Zhonghang Yue’s reforming of Xiongnu puts the negative attitude often seen towards Malaysians-turned-Singaporeans into perspective
According to figures revealed in Malaysia’s parliament in August, a total of 97,318 Malaysians traded their passports for Singaporean citizenship from 2015 to mid-2025, with the numbers peaking dramatically in 2024 at nearly 17,000.
There are a host of reasons, both dispassionate and personal, why many Malaysians are permanently leaving the country of their birth for Singapore and other destinations such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
For most people who change their nationalities, renouncing their former citizenship and adopting a new one is a major, and often emotional, life event. Instead of “naturalisation”, many people from Malaysia call it “conversion”, as if it were a religious experience.
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