THESE young dragons first caught my attention at a petrol kiosk several months ago when a young man in uniform with a jockey cap rushed towards my car smiling, sending me his morning greeting in Beijing-accented Mandarin: “Zao shang hao!”
Where is the usual grumpy 65-year-old retiree, Mr Pek, who used to serve me at the pump? I wondered.
The young man, Niu Gen, is only 20 and came from Shandong province in China. He holds a work permit and is here on a two-year work contract.
Then I met more young men and women from China working in shops and restaurants at shopping malls. I also heard anectodal accounts and everyday experience from my friends, suggesting these new Chinese immigrants are everywhere.
They are no newcomers, and had started to come since the early 1990s. The only difference now is that they are getting younger.
And with the thousands of China-born children who came to study in Singapore schools since a decade ago all grown up and found work here, they give a new face to the growing number of Chinese immigrants in our midst.
One estimate puts the number of this group of immigrants at nearly a million, including those who have become citizens and PRs, almost a quarter of Singapore’s total population.
Personally, I welcome them, many are my friends too, schoolmates I met at the universities and newsmakers I encounter in my work.
My feeling is they are a new growing Chinese community here, quite different from that of the original 75 per cent ethnic Chinese population in Singapore because they come from a different historical, cultural and social background.
Already, the existing ethnic Chinese community in Singapore is divided in two groups - those who speak Mandarin and dialect, and those who are English-educated and don't speak Mandarin.
The new group from China will add to the dynamics of how the groups interact with one another.
Their impact will be felt, if not already, from Singaporeans’ complaints that the newcomers are taking away their jobs.
Many young and attractive women from China are plying the sleazy trades in nightspots and brothels in Geylang. Some became mistresses of married men here and gave themselves names like xiao long nu (little dragon ladies) or wuya (crows).
Whatever it is, the young men and women from China, especially the better educated and talented are going to give young Singaporeans a run for their money. Singapore-born students are already facing competition from them in schools, many China-born students here are tops not only in their studies but in sports and other areas.
It is interesting to know what is the perception of the Chinese immigrants here on us, the local born and bred Singaporeans. They concede that now, their command of English may not be as good, which is a handicap, but chances are they will catch up very soon.
Apart from that, do they think we are less capable than they are? They probably feel we are more secured and fortunate because our family ties and history are rooted here.
But they too, after a generation or two, will have their roots firmly grown in Singapore.
Read Weng Kam's Saturday Special Report on new immigrants from China here.