Surviving the Politics of Late Modernity: The Eurasian Fringe Community of Singapore1

Abstract

This paper locates the Eurasian community's reconciliatory politics in an age marked by a proclivity for primordial purity within complex political, social and economic sub-systems. The word "Eurasian" has both old and new connotations; "old" because of primordial accents of physically "observable" biological mixture, and "difference"; and "new" because of cultural origins in the early to mid-sixteenth century. This paper concentrates on Eurasians in Singapore after 1945. Eurasians are the architects, objects, and subjects of a hybrid culture, a momentary reminder of a formerly powerful colonial presence in Southeast Asia. Since the early sixteenth century Eurasians have been transformed by the impact of at least three different phases of Western colonialism, and since 1955, two ongoing phases of internal colonialism by a predominantly Malay state in Malay[si]a, and a migrant, Chinese-dominated State in Singapore. Eurasians in Malaysia and Singapore survive as a fringe community: a politically, and demographically marginal community that has existed and continues to exist on the fringe of the modern Malay world, subjected through the years to the state policies of the Portuguese, Dutch, British, Malay, and Singapore governments, yet managing to preserve their culture of "Eurasianess" through a strategy of reconciliatory politics in late modernity.

English as a ‘mother tongue’ in Singapore

“…Wee () is one of the earliest to broach the idea of giving English the status of mother tongue, not for all in Singapore, but specifically for the Eurasian community. The Eurasians, a category originally created by the colonial bureaucracy, refers to ‘colonial subjects who were offspring of European fathers and Asian mothers’ (Rappa : 157). Wee argues that it is not possible for the state to make English the mother tongue because of the heavy stakes the state has laid in its ethnic and mother tongue policies.…”

Contested Communities in Southeast Asia: The Law and the Singapore Eurasians

“…There are many derogatory words used to describe Eurasians even though many are known for their "aesthetically pleasing" looks. The Hokkien speakers used to call Eurasians "Chap Cheng" (mixed blood), the Malays referred to them as "grago", and the Indians called them Bengali Putih, the White Bengali, the Orang Nasrani (People of Nazareth), or the Gente Kristang (Christian gentiles) [4,5,11]. They have been represented at the highest levels of political office.…”

“…The Eurasian community developed from humble roots since the early 17 th century with the arrival of the Portuguese in Malacca. The Eurasian community was a once influential and prominent social, cultural, economic and political community that has seen the rise and fall of the Portuguese, Dutch and British Empires [4][5][6][7].…”

“…Who first came up with the idea of Eurasian and where did the word Eurasian come from? According to my own research the word Eurasian was invented only in the early to mid-19 th century by a colonial civil servant based in India [4][5][6][7].…”

Language Policy and Modernity in Southeast Asia

“…For example, as pointed out by Hill and Lian (1995:103), a 1993 television series Pioneers of Singapore featured the Eurasians for their role in the country's history. Hill and Lian also note that the EAS had recently been reactivated, an indication that the community is intent on combating its marginalized status (see also Rappa, 2000). Finally, as recognition for the important place the community has in Singapore society, George Yeo, then minister for Information and the Arts "was appointed as unofficial Cabinet representative for the Eurasians, in the absence of a Eurasian minister" (Hill and Lian 1995:104).…”