CARVING A SENSE OF BELONGING: ARAB PERANAKANS IN SINGAPORE FROM THE 1920S TO 1930S

Abstract

This thesis investigates how the Arab Peranakan community asserted their identity in pre-war Singapore. Drawing on the Arab Peranakan Association, this thesis analyses how Arab Peranakans sought to secure their place vis-à-vis other ethnic communities in society. Especially since they made up a very small minority, the association served as a physical manifestation of their collective will to carve a space for themselves. The Arab Peranakan Association founded in 1932 was one of the many ethnic-based organisations that existed in the 1920s and 1930s. At a period when ethnonationalism was on the rise, ethnic groups like the Chinese, Malays, and Indians formed their own respective associations amid figuring out their positions and roles in colonial Singapore. Hence, the Arabs were keen on following traditional patterns of society by establishing the Arab Peranakan Association. The organisation was intersectional in nature and was a place where Arab Peranakans could engage in leisure activities or partake in sports; a common feature of ethnic associations then. Furthermore, the organisation gave the Arab Peranakan community a platform to participate in transethnic causes that affected the larger society in a more formalised setting. Essentially, just like any other ethnic organisations, the Arab Peranakan Association became a vanguard of the interests of the Arabs.