Ethnic Relations and Nation-Building in Southeast Asia

8. The Majority’s Sacrifices and Yearnings: Chinese- Singaporeans and the Dilemmas of Nation-Building

Sharon Siddique 168 ฀฀฀Chapter฀8 The Majority’s Sacrifices and Yearnings: ChineseSingaporeans and the Dilemmas of Nation-Building EUGENE K.B. TAN The history of the ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia has been one of trials, tribulations, as well as of economic success amidst varying degrees of discrimination and acceptance in their adopted countries. Beginning with the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), China’s interest towards Nanyang (South Seas) reached its high point during the reign of Ming emperor Zhu Di. Commerce and trading activity in the region and the ambitious quest for an enlarged suzerainty saw eunuch Admiral Zheng He’s (Cheng Ho’s) famous voyages to the region.1 The subsequent arrival of the European colonialists, starting with the Portuguese, led to rapid economic expansion and an influx of Chinese and Indian migrant labour to service the growing demands for labour and entrepreneurship in the colonial lands, a phenomenon that reached its peak in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and was responsible for much of the heterogeneity of Malaysia and Singapore today. Reproduced฀from฀Ethnic Relations and Nation-Building in Southeast Asia: The Case of the Ethnic Chinese, edited฀by฀Leo฀Suryadinata฀(Singapore:฀Institute฀of฀Southeast฀Asian฀Studies,฀2004).฀This฀ version฀was฀obtained฀electronically฀direct฀from฀the฀publisher฀on฀condition฀that฀copyright฀is฀not฀ infringed.฀No฀part฀of฀this฀publication฀may฀be฀reproduced฀without฀the฀prior฀permission฀of฀the฀Institute฀of฀ Southeast฀Asian฀Studies.฀Individual฀articles฀are฀available฀at฀©฀2004฀Institute฀of฀Southeast฀Asian฀Studies,฀Singapore 169 8: The Majority’s Sacrifices and Yearnings© 2004 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore Thus, the geopolitical-ethnic uniqueness of Singapore is not a recent development. The British were conscious of its geopolitical centrality despite the stereotypical description of Singapore as a “sleepy Malay fishing village”. 2 In a matter of decades from SirThomas Stamford Raffles’ founding in 1819, Singapore was transformed from an indigenous Malay enclave into a Chinese-majority entity. 3 Its rise as an important entrepôt coincided with the themes of discrimination, ethnic violence, and pogroms against the ethnic Chinese in other parts of Southeast Asia. 4 The constant challenge faced by naturalized ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia was, and remains, to maintain their ethnic identity without doubts being cast on their commitment to the newly adopted homelands and the region. 5 Similarly, Singapore’s Chinese exceptionalism needs to be managed within the intricacies of ethnic relations in a multi-ethnic society and the latent regional geopolitical sensitivities against the backdrop of the putative rise of the regional hegemon, China. 6 In this chapter, Singaporean “Chineseness” refers to the trend in which increasing importance and prominence is placed — in form, if not in substance — on Chinese language and culture within political, economic, and socio-cultural discourse in Singapore. 7 Chineseness, as conceptually used in this chapter, embodies the quality of increasing importance and higher profile accorded to the ethnic Chinese racialcultural identity and value system in Singapore society.This is a discourse that is being moulded in the context of transnational, especially economic, processes bringing Chinese-Singaporeans into increasing contact with China and the Chinese diaspora. There is the acute consciousness that this is an era characterized by Greater China’s rise in economic, political, and cultural importance. On the economic front, it is identified by the close relationship between Singapore and China, facilitated by the belief that co-ethnics’ transnational transactions in the political, economic, and cultural spheres are exclusively advantaged. Other indicators include not only warm and cordial political ties but also closer linkages on multiple fronts with China, officially regarded as the cultural motherland of Chinese-Singaporeans. The overall manifestation is one of the ethnic Chinese-Singaporean nation-space gradually increasing within the domestic politicalideological terrain. This phenomenon is predicated on the patent need Eugene K.B. Tan 170© 2004 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore for Singapore to retain economic and cultural relevancy vis-à-vis China. This chapter argues that the Chinese-Singaporean contribution to the growth and development of the Singapore nation-state has been significant, especially in the fledgeling years. The Chinese-Singaporean contribution to nation-building, primarily in the de-emphasis on Chinese identity, has been critical to nation-building in the first two decades of independence. However, with the focus on economic prosperity and the role of cultural values for sustained growth and prosperity, the dominant theme of a multiracial approach has been gradually diluted...