During the mid-nineteenth century, Chinese emigrated from China to Singapore, bringing along their unique culture and dialects. The Hakka dialect group made up 11% of Chinese Singaporean population. Despite being the minority, the Hakka was famous for their hearty savoury cuisine and unique agrarian lifestyle.

However, being the minority means that the Hakka people needed to mingle with other dialect groups, and blend their distinct cultures with others. At the same time, campaigns that discouraged dialect use during Singapore’s early independence years further diminished the use of Hakka dialect. The “Speak Mandarin Campaign” was initiated in order for all young people to stop speaking dialects and turn to Mandarin instead. The impacts of these policies are clearly seen in youths today. You’d hardly find any young Hakka Singaporean speaking his mother tongue fluently.

The Tulou structures and Hakka’s unique way of living are getting so much attention globally that the Tulou was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, due to its historical value. Sadly, in Singapore, we are losing this distinctive culture – it’s worth our attention that the Hakka culture is not the only one that we are losing. My question is: Do we need to sacrifice our identity in the name of urban development?