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4 - When a Chinese does not speak Chinese

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2022

Sylvia Ang
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Summary

Abstract

This chapter analyses the online narratives of locals and migrants to argue that state constructions of ethnicity can become a site of contestation for people on the ground. It shows how Chinese migrants imagine Singaporean-Chinese as “not Chinese enough” by deriding their weak Mandarin proficiency. In defence, Singaporean-Chinese claim Chinese migrants as “not Singaporean enough” by focusing on their “culture” of being loud and not queueing. Challenging extant studies on immigrant incorporation which take for granted host societies’ sense of belonging, this chapter reflects broadly on the unstable belonging of both migrants and hosts in this age of migration.

Keywords: culture, language, internet, Mandarin, belonging

In 2012, the internet in Singapore erupted. In February, Sun Xu, a Chinese scholar funded by the Singaporean government wrote a Chinese blog post that read: “It's so annoying to have gangster Singapore uncles stare at you when you bump into them. There are more dogs than humans here in Singapore.” His blog post was widely replicated on Singaporean websites and popular online forums. Singaporeans were outraged and went online to retaliate: a Facebook group called “NUS [education institute] should revoke Sun Xu's scholarship” was set up and it gathered 3,580 “Likes”. The alternative news website Temasek Times’ article on the subject titled “China's netizens rally behind Sun Xu and agree with him that Singaporeans are DOGS” garnered a total of 122 comments with a majority being hostile towards Chinese nationals. Some of the comments read:

Wow, with people in the PRC like that I’m so glad my ancestors decided to leave that hell hole.

We are dogs, loyal dogs to our country. They are cockroaches, like pests of the world.

Less than one week after the Sun Xu saga, Chinese national Ares Lin who was studying in Singapore posted on Shichengwang, an online forum popular with Chinese migrants in Singapore. He was unhappy with a Singaporean over a staring incident and vented his anger on the forum: “Please be reminded Singaporeans, you are all descendants of Chinese and the Chinese blood flow in you. Don't think you can be arrogant because you have transformed from ‘Chinese’ to ‘Singaporean’.

Type
Chapter
Information
Contesting Chineseness
Nationality, Class, Gender and New Chinese Migrants
 , pp. 97 - 118
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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