None of these three countries existed as states before the middle of the 20th century. Conversion to Islam was earliest and strongest in the Malay communities of Sumatra, Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. Islam came later to Java and for a long time Javanese Islam was heavily mixed with elements from older beliefs. Chinese settlers in Southeast Asia who converted to Islam generally disappeared as Chinese and were absorbed into local communities. Singapore was settled mainly in the 19th century and few Chinese converted to Islam in that era.