A presentation about the history of Arabs in Singapore.

1. Name: Salah Mhamdi
Date: March 27, 2021
Chapter: Ibra, Oman
[afikra FWD]:
“History of Arabs in
Singapore” from Arab
News

2. Pt 1. What.
Singapore’s Arab
community traces
ancestral roots to
Yemen’s Hadhramaut
Valley, Joanna Tan
https://www.arabnews.co
m/node/1342016/world

3. Pt 2. Explain.
Hadhrami Arabs
Almost all the Arab community in Southeast Asia trace
their origin back to Hadhramaut, Yemen.
They had migrated in big numbers to Malaysia, Indonesia
and Singapore since the mid-19th century.
The most prominent families are Aljunied, Alkaff and
Alsagoff.

4. Pt 2. Explain.
How They Came and Why?
Famine and economic hardships pushed them to
emigrate.
They were successful traders and businessmen in
Palembang.
Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, persuaded
them to come.

5. Pt 2. Explain.
Syed Omar Aljunied
He was born in 1792 in Tarim, Yemen.
He came to Singapore in 1820.
He was a prominent member of the Hadhrami Arab
community as he was a successful businessman and
trader.
Zahra Aljunied, a fifth-generation Singaporean Arab
said:
They brought everything they owned in Palembang:
"lock, stock and barrel”.

6. Pt 2. Explain.
How Singaporeans influenced Hadhramis?
Cuisine: There are South Asian dishes in the Hadhrami
cuisine which are belacan and keropok.
Dress: They have worn shirts and sarongs.
Language: We find South Asian loanwords in the Hadhrami
dialect.
Education: Hadhrami parents in Singapore used to send
their kids to Hadhramaut to study Arabic and religion
Economy: They used to send remittances back to their
ancestral homeland.

7. Pt 2. Explain.
How Hadhramis Influenced Singapore?
They had commercial clout:
- They owned the largest fleets in the Indo-Malay
archipelago.
- The port of Singapore became a hub of Hadhrami
shipping.
Singapore was a major transit point for Hajj pilgrims.
They spread Islam in the region.
They introduced Arabic schools in Singapore.

8. Pt 2. Explain.
Many held religious and political offices.
Many Hadhramis were landlords. (50 % of
Singapore's area was owned by them in the early
colonial days)
They were major philanthropists as they donated land
for the St. Andrew’s Cathedral and Singapore’s first
mosque, Masjid Omar Kampong Melaka.

9. Pt 2. Explain.
Decline
They lost huge swathes of land in the 1966 Land
Acquisition Act as the government confiscated land for
public and other purposes.
Today there are around 10,000 Arabs.
The war in Yemen disrupted the movement of Hadhramis.

10. Pt 3. Next.
There are several identities within the Hadhrami community:
Some are assimilated into Malay culture.
Others have preserved Arab culture and language.
And others are creolized.

11. Pt 3. Next.
- "The Arab Traders of Singapore", Alia Yunis, AramcoWorld, Volume 65, Number 4, July/August
2014
- Arabic, an ancient language that is still spoken here, Jose Hong. The Straits Times, February 9,
2017.
- "Arab community", Stephanie Ho, Singapore Infopedia, 19 August 2013.
- The Hadhrami Arabs in Southeast Asia with Special Reference to Singapore : An Annotated
Bibliography, compiler, Kartini Saparudin ; editor, Noryati Abdul Samad. Singapore: National Library
Board, 2010.
- Riddell, P. G. (2001). Arab migrants and islamization in the Malay world during the colonial period.
Indonesia and the Malay World, 29(84), p. 117.
Ameen Ali Talib. (1997, November 1). Hadramis in Singapore. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs,
17(1), p. 90.
Mattar Y. 2004. Arab ethnic enterprises in colonial Singapore: Market entry and exit mechanisms
1819–1965. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Vol. 45, No. 2, August 2004

12. Contact Me:
Salah Mhamdi
salah.mhamdi@outlook.com
@salahmhamdi1
https://www.slideshare.net/
salahalmhamdi
Thank You.
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