Chinese Intergenerational Relations in Modern Singapore Göransson
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Conflicts and Contracts: Chinese Intergenerational Relations in Modern Singapore Göransson, Kristina 2006 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Göransson, K. (2006). Conflicts and Contracts: Chinese Intergenerational Relations in Modern Singapore. Department of Sociology, Lund University. 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LUND UNIVERSITY PO Box 117 221 00 Lund +46 46-222 00 00 Download date: 11. Oct. 2021 Göransson, sida 1 CONFLICTS AND CONTRACTS Göransson, sida 2 Göransson, sida 3 Kristina Göransson Conflicts and Contracts Chinese Intergenerational Relations in Modern Singapore LUND MONOGRAPHS IN SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY 17 Göransson, sida 4 A complete list of publications from the Dept. of Sociology. Lund University, can be found at the end of the book and at www.soc.lu.se/info/publ. The Chinese character for filial piety (xiao) © Kristina Göransson 2006 Kjell E. Eriksson Ilgot Liljedahl Ilgot Liljedahl Dept. of Sociology, Lund University 2006 --- - Dept. of Sociology, Lund University P. O . Box 114 SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden Fax 046-222 47 94 E-mail [email protected] www.soc.lu.se/info/pub Kristina Göransson 5 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 7 Prologue 11 Introduction 15 Generations United, Generations Divided 17 The Intergenerational Contract 21 Filial Children in a Market Economy 24 Other Literature 27 Organization of the Study 28 From Temasek to the Republic of Singapore: A Historical Overview 31 The Migration of Chinese to Singapore 32 The Chinese Family and the Problem with Tradition 35 The Ethnic Landscape of Colonial Singapore 38 Becoming an Asian Tiger 39 The Hegemony of the People’s Action Party 42 Fieldwork in the Metropolis 45 The Sandwich Generation 48 Life in a High-rise Neighborhood 50 Working with Informants 57 Interviews 60 Some Methodological Points on Understanding the Other 61 Modernity and the Generation Gap: The Singapore Experience 65 Kampung Life and Social Memory 69 From a Cubicle in Chinatown to High-rise Living 73 The Language Gap and the Paradox of the Asian Values Ideology 75 “Speak Amah-kong” 79 Religion and the Importance of Being Modern 81 The Decline of the Status of Seniority 87 6 Kristina Göransson Linking the Past and the Present 89 Celebrating Chinese New Year: Family Reunion and “Home Visiting” 92 Summary 99 Binding Ties 101 The Asian Family, the State, and the Global Economy 102 The Central Provident Fund 105 The Maintenance of Parents Act 106 Welfare Agencies and Public Education 108 Filial Piety in This Life and Beyond 111 “A Chip inside You” 114 Family versus State 116 To Give and To Return 119 The Intimate Economy of Filial Piety 126 Summary 130 Renegotiating the Intergenerational Contract 131 The Shrinking Family 132 “The Best of the Best” 133 Children as Investments: Population Planning and Educational Streaming 135 The Anxiety of Preparing Children for the Future 138 Competing Obligations 141 The Erosion of the Extended Family 142 Family Networking across Households 145 Dimensions of Family Ties 148 Contested Territories 149 Filial Sons and Filial Daughters 153 Mei Ling – An Unmarried Daughter 155 Delegating Care in the Global City 159 Negotiating Intergenerational Exchanges 162 Transmitting the Contract across Generations 165 Summary 168 Conclusion: Living in Transition 171 The Generation Gap 172 The Intergenerational Contract from Above and from Below 173 Further Research 175 References 177 Glossary 185 Abbreviations 187 Kristina Göransson 7 Acknowledgements Writing a doctoral thesis is a long journey; exciting and inspiring, but at times exhausting and filled with doubts. I would never have reached the end of this journey without the support and help of a great many people. I would first like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Professor Kajsa Ekholm Friedman at the Department of Social Anthropology, Lund University. She has been guiding me in my work ever since I was an under- graduate student, and she was also the one who inspired me to pursue PhD studies. With an open mind, she encouraged me to explore my own directions of thought, while giving me insightful advice along the way. Most important- ly, she opened my eyes to the art of ethnography and the wonders of studying everyday life. I would also like to thank Professor Jonathan Friedman, Head of the Department of Social Anthropology, for his genuine engagement with my research and for making anthropology so interesting. I am in great debt to my assistant supervisor, Professor Geoffrey Benjamin at Nanyang Technolog- ical University, Singapore, for his invaluable comments and careful reading of the manuscript. Warm thanks are also due to Dr Carole Faucher, who acted as my advisor during the main part of my fieldwork in Singapore. My colleagues at the Department of Social Anthropology have contributed greatly with constructive criticism and useful suggestions during research seminars and informal discussions. I would particularly like to thank Steven Sampson, Johnny Persson, Christer Lindberg, Ulf Johansson Dahre, Hanna Wittrock, Anneli Ståhlberg, Susanna Persson, Hilma Holm, Torbjörn Friberg, Lena Carlsen, Maria Milla, Anne Sundberg, Oscar Andersson, and Eva-Malin Antoniusson. I am especially grateful to Johnny Persson for patiently helping me with the figures. A special thanks also goes to my room-mates, Hanna and Anneli, whose friendship have made this journey much easier and much more enjoyable. I would like to acknowledge the Swedish School of Advanced Asia-Pacific Studies (SSAAPS) for generously funding my PhD studies. I have also bene- 8 Kristina Göransson fited enormously from intellectual encounters made possible by conferences and workshops organized by the SSAAPS. I also wish to thank a number of people who at different points of time have given me valuable advice and engaged in discussions about my research: Elis- abeth Croll, Wee Wan-ling, Habib Khondker, and Thang Leng Leng. In ad- dition, sincere appreciation goes to three Singaporean PhD students – Kevin Tan, Koh Keng We, and Hui Yew Foong – who in many ways helped me dur- ing my fieldwork. I am grateful to both the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore and the Asia Research Institute for accepting me as an affiliated researcher during different stages of my fieldwork. Thanks are likewise due to the Hokien Huay Kuan Arts & Cultural Troupe, the Sin- gapore Action Group of Elders, and the Beyond Social Services. Generous financial assistance to conduct fieldwork and attend conferences was provided by the Lars Hierta Memorial Foundation, the Helge Ax:son Johnson Foundation, the Faculty of Social Sciences at Lund University, the Crafoord Foundation, and the Swedish School of Advanced Asia-Pacific Stud- ies. For that I am very grateful. This study would never have been accomplished if it were not for the in- formants I worked with in Singapore. As I came to realize, Singaporeans lead a hectic life. Although I had no right to expect anything from the people I got to know, they generously invited me into their lives and patiently assisted me in my fieldwork. My thanks have to remain anonymous, but I owe my deepest debt to them. Last but not least, I wish to thank my family. The bond between genera- tions is not only fundamental for the continuity of human existence, it is also a fundamental relationship in the life of every individual, and I am no excep- tion. I dare say that what has given me the strength and confidence to pursue my goals in life is the unconditional support from my parents. My deepest gratitude above all goes to them. I also wish to thank my dear siblings, Johan, Sara, Susanna, and Gustav, for simply being themselves and being part of my life. Nor shall I forget the encouragement of many close friends in Sweden and Singapore: Hanna Löfqvist, Kristin Ljungklint, Mats Olander, Per Åkefeldt, Selma Olsson, Peder Buchhave, Elin Hasselberg, Mattias Bergman, Daniela von Martens, Fred Riessen, Lindsay Tan, Jenny Kwok, Aaron Neo, Jeff Yip, Koh Hui Ling, Tan Wan Sze, Yan Keyue, Sam Khan, and Chris Tan. Needless to say, the faults remaining are entirely my own. Kristina Göransson 9 Map 1 Southeast Asia 10 Kristina Göransson Kristina Göransson 11 Prologue In July 2002 I went to Singapore to conduct ethnographic fieldwork on Chi- nese intergenerational relations. Singapore’s dramatic modernization evoked my question of how the bond between generations has been affected. At an early stage of my fieldwork I got to know Bee Choo. She was a happily married mother of two children, and was pursuing a successful career as the deputy di- rector of a family service center. During our conversations Bee Choo shared her life story with me, from her early childhood memories to her present role as a wife and working mother. I shall here let her narrative represent a micro- cosm of the issues that will be examined in this study. In the early 20th century, Bee Choo’s paternal grandfather and granduncle had left China to set up a fishing business in Singapore, where they hoped conditions would be better.