dutch Burghers who arrived in Singapore from Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) in 1910. The couple planned to migrate to Australia like many Eurasians but due to Hilda suffering a stroke, they remained in Singapore.Straits Times 'Orphan who became a houseboy has lived his life in service - picking up skills along the way' - 9 August 2015
Of British and Irish descent
The British were the most important Europeans in colonial Singapore, as they were the colonial rulers of the island. A number of British settlers arrived after its colonial status changed in 1867. Interracial marriage was very common in colonial days. Even men who had European wives sometimes had local paramours. European women who moved to Southeast Asia tended to die young. British men took Asian partners and their offspring would be Eurasian. Some who had British nationality preferred to settle in Britain or other parts of the Commonwealth, especially Australia. Many British and other European men of retirement age, instead of going back to cold Europe, would settle in Australia with Asian women, with fewer staying on in Singapore. Apart from being warmer than Europe, Australia was less judgemental than Europe or colonial Singapore to mixed marriages and mixed offspring.Expat Living Singapore 'Guide to Katong: Our colourful tour of Singapore's East Coast neighbourhood' 13 June 2014
Independent Singapore's second President, Benjamin Sheares, was a Eurasian of English lineage. E. W. Barker, the former Law Minister, was of mixed- Portuguese, Irish, Japanese, Scottish, Malay and German descent. Author Rex Shelley was of mixed English, Portuguese, Malay and Buginese ancestry. National swimmer Joseph Schooling is a third-generation Singaporean, and is of Eurasian ethnicity. His parents are Colin and May Schooling. May is a Chinese Malaysian and a Singapore permanent resident; while Colin, a businessman, was born in Singapore. Colin's grandfather was a British military officer who married a local Portuguese-Eurasian in Singapore. The last name Schooling is believed to be an anglicised surname that originated in Germany.
Of other European descent Other Eurasians in Singapore have parents or are descended from individuals who originated from various parts of Western Europe and its former colonies such as in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or elsewhere. There are also some Filipino people of partial Spanish descent. Former Nominated Member of Parliament Eunice Olsen's father is of Swedish descent while her mother is of Chinese and Portuguese descent. Her grandfather married a Chinese woman in Shanghai and brought her to Singapore. Geraldene Lowe's mother’s family was called Luth and came from Schleswig-Holstein, then part of Denmark. During Bismarck’s unification of Germany, they headed to Asia and Australia and married people from various nationalities.
Asian ancestry
Of Chinese descent Olympic gold medallist swimmer Joseph Schooling is a Eurasian, as was his father Colin Schooling. His mother May is a Chinese-Malaysian while his father Colin was of British, Swedish, Kristang and Portuguese descent.
Of Malay and Indonesian descent Author Rex Shelley was of mixed English, Portuguese, Malay and Buginese ancestry.
Of Japanese and Korean descent
Other Eurasians in Singapore have parents or are descended from individuals who originated from Japan, Korea or other parts of East Asia. An example is TV personality and presenter Stephanie Carrington, who is half White American and half Korean.
Double-barrelled race classification in official documents
Since January 2010, the Government in Singapore has allowed the double-barrelling of race classification by parents of different races when they register their children. A child may be registered, for instance, as Malay-Caucasian or Caucasian-Chinese. Before 2010, the government required children to register as a single race, which was required to be the father's. The added flexibility is in response to increasing demographic diversity driven by immigration and more multi-cultural marriages.
Culture and traditions
Languages and Kristang (Portuguese-based creole)