Emplaced Ethnicity: A Comparative Study of Singapore's Chinatown and Bangkok's Chinatown

Abstract

Chinatowns all over the world stand as emblems of the spread of the Chinese diaspora throughout the globe . Significantly, more than simply being ubiquitous symbols that have become fossilized, they continue to thrive despite the social changes that have been wrought over time, including the fact that in some of these cities, the Chinese have over generations moved from being a migrant minority to become the majority of the population. Being a highly socially contingent constellation that was engendered as a response to the socio-political environment new migrants found themselves in, their continued relevance today begs closer scrutiny especially in relation to the evolution of ethnic identities that were hitherto closely tied to place. What makes them relevant today? What is the relationship between ethnic identity and place and how is that relationship expressed spatially? And over time are these places still authentic? Are Chinatowns still Chinese? What sustains them and gives them meaning? This comparative study of Chinatown Singapore and Chinatown Bangkok investigates the elements that make place and anchor ethnic identities in place and argues that what is 'authentic' is a lived- in memory that is sustained by a community of practioners, who continue to enact and reenact that social memory keeping it in practice as they produce and reproduce their daily lives.