In multiethnic Singapore, where cultural equality is a watchword, Singaporean and Malaysian Hakka are fighting to pass on their own cultural traditions. (top:) The Johor Bahru Hakka association choir sings "The Shining Moon" and other tunes during a November 2007 Hakka song festival. (above:) Zhang Jinmu, Zhu Shunjiao, Yang Tongsheng, and Peng Meilan sing call-and-response-style Hakka folk tunes. (courtesy of the Foong Shoon Fui Kuan, Singapore)

Guangdong and Fujian have traditionally been wellsprings of Chinese emigration overseas. But many equally outstanding Hakkas have also been sprinkled amongst these Cantonese and Fujianese putting down roots in the world's soil.

Originally Han residents of China's heartland, the Hakka fled south to escape the chaos of successive wars. Settling in Fujian, Guangdong, and Jiangxi, they intermarried with the local She and Yao peoples, giving rise to a distinctive ethnicity with its own language and culture.

The world's Hakka population now stands at 35-40 million. In addition to the nearly 30 million who live in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao, and 3 million in Taiwan, some 2.8 million live in Southeast Asia.

The Hakka have a custom of gathering together with friends and family in autumn. In Singapore and Malaysia, they reflect on the struggles, industry and thrift of the early Hakka settlers and remind the younger generation to always remember the Hakka spirit.

Most Singaporeans don't know much about the Hakka. Most recognize yong tao foo, a stuffed-tofu dish, as Hakka cuisine. But many are only familiar with the stereotype of Hakka as stingy, insular, arrogant and secretive. Few realize that many of Singapore's most notable personages-Minister-Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, former diplomat and senior minister of state Lee Khoon Choy, former chief justice Yong Pung How, scholar-businessman Lai Ah-kiew, famed doctor of traditional Chinese medicine Chen Panxu, travel magnate Zeng Liancai, pawnshop operators He Qianxun and Rao Shangren, broadcasters Li Rongde and Wang Lizhen, renowned lawyer Hee Theng Fong, authors Tian Liu and Chong Han, and Tiger Balm creator Aw Boon Haw-are all Hakka.