新加坡客家女性: 移民生活与文化认同研究 = Singapore Hakka Women: Study of Migration Life and Cultural Identity

Abstract

Since Singapore opened its borders for migrants in the early 19th century, Hakka people have emigrated and lived in Singapore. However, the scores of Hakka women who arrived in Singapore increased in the first half of the 20th century. These Hakka women, traveled across the sea to the island, counting on the route and experiences of earlier immigrants. These women ended up in Singapore mostly because they came along with their husbands. After arriving in Singapore, most of Hakka Women were engaged in all kinds of laborious jobs. Hence, the life for the female Hakka immigrants in the first half of the 20th century was neither a smooth sail nor free of worries for basic needs of life. However, their willingness to bear hardships and their frugal habits in household management enabled these Hakka women to establish a foothold in Singaporean society and to make further explorations as members of an ethnic minority in Singapore. For these hardworking Hakka women, their living and working environment and family structures changed to a certain degree after they immigrated to Singapore. However, the Hakka identity of these early Hakka women immigrants did not change, rather it strengthened, but it gradually diminished in the subsequent generations until such sense of identity was completely lost in present younger Hakka generations of Singapore.