Did you know that the Teochew community is the second largest Chinese dialect group in Singapore after the Hokkien? According to the 2010 Singapore census, Teochews make up about 20 percent of the Chinese resident population.

The late Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in his book, Lee Kuan Yew: The Man and His Ideas, singled out the Teochew community, together with the Hakka, for their distinct culture as one of the factors that helped nations like Singapore succeed. He also noted on the disproportionate number of Teochew ministers – such as Teo Chee Hean and Lim Hng Kiang – in the Singapore Cabinet.

There are many more successful Teochews from Singapore, both from within the political arena and as well as other fields and industries.

Here’s a list of 5 famous people in Singapore, you may or may not know who are Teochews.

1) George Quek 
 

George Quek Meng Tong is the founder and chairman of BreadTalk Group, famous for the BreadTalk bakery chain. He started BreadTalk in 2000, a company that became listed in 2003 and subsequently diversified into other food and beverage brands such as Toast Box, Bread Society, The Icing Room and Din Tai Fung as well as the Food Republic food courts. He is one very successful entrepreneur and businessman.

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2) Zoe Tay 

 

zoe Tay is a former model and a local Singaporean actress. She is Mediacorp’s indisputable Queen of Caldecott Hill and is often referred to as “Ah Jie” or big sister. In 1995, Tay starred in a television drama serial about the Teochews, “The Teochew Family (潮州家族)”. She even has a wax figurine modelled after her by Madame Tussauds Singapore and is currently on display in the museum. These days, she is happily married with 3 sons.

3) Stefanie Sun 

  Stefanie Sun better known as Sun YanZi is a singer/songwriter. She is also known as the Singaporean Mandopop queen and has sold over 30 million copies of her music albums during the span of her career this far. Her fame and popularity extends to China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and of course here in Singapore. You will feel extra patriotic when you hear her sing the national day songs.  Mr George Yeo is a former Singaporean politician. When he was a member of the governing People’s Action Party (PAP), he served many roles in the Cabinet from 1991 to 2011 including being Minister for Health, Minister for Trade & Industry and Minister for Foreign Affairs. Many people were sad and disappointed when he lost his seat in Parliament at the 2011 general election following which he announced that he was retiring from politics.  5) Teo Chee Hean  r Teo Chee Hean is also a Singaporean politician. Being a member of the governing People’s Action Party (PAP) and Member of Parliament (MP) since 1992, he is the Deputy Prime Minister & Coordinating Minister for National Security of Singapore. 

Tamils-Indian Singaporeans or Singaporean Indians constitute 7.4% of the country's citizens,^[1] making them the third largest ethnic group in Singapore.

While contact with ancient India left a deep impact on Singapore's indigenous Malay culture, the mass migration of Indians to the island only began with the founding of modern Singapore by the British in 1819. Initially, the Indian population was transient, mainly comprising young men who came as workers, soldiers and convicts. By the mid-20th century, a settled community had emerged, with a more balanced gender ratio and a better spread of age groups.

Singapore's Indian population is notable for its class stratification, with large elite and lower income groups. This has grown more visible since the 1990s with an influx of both well-educated and unskilled migrants from India, which has created new contradictions.

Singapore Indians are linguistically and religiously diverse, with ethnic Tamils and nominal Hindus forming majorities. The local Indian culture has endured and evolved over almost 200 years. By the 1990s, it had grown somewhat distinct from contemporary South Asian cultures, even as Indian elements became diffused within a broader Singaporean culture. Since then, new immigrants have increased the size and complexity of the local Indian population. Low-cost carriers, cable television and the Internet now connect the local Indian community with the culture of India and the Indian diaspora.

Several in-depth studies have been conducted and published in the recent years on the Indian communities in Singapore such as Rajesh Rai's, Indians in Singapore, 1819 -1945: Diaspora in the Colonial Port City, Anitha Devi Pillai's, From Kerala to Singapore: Voices from the Singapore Malayalee Community^[3] and Mathew Mathews, The Singapore Ethnic Mosaic^[4] amongst others.

Prominent Indian individuals have long made a mark in Singapore as leaders of various fields in national life. Indians are also collectively well represented, in areas such as politics, education, diplomacy and the law.
Alongside other ethnic groups, Indians from all social backgrounds have achieved significant advances in their educational levels, income, life expectancy and other social indicators. Singapore's extraordinary economic growth from the 1960s to 1990s lifted many out of poverty and created a broad middle class. In the process, many Indians experienced upward social mobility for the first time. Despite this progress, Indians remain somewhat stratified in terms of class relative to other ethnic groups. With the influx of highly qualified Indian Permanent Residents, the socio-economic indicators of the Indian community have improved, arguably masking the under-achievement of some Indians. In 2005, both the average and median monthly income for Indian Residents (S$3,660 and $2,480 respectively) exceeded those for all Residents (S$3,500 and S$2,410 respectively). In the same year, 25% of Indian Residents had a university degree as their highest qualification attained. In contrast the national average was only 17%.^[32]

Other educations statistics are less positive. In 2004, only 73% of Indians among the Primary One cohort were admitted to a post-secondary institution, compared with 86% for the Chinese, and 75% for the Malays.^[33] In the same year, 73.7% of Indian students received 5 or more passes in the Singaporean GCE 'O' Level examinations, compared with 86.5% of Chinese students and 59.3% of Malays.^[33] Given their performance in the 'O' level examinations, it would appear Indians would have been under represented among students who sat for the 'A' level examination. However, those Indians who did reach the 'A' level and sat for this exam marginally outperformed the national average. 93% of Indians received 2 'A' and 2 'AO' level passes, compared with 92.6% among Chinese students, and 92.3% nationally.^[33] The socio-economic problems, and especially educational under-performance, facing Singapore Indians is addressed by the community through Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), the national self-help group for the Indian community. 

In the year 2010, 5.1% of the resident population aged above 15 years, were Hindu. Almost all Hindus in Singapore were ethnic Indians. The majority of Singapore's ethnic Indians (58.9%) are Hindu. In the year 2015, 4.96% of the resident population aged above 15 years, were Hindu and Singapore's ethnic Indians (59.88%) are Hindu.^[39]

There are approximately 35 temples serving Hindus in Singapore. Most are built in the South Indian Dravidian style. Specific communities have established their own temples. For instance, the Sri Lankan Tamil community built the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple at Ceylon Road, while the Chettiar community set up the Sri Thandayuthapani Temple at Tank Road. The North Indian community also established the Sri Lakshminarayan Temple, built in the North Indian style. Two Hindu temples have been gazetted as National Monuments of Singapore.

A Thaipusam participant.

Although temples may be historically associated with certain communities, Hindu temples in Singapore are open to all regardless or language, caste or religion (non-Hindus may visit the temples). A unique feature of Hinduism in Singapore is the fact that a noticeable number of non-Indians, usually Buddhist Chinese, do participate in a variety of Hindu activities, including praying to Hindu deities, donating money to the temple funds and participating in Hindu festivals like the fire-walking ceremony, and Thaipusam.

The most visible Hindu festivals in Singapore are Deepavali and Thaipusam. Minor celebrations include the Fire walking festival, Holi and Hindu temple chariot processions. Deepavali is a national public holiday in Singapore. For a month before it, the Little India district is decorated with ornamental fairy lights. Bazaars are held in different parts of the district, with stalls selling religious paraphenilia, greeting cards, food, decorations, clothes, etc. Deepavali day itself is marked with a ritual bath and prayers in the morning, followed by feasting and visits to family and friends.

Thaipusam is celebrated prominently in Singapore, Malaysia and other countries with large Tamil populations. As a penance, participants carry 'kavadis' along a processional route. Some men carry kavadis attached to their bodies via hooks and spears that pierce their skin. Thaipusam is the only time when major Singapore roads are closed for a religious procession. The festival is a major religious and urban event, drawing thousands of devotees, supporters and onlookers.
Europeans-Eurasians in Singapore are individuals of mixed European and Asian descent. Eurasians have been viewed with mixed fascination and disdain by the European and Asian communities.^[3] Their European ancestry traces to emigrants of countries that span the length and breadth of Europe, although Eurasian migrants to Singapore in the 19th century came largely from other European colonies in Asia, such as British Malaya in particular Malacca and Penang, India including Chittagong (today in Bangladesh) and Goa, the former Portuguese colony in India; the Dutch East Indies and French Indochina. When the European maritime powers colonised Asian countries, such as India, Ceylon, Malaya, Singapore, Indonesia and Indochina, from the 16th to 20th centuries, they brought into being a new race of people known historically and generally as the Eurasians.^[4] The early Western colonisers were not accompanied by their womenfolk on the perilous journey to Asia. Consequently, many married the local women of these lands, or formed liaisons with them. Initially the offspring of such a union were brought up as an appendage of the ruling class and enjoyed advantages not generally accorded the rest of the local Asian population.^[5] In time, as colonial attitudes hardened due to the 1915 Singapore Mutiny and growing independence movement, Eurasians were largely cast aside by the colonial masters and treated much like the rest of the local population. Eurasians or Kristang Eurasians who generally have some Kristang-speaking ancestry form a sub-group distinct from those who are the offspring of more recent immigrants and expatriates of European and Asian origin and who are also called "Eurasians" in Singapore. The same or similar distinction exists between on the one hand multi-generation Eurasians (who typically have some Kristang-speaking 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. However, 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 are less familiar with Kristang Eurasian cuisine. First-generation Eurasians are people whose parents are not Eurasians. Multi-generation Eurasians a