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10 Conclusion: From Lineage to Transnational Chinese Network
- Hong Kong University Press, HKU
- Chapter
- Additional Information
In this book, I have explored the relationship between the Singapore Chinese and their qiaoxiang. For the Singapore Chinese, visiting their qiaoxiang is a journey in search of ancestral and cultural roots. This search is facilitated by the fact that there continues to be a sizeable number of elderly firstgeneration Chinese migrants in Singapore, and they have played a large part in encouraging the younger Singapore-born Chinese to visit their qiaoxiang. It is this first-generation group of Singapore Chinese, who desire to maintain kinship and lineage continuity that set in motion the search for cultural and ancestral roots. From Nostalgia to Cultural Reproduction This search for cultural and ancestral roots has been very much accompanied by feelings of nostalgia and by collective memory. This older group recalled, with much emotion and sentiment, their childhood experiences in their villages, their migrant journeys to Singapore, and their village kin. Some of them had experienced life in the villages during the various phases of Communist rule. This generation were able to relate to their village kin and to empathize with them concerning their political plight and material poverty. However, they found themselves with mixed feelings concerning their own situations: on the one hand, they felt fortunate to have escaped the Communist regime; on the other, they felt guilty for leaving their kin behind or having been unable to rescue them. Sending remittances and money during the 1950s and 1960s was all they could do. However, as the political tension eased and 10 Conclusion: From Lineage to Transnational Chinese Network Kuah_10_ch10.indd 241 11/11/2010 11:46 AM 242 Rebuilding the Ancestral Village reforms were introduced after 1978, the guilt feeling gradually gave way to a renewed sense of wanting to do something for their ancestral villages. The period after 1978 witnessed an increasing number of Singaporeborn Chinese making their way to their ancestral villages. They related to the qiaoxiang differently than did their parents or grandparents, as they had no social experiences pushing them to empathize with the then-recent plight of their village kin. For them, the qiaoxiang was an illusive or distant ancestral home. Many disliked or did not appreciate their village kin, and there was much tension between this group and their parents and grandparents because of different perceptions and expectations. There was also tension between the Singapore Chinese and their village kin, which was part of the moral economy that had been revived. Confucian morality, kinship obligations and parental demands dictate that the Singapore Chinese, being financially and materially better endowed, assist and provide for their poor village kin. Requests for material goods by those in the qiaoxiang in the late 1970s and early 1980s were perceived by some Singaporeans as insatiable demands, and some of the latter soon began to experience ‘qiaoxiang fatigue’, and became wary of constant demands. They began to dislike receiving tangshan letters, and this feeling was reinforced, especially among the Singapore-born generations, by their lack of understanding of village economic conditions. Despite these apprehensions, many Singapore Chinese participated in the moral economy. As the saying goes, ‘blood is thicker than water’; the kinship ties and the call of duty from the ancestral home became socio-moral bonds which pushed many Singapore Chinese to contribute to village reconstruction and development and to provide material and financial assistance to members of their extended kinship groups. This continuation and revival of the traditional moral economy involved cultural and religious reproduction in the qiaoxiang. In attempting to widen the moral-economic networks involved, most village elders, cadres and villagers supported this reproduction, which was and remain as the main preoccupations of the Singapore Chinese when they visit their qiaoxiang. It has thus been an attitude of give-and-take that finally creates goodwill and reciprocity between the two groups. From Lineage to Transnational Networks The Chinese lineage has gone through various stages, transforming itself from a parochial social institution into a transnational network. From its ancestral source, the lineage has spread outwards and, at present, there are numerous branches throughout China and overseas, especially in Southeast Asian cities. Kuah_10_ch10.indd 242 11/11/2010 11:46 AM [3.236.111.234] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 06:01 GMT) Conclusion: From Lineage to Transnational Chinese Network 243 The source of the Singapore branch of the Anxi Ke lineage remains in Penglai in Anxi, where it is represented by the ancestral house, which has been reconstructed in recent years to cater for revived communal worship...