1.2998° N, 103.8010° E
SINGAPORE
Most Famous People Born in Singapore, Singapore
- Notable people
- 1,315
- Peak decade
- 1980s
- Median birth year
- 1973
- Most distinctive
- Swimmer 4.9×
A city-state whose bench runs from British colonial civil servants to the post-independence technocracy that built modern Singapore. Distinctive professions are swimmers, models, entrepreneurs, singers, actors, business figures, and footballers — the profile of a small, young state that exports sport, finance, and pop at roughly equal densities. Lee Kuan Yew and his government hold down one half of the list; Joseph Schooling and the post-2000 entertainment wave hold down the other.
One face per decade — the most globally famous figure born in Singapore during each.
Notable Births by Decade
Click a decade to filter the list below. Peak: 1980s with 255 notable births.
What Singapore Is Known For
Click any row to filter the list of people below.
Football is Singapore's biggest profession — 22% of all notables (290).
Singapore over-indexes on swimmer — 4.9× the global rate.
Singapore under-produces writer — only 0.5× the global rate.
Profession Mix Over Time
Each band shows a profession family's share of Singapore's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.
- Sports
- Film & TV
- Politics & Law
- Music
- Art & Design
- Writing
- Other
- Field: Writer Clear ×
Anita Moorjani
Born 1959
Cyril Wong
Born 1977
Adam Jones (Canadian scholar)
Born 1963
Laird Hunt
Born 1968
John David Morley
1948 - 2018
Rex Shelley
1930 - 2009
Goh Sin Tub
1927 - 2004
Damien Sin
1965 - 2011
Lydia Kwa
Born 1959
Muhammad Jailani Abu Talib
Born 1985
Don Bosco (author)
Born 1971
Kwong Weng Yap
Born 1977
Vina Jie-Min Prasad
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Alex Au
Born 1952
Annette Lee
Born 1992
Gordon Snell
-
Brad Lau
-
Ong Su Mann
-
Jeremy Tiang
Born 1977
Sandra Yeow
Born 1981