From Survivors to Kingmakers: Illuminating the Goals and Values of Second-Generation Malaysian Chinese Migrants in Singapore

Malaysian Chinese has been a mainstay in Singapore since the latter achieved its independence in 1965. Besides geographical proximity, the pioneer generation of Malaysian Chinese migrants who wished to escape from racial discrimination and economic hardships in their Malay-majority nation opted for Singapore as the choice destination due to the latter’s meritocratic policies, its economic success and that close to three-quarter of its population was ethnic Chinese.

While the pioneer generation of Malaysian Chinese migrants were largely lowly-educated, took on low-skilled and menial jobs, and were socialised in traditional Chinese values, many of their children were able to pursue tertiary education,took on white-collar jobs and have seemingly adopted more liberal and “Westernised” values.

Many of these second-generation migrant professionals have also taken upon themselves to be the key catalysts in upgrading the social statuses of their families not only in Singapore, but also for some of their relatives still residing in Malaysia. Together with the still-living members from the earlier generation of migrants, the transnational families helmed by these able second-generation leaders aim to propel their families from mere survivors to upper-middle class statuses not only in their host nation, but also back in Malaysia.

In addition to these economic goals, many of these second-generation migrants have also tweaked their lifestyle choices to ape those of Singaporeans, resulting in the reduction of family units, changes in traditional gendered norms, more diverse social networks, and in some cases, less adherence to Malaysian Chinese principles.

Through semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 22 Malaysian Chinese families in Singapore, this paper hopes to illustrate and evaluate their attempts to restructure themselves to improve their economic and social well-being.