Vietnamese people in Singapore

Vietnamese people in Singapore
Total population
About 15,000
Languages
Vietnamese, English, Mandarin
Religion
Vietnamese folk religion, Mahayana Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Overseas Vietnamese

Vietnamese people in Singapore are about 0.3% of the country's population, with about 15,000 residents at least in presence. The Vietnamese community of Singapore largely includes food and restaurant servicepeople, and school/university students. Initial waves of Vietnamese immigrants and migrants were mainly refugees from South Vietnamese during the early aftermath or end of the Vietnam War.

Demographics[edit]

Many of them work in the hotel, retail, and food and beverage industry. Some are also students said the Singaporean-Vietnamese embassy's deputy chief of mission.[1]

Refugee migration[edit]

During the Vietnam War, Singapore became one of the main transit points for Vietnamese refugees, hosting 32,457 Vietnamese refugees from 1978 to 1996 alone.[2][3][4] 5,000 settled during the first set of waves throughout the late 1970s. Despite this, the Government of Singapore refused to accept refugees, resulting in a policy code-named Operation Thunderstorm. In 1996, the country's only refugee camp (located in Hawkins Road Sembawang), a former military barracks outpost, was closed by authorities after two decades of running, and the refugees repatriated to Vietnam at the request of the UNHCR.[4][5][6]

Prior to significant waves of immigration or refugee migration in the late 1970s, there was an attempt of singular mass migration via plane holding South Vietnamese refugees in 1975. On April 4, a C-130 plane was seized in Vietnam by four South Vietnam Air Force majors, and 52 Vietnamese refugees joined. The plane was discovered in Singapore, the plane was impounded, and its passengers were later arrested.[7]

Religion and services[edit]

Vietnamese in Singapore largely include those of Buddhist religions, as well as that of Christian faiths. The Emmanuel Christian Church of Singapore includes a Vietnamese-language worship.

Notable people[edit]

  • Tila Tequila (born Nguyễn Thị Thiên Thanh, or Tila Nguyễn), actress/model, born in Singaporean and grew up in Texas
  • Youyi, an actress

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Vice activities by some Vietnamese in Singapore not representative of residents here: Embassy official". Channel News Asia. 2021.
  2. ^ "Refugee camp in Singapore: Local volunteers, Viet refugees yearn to reconnect". sg.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  3. ^ "Vietnamese say Singapore's refugee camp was 'Heaven on Earth'". South China Morning Post. 2021-10-18. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  4. ^ a b Auto, Hermes (2016-09-03). "Former Vietnamese refugee in Singapore on quest to find Norwegian rescuers from more than 30 years ago". Straits Times. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  5. ^ "Refugee Camps". refugeecamps.net. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  6. ^ "In 1978, S'pore's Vietnamese Refugee Camp in Sembawang was one of the more humane camps in the region". Mothership. Retrieved 2021-12-25.
  7. ^ "The gates of the Vietnamese refugee camp on Singapore's Hawkins Road". UPI. New York Times. April 5, 1975.
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