Chinese Associations in Singapore Society


Book Description

Chinese associations in Singapore are among the most numerous and heterogenous group of associations of any Chinese community in Southeast Asia. In 1972, over a third of the more than one thousand Chinese associations in Singapore were clan, district, and dialect associations(see Table 1). These groups, organized by surname or place of origin in China, are regarded by some Singaporeans as vestiges of traditional allegiances which will die along with the immigrants who originally used and supported them. Their supposed replacements, the occupational, athletic or cultural associations, are seen as 'modern' ways of uniting groups of people around mutual interests. The clan, district, and dialect associations are criticized for their clannishness and their ties with past traditions which are said to have no relevance for 'modern' Singapore society.




50 Years of the Chinese Community in Singapore


Book Description

"Singapore's success story is essentially a "people" story. Singaporeans have good reason to celebrate the nation's golden jubilee with pride. In the short space of five decades the country has moved from Third World to First, and its real GDP has grown by 40 times! For this phenomenal progress, credit must go to its people, the Republic's primary resource. Against all odds and amidst dire predictions, Singaporeans proved that a united and resourceful community could build a nation from scratch. This book is dedicated to one segment of these Singaporeans--the Chinese community. In particular, this collection of essays focuses on the Chinese speaking members of the community whose many contributions are less familiar to those brought up on a strict diet of the English language"--




A General History Of The Chinese In Singapore


Book Description

A General History of the Chinese in Singapore documents over 700 years of Chinese history in Singapore, from Chinese presence in the region through the millennium-old Hokkien trading world to the waves of mass migration that came after the establishment of a British settlement, and through to the development and birth of the nation. Across 38 chapters and parts, readers are taken through the complex historical mosaic of Overseas Chinese social, economic and political activity in Singapore and the region, such as the development of maritime junk trade, plantation industries, and coolie labour, the role of different bangs, clan associations and secret societies as well as Chinese leaders, the diverging political allegiances including Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary activities and the National Salvation Movement leading up to the Second World War, the transplanting of traditional Chinese religions, the changing identity of the Overseas Chinese, and the developments in language and education policies, publishing, arts, and more.With 'Pride in our Past, Legacy for our Future' as its key objective, this volume aims to preserve the Singapore Chinese story, history and heritage for future generations, as well as keep our cultures and traditions alive. Therefore, the book aims to serve as a comprehensive guide for Singaporeans, new immigrants and foreigners to have an epitome of the Singapore society. This publication is supported by the National Heritage Board's Heritage Project Grant.Related Link(s)




50 Years Of The Chinese Community In Singapore


Book Description

Singapore's success story is essentially a 'people' story. Singaporeans have good reason to celebrate the nation's golden jubilee with pride. In the short space of five decades the country has moved from Third World to First, and its real GDP has grown by 40 times! For this phenomenal progress, credit must go to its people, the Republic's primary resource.Against all odds and amidst dire predictions, Singaporeans proved that a united and resourceful community could build a nation from scratch. This book is dedicated to one segment of these Singaporeans — the Chinese community. In particular, this collection of essays focuses on the Chinese speaking members of the community whose many contributions are less familiar to those brought up on a strict diet of the English language.This celebratory book is divided into four broad categories. The first section examines the major Chinese organisations and their contributions in the past five decades. These include the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations, the Chinese Development Assistance Council and the Chinese Heritage Centre. In addition, it looks at the history and work of some of the social clubs and charitable organisations in the Chinese community.The second section examines some community issues that have engaged the Chinese community in Singapore's first 50 years. Two senior journalists and two academics review the evolution of the Chinese language, the integration of new immigrants from China and the influence of Chinese religions. The five essays in the third section trace the development of Chinese visual and performing art in the Republic. The last section looks at the interactions between Singapore's Chinese community and China on the one hand, and with the regional Chinese communities on the other.The contributors of this salute to the Chinese community are/ have been directly involved or are passionate about the subjects of their essays.Chinese Organisations:Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry: Inextricably Linked to Singapore's Economic Miracle (Fiona HU Ai Lan)Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations: Revitalising Clan Associations (PANG Cheng Lian)The Chinese Development Assistance Council: An Enriching Journey with a Self-Help Group (Gerald SINGHAM)The Chinese Heritage Centre: Putting Singapore on the Diaspora Map (LEE Tang Ling)Chinese Philanthropy: Past and Present (CHEW Kheng Chuan)Chinese Social Clubs (AU Yue Pak)Community Issues:The Evolution of the Chinese Language (LEONG Weng Kam)New Immigrants from China: Boosting Bilateral Relations (ZHOU Zhaocheng)Chinese Religious Traditions in Singapore: Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity (HUE Guan Thye and Kenneth DEAN)Chinese Visual & Performing Arts:Towards a Nanyang Culture (CHOO Thiam Siew)The Transformation of Chinese Visual Arts in Nanyang (Bridget Tracy TAN)Chinese Calligraphy is Alive and Well in Singapore (WONG Joon Tai)The Singapore Chinese Music Soundscape (Terence HO)In Step with Nanyang Dance (Edmond WONG)Interactions with Other Chinese Communities:Singapore-China People-to-People Exchanges: A Singapore Perspective (LYE Liang Fook and John WONG)Singapore as a Centre of Southeast Asian Chinese: Some Reflections (Leo SURYADINATA)




Voluntary Organizations in the Chinese Diaspora


Book Description

Do Chinese voluntary organizations continue to have a role in modern societies enmeshed in a globalizing world that questions continuation of the nation-state and ethnic identity? This book argues that Chinese voluntary organizations continue to play a significant role in both the established and new Chinese communities in the Diaspora. They are able to do so because of their ability to transform their organizational structure and functions. At the same time, they are able to reinvent their own images to suit their co-ethnic community and the wider polity. The uniqueness of this volume lies in its integration of historical and contemporary approaches to the study of traditional Chinese voluntary organizations in the Diaspora. The chapters explore how the Chinese voluntary organizations continue to fulfil the needs of the Chinese community in different parts of the world, and do this by both localizing and globalizing their functions and roles in the countries where they have established roots. The contributors cover traditional Chinese voluntary organizations from Asia to Australia, North America and Europe examining not only their activities in established Chinese communities such as Singapore and Malaysia, but also in the new emerging Chinese communities in Canada and Eastern Europe. This allows the readers to compare and contrast the voluntary organizations across countries and across time. Readership for this book includes scholars and students of Chinese Studies, Asian Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, Diaspora Studies, History, Social Organizations and the general educated Chinese population.




Singapore Chinese Society in Transition


Book Description

As the first comprehensive study of its kind, this book analyzes the dynamics, processes, mechanisms, and consequences of socio-economic and political changes in Singapore Chinese society from 1945 to 1965. By employing a wide range of primary materials that have been rarely used before, the authors have demonstrated the multi-dimensionality and complexity of the Chinese society in postwar Singapore, which was full of vitality and politically active. They argue that the combination of the internal dynamism and the changing socio-political framework shaped the nature and characteristics of the Chinese community and its fundamental role in the making of modern Singapore. This study is essential reading for an understanding of not only the Chinese politics and business networks in postwar Singapore, but also the historical evolution of the newly independent Republic.




Chinese Populations in Contemporary Southeast Asian Societies


Book Description

New perspectives on the past and present contributions of the 25 million strong Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia to the development of contemporary society. Case studies feature organisational, community, religious, and other arenas of Chinese activity and identity definition, and the book analyses the interplay of local, regional, global and transnational networks and identities.




The Political Structure of the Chinese Community in Cambodia


Book Description

This field study of organized Chinese life in Cambodia, past and present, takes its place in the growing sociological literature on the overseas Chinese and, in a sense, transcends it. For it relates its conclusions on the evolution the structure of the Cambodian Chinese community to the evidence from other overseas Chinese communities, and moves on to a comparison between overseas Chinese social organization and the organization of cities in China. Cambodia, the overseas Chinese, and traditional China all stand illuminated.




Cantonese Society in Hong Kong and Singapore


Book Description

The volume collects the published articles of Dr. Marjorie Topley, who was a pioneer in the field of social anthropology in the postwar period and also the first president of the revived Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Her ethnographic research in Singapore and Hong Kong set a high standard for urban anthropology, and helped creating the fields of religious studies, migration studies, gender studies, and medical anthropology, focusing on topics that remain current and important in the disciplines. The essays in this collection showcase Dr. Topley's groundbreaking contributions in several areas of scholarship. These include “Chinese Women’s Vegetarian Houses in Singapore” (1954) and “The Great Way of Former Heaven: A Group of Chinese Secret Religious Sects” (1963), both important research on the study of subcultural groups in a complex urban society; “Marriage Resistance in Rural Kwangtung” (1978), now a classic in Chinese anthropology and women’s studies; her widely known and cited article, “Cosmic Antagonisms: A Mother-Child Syndrome” (1974), which investigates widely shared everyday practices and cosmological explanations that Cantonese mothers invoked when they encountered difficulties in child-rearing; and “Capital, Saving and Credit among Indigenous Rice Farmers and Immigrant Vegetable Farmers in Hong Kong's New Territories” (2004 [1964]).




Strangers at Home


Book Description

Focusing on the historical experiences of Chinese from West Kalimantan, Indonesia, whether in terms of migratory trajectories or ethnic and state violence, this book interrogates the role of history in the formation of the Chinese Diasporic subject.