Indian Singaporeans are Singaporeans of Indian or broader South Asian ancestry. As of the 2020 census, they constitute approximately 9.0% of the country's residents, representing the third largest ethnic group in Singapore. In Singapore, "Indian" is an umbrella term defined in both geographical and cultural contexts as pertaining to South Asia and bears no necessary relation to the contemporary Republic of India. Some Singaporeans of South Asian ancestry would simply just consider themselves "Singaporean", viewing themselves as distinct from the "India Indians" in terms of culture, identity and social reality.
Early Indian settlement was largely transient, composed primarily of male workers and soldiers. By the mid-20th century, however, the community had become more established, exhibiting a balanced gender ratio and a diversified age distribution. This period marked the emergence of a cohesive Indian Singaporean identity within the evolving social fabric of the island.
Indian Singaporeans are linguistically and religiously heterogeneous, with ethnic Tamils forming about half of the community. Over two centuries, Indian Singaporean culture has evolved distinctly from contemporary South Asian cultures, with its elements increasingly integrated into the broader Singaporean culture, alongside influences from the Chinese and Malay communities. Individuals of Indian descent have historically contributed prominently to national life, with representation in politics, education, diplomacy, law and sports.
Definition of Indian Singaporeans
The Singapore Department of Statistics broadly defines "Indian" as a "race" or "ethnic group", comprising "persons of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Sri Lankan origin such as Tamils, Telugus, Malayalis, Punjabis, Bengalis and Sinhalese, etc."Leow, p.16.
In Singapore, the Indian population can be defined by nationality and residency status. Most ethnic Indians are Singaporeans or permanent residents, commonly referred to as "Indian Singaporean" or "local Indians". They range from second to fifth generation descendants of migrants from South Asia, many of whom retain minimal or negligible connections to the region and consider its contemporary nations as foreign. Foreign citizens of the Republic of India are generally termed "Indian nationals" or informally "Indian Indians".In his 2006 National Day Rally, Singapore's Prime Minister said "A Chinese Chinese is different from a Singapore Chinese. An Indian Indian is different from a Singapore Indian. In fact, when I met Mr. Koizumi last year and I told him, you know, we are bringing in Chinese Chinese, Indian Indians, he looked at me, he said, "Chinese Chinese?" I had to explain, "Ya, indeed, they come from China. Singapore Chinese come from Singapore. We are different." Foreign Indians can also be differentiated by their residency status. For instance, a significant proportion are ethnic South Asian immigrant workers in Singapore.
Demographic statistics are generally restricted to "Singapore residents", defined as both Singaporean citizens and permanent residents. Many of the statistics about Indians in Singapore in this article are restricted to this group. Scholars have noted, "(o)fficial figures for workers on temporary contracts are difficult to obtain because the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore considers the information sensitive."Lal, p. 176. Consequently, there is limited information about short-term or 'non-resident' Indians in Singapore. Note that use of the term 'non-resident' Indian should not be confused with the concept of the Non Resident Indian or NRI, which the government of the Republic of India uses to describe its citizens living abroad. In Singapore, an NRI may be statistically non-resident (in the case of work permit or pass holders) or they may be considered a Singapore resident (in the case of permanent residents).
Ethno-linguistic profile of Indian Singaporeans
Indian Singaporeans are grouped according to their respective ethnolinguistic backgrounds in the Indian subcontinent or 'dialect group'. Most Indians in Singapore have ancestral links to Southern India and Sri Lanka, with substantial groups from Northern India and Western India accounting for most of the remainder. These are generally the descendants of both free and indentured settlers from India during the 19th and early half of the 20th century.
In 2010, the Singapore census categorised 237,473 Singaporeans and 110,646 permanent residents into a number of 'dialect' groups. However, these groups included Sikhs, who are an ethnoreligious rather than linguistic group. Virtually all of the Sikhs are Punjabi, which was also captured as a separate 'dialect' category (comprising mainly Hindu Punjabis). Given their small absolute and relative numbers, the following table adapts the 2010 census data by combining the 'Sikh' (12,952) and 'Punjabi' (5,672) category under 'Punjabi'.
The percentages in the table refer to the proportion of each language group within the larger Resident Indian community in Singapore.
+ Population Profile of Singapore Indian Dialect Groups (Residential population; Singaporeans and permanent residents)Ethno-linguistic backgroundAncestral origin2010 censusPercentageTamilTamil NaduSri LankaPuducherry188,59154.18%MalayaliKeralaLakshadweep26,3487.57%PunjabiPunjab18,6245.35%GujaratiGujarat4,1241.18%SindhiSindh3,9711.14%SinhaleseSri Lanka3,1400.90%Telugu Bengali Hindustani Indo-Portuguese (Kristang) Parsi Other or MixedSingaporeans of heritage must identify with their paternal ethnic group under Singaporean law.Andhra PradeshTelanganaBengalGoaVarious103,32129.68%348,119100%
The Singaporean Indian demographic is characterised by an ethnic Tamil majority (54.18%) and a large number of smaller groups. Ethnic Tamils in Singapore include the descendants of Tamil settlers from India and Sri Lanka (sometimes referred to as 'Ceylonese'). Ethnic Malayalees, tracing their heritage to Kerala in southern India, form the second largest community, making up 7.57% of the local Indian population. Tamils and Malayalees are the two main South Indian ethnolinguistic communities in Singapore, forming two-thirds of the Indian population. Meanwhile, the three main North Indian ethnolinguistic groups in Singapore (the Punjabi, Gujarati, and Sindhi communities) constitute 7.67% of the Singaporean Indian populace. The remaining 29.68% is composed of many smaller groups with ancestry from both southern India (such as the Telugus) and northern India (such as the Hindustanis, the Malay colloquial term for Hindi-speaking Indians), or ethnically mixed Singaporeans with paternal Indian ancestry.
History
Pre-colonial period
Ancient India exerted a profound influence over Southeast Asia through trade, religious missions, wars and other forms of contact. Pre-colonial Singapore was part of 'Indianised Kingdoms' like Srivijaya and the Majapahit, which formed part of a cultural region known as Greater India.Hall, pp. 12–24
Prior to the spread of Islam, Singapore and the rest of the Malay world were Hindu-Buddhist. One of the most extensive and enduring Indian influences on Malay culture is the vast number of Indian loan words in the Malay language.
Indian influence is also seen in symbols and mythology associated with ancient Singapore. The Sejarah Melayu or Malay Annals describe the Indian prince who founded Singapore – Sang Nila Utama – as being a descendant of Alexander the Great and an Indian Princess.Low, Cheryl-Ann Mei Gek, 'Singapore from the 14th to 19th Century' in Miksic & Low (2004) p.14 Meanwhile, the royal and sacred associations of Fort Canning Hill, the seat of ancient rulers, are related to the Hindu Mount Meru concept.Low, Cheryl-Ann Mei Gek, 'Singapore from the 14th to 19th Century' in Miksic & Low (2004) p.15
Archaeological digs have unearthed Hindu-Buddhist artefacts from the pre-colonial period. In 1822, John Crawfurd documented the ruins of a Hindu or Buddhist temple on Fort Canning Hill.Low, Cheryl-Ann Mei Gek, 'Singapore from the 14th to 19th Century' in Miksic & Low (2004) p.16 Singapore's two most important pre-colonial artefacts are the Singapore Stone, which is inscribed with an Indic script and a gold armlet bearing the motif of a Hindu 'kala' head.
Colonial period: 1820s–1950s
Migration and settlement Following the Portuguese colonisation of Malacca (Malaysia) in 1511, the Portuguese government encouraged their explorers to bring their married Indian women who were converted already to Roman Catholic Christianity, under a policy set by Afonso de Albuquerque, then Viceroy of India. These people were Goan Catholics (Konkani Catholics) and Bombay East Indians (Catholics of Marathi descent). Kuparis, who were of mixed Samvedic Brahmin, Goan and Portuguese descent also arrived. Sinhalese and their children from Portuguese that include Portuguese Burghers from Portuguese Ceylon also came later. Their children are already intermarried with the Malay population, losing their ethnic identities. Indian contact was rekindled from 1819 to World War II, when both India and Singapore were under British colonial rule. Unlike earlier forms of contact, this led to mass migration and, eventually, the formation of a large, settled and distinct population. By 1824, Singapore's first census counted 756 Indian residents, or about 7% of the total population.Turnbull, p.27. In 1826, official figures give a total population of 13,750, of which 1,021 are Indians – 244 from Bengal and 777 from the Coromandel Coast, most of whom were males.
Initially, Indian immigrants were predominantly adult men who came from India to find work, serve military duties or serve prison sentences for several years before returning home. There was a constant flow of Indians in and out of the city, keeping the local community fairly transient.Turnbull, p.37.Lal, p.179. A minority of Indians were also wealthy merchants who settled in Singapore and built local commercial and social institutions. Best known amongst them was Naraina Pillai, the earliest Indian community leader and the island's first building contractor. In 1827, he also founded the Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore's oldest Hindu place of worship.
The influx of Indians in the half century after 1819 led to a brief period when Indians, for the only time, overtook the Malays to become the second largest ethnic group. In 1860, they formed 16% of the population.Turnbull, pp.36–37. However, their number then fell from 13,000 that year to 12,000 in 1880, or 8.7% of the population.Turnbull, p.96. Following this, Indians slowly began to settle permanently in greater numbers and the relative size of the community in colonial Singapore became stable, fluctuating between 7.7% and 9.4%.
Social characteristics
Scholars have characterised the Indian community in colonial times as being diverse and highly stratified along class lines. According to Dr Rajesh Rai, the social hierarchy comprised four main groups: the educated professional elite (over 0.5% of the Indian community), mercantile groups (under 10%), the white collar middle class (5–7%) and the uneducated labourers (over 80%).Lal, p.180.