This is a Sarong Kebaya. It is normally worn by the Peranakans (Straits born Chinese). Originally, the Peranakan were mixed-race descendents, part Chinese, part Malay/Indonesian. Straits-Chinese were defined as those born or living in the Straits Settlements: a British colonial construct of Penang, Malacca and Singapore constituted in 1826.

I think that it is important to distinguish us as Straits-Chinese as although we are Chinese by ethnicity, we do not follow traditional Chinese cultures like they do in Mainland China. A problem which rises from this is that we now have a culture that is a melting pot of different races, hence, we do not really belong to anything. As a result, this is perhaps one of the reason why few people feel that they belong to this country.