The Malays of Singapore

The Malays of Singapore, numbering approximately 745,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are constitutionally recognized as Singapore's indigenous people, descended from the small Malay and seafaring Orang Laut communities present at Raffles's 1819 arrival, the Orang Laut later assimilating into the Malay ethnic identity. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Malay (individual language) is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Malay

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Singapore
People Cluster: Malay
Primary Language(s): Malay (individual language) (zlm)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 745,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG010713
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Malays of Singapore

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Malay (individual language)
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Malay Speakers

Media Resources in Malay (individual language):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
The SaviorView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Malay (individual language):

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2001 Today's Malay Version✓✓
Alkitab Versi Borneo✓✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the Malay (individual language) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Malays are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Malays:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Malays of Singapore

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
readJohn 3:19

Pray that God will have mercy on those who love the darkness they are walking in and turn from their sin to faith in Christ.

Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
readPsalm 96:2

Pray that gospel resources will reach this generation so that they will receive the good news and sing to the LORD, bless His name, and tell of His salvation each day.

But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
readHebrews 10:38

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will live by faith and not shrink back from their hope in Christ.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
readJohn 1:9-10

Pray for those God might send to share the gospel here. Ask that they will grow closer to Jesus and be compelled to share His good news with people who don't know it.

Malay Across Countries (ROP3 - 106144) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

10 people groups

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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