This research was made possible by funding from the Nanyang Technological University. I would like to deeply acknowledge that NTU Research Scholarship supported my study at NTU, stay in Singapore, fieldwork in Bangladesh, and participation in a number of conferences including one in Hiroshima. I thank the funders.I would like to express my utmost gratitude and appreciation to my wife, Joyfun Nahar, for her unwavering support and encouragement throughout my PhD programme. She always provided me with the vital emotional support without which I could not finish my job in time. Moreover, she had to take extra responsibility of taking care of all the family affairs in my absence. I am indebted iv to her. I am grateful to my father-in-law, Shabbir Ahmed Mia, who provided the much-needed familial support for me by staying with my wife and kids in my absence. My daughter, Saliha Nazia, who was just eight when I came to Singapore, also encouraged me during this long period of separation. Whenever I felt lonely, I talked to her on telephone or Skype. My little son, Muminur Rahman, who was born two months after I had come to Singapore in 2012, missed my affection and love until now -staying far away from me. He is too young to understand his contributions to this thesis.