THE CHINESE ASSOCIATIONS IN SINGAPORE: A CASE STUDY OF THE SINGAPORE HOKKIEN HUAY KUAN

Abstract

"The best way to formulate the rules of the internal struct¬ ure of the Chinese community in Singapore is through exam¬ ination of the details of its organization, that is, through the analysis of its basic con¬ stituents, the voluntary asso¬ ciations." (Hsieh,1977 : 82; Overseas Chinese communities throughout the world are noted for the number and variety of their voluntary asso¬ ciations. The fact that such associations are present in all aspects of the social life make these traditional Ch¬ inese voluntary associations worthy of study. Many studies have been done in this field; However, relatively few works have concentrated on the case-study of one particular Chinese association. Hence, this study hopes to explore one selected Chinese association, namely the Singapore Hokkien huay Kuan, so as to get a better understanding of the Chinese associations in general. It has been debated that traditional Chinese associa¬ tions have fulfilled their historical roles and that in this modern society of today, they have to give way to new community organizations like the Community Centres. How¬ ever, it was also argued that by modifying and refining both the organization and content bf these traditional Chinese associations, the Chinese appear to be consciously using their associations to preserve their "Chineseness", as well as to adapt effectively to the everchanging multi ethnic society of Singapore. Hence, it is obvious that the types, number and organization of voluntary associations existing at a particular time depend much on the problems, personnel and resources generated by the contemporaneous social environment. The Chinese associations therefore began to assume new roles as they marched into the seventies.