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In the East and in the West: London

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Transnational Lives in Global Cities

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Abstract

This chapter accounts for the transnational lives of 24 Chinese Singaporeans researched in London in 2009. These lives spanned London, or other places in the United Kingdom, Singapore, and possibly more western, and/or asian societies in which the London participants had lived. This research yields that they Chinese Singaporeans often reckoned that they could maneuver to (continue) to access resources in their transnational education contexts, finding that they had (had) a relatively high acceptance of their characteristics at universities in the United Kingdom. Then the chapter shows that experiencing transnational work contexts often was incongruous because the Chinese Singaporeans thought that could not, or would not, signal, and practice what they perceived as appropriate practices of work socialities in London. The chapter stresses that the Chinese Singaporeans transnational family socialities also often were incongruous because of East–West differences, or the participants kept homogenous transnational family socialities. Furthermore, the research in London yields that the London participants reckoned that their transnational friendships/lifestyle socialities were very various.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Two participants in the London research lived elsewhere in the United Kingdom , and were interviewed when they visited London . These two participants are included in this study of Chinese Singaporeans in London because their experiences provide insight into characteristics of the United Kingdom .

  2. 2.

    One more participant was a permanent resident in Australia .

  3. 3.

    He had to serve the two years of mandatory military service in Singapore before starting his university studies.

  4. 4.

    Ho (2008, 159–66) stresses that the Singaporean government’s policies of holding adults accountable for the well-being of their parents (see Chapter 2) and for providing for them, accounts for that the Singaporeans she researched in London kept the Singaporean nationality, given that Singapore accepts only one nationality when a citizen becomes 21-years-old. This enabled the Singaporeans in London to return to live in Singapore with ease to take care of their parents .

  5. 5.

    There is a negative stereotype in several societies that Chinese people are involved in selling illegal goods.

  6. 6.

    He did not talk about his relations with his family in Singapore .

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Liverpool, Singapore, Singapore

    Caroline Plüss

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  1. Caroline Plüss
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Correspondence to Caroline Plüss .

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Plüss, C. (2018). In the East and in the West: London. In: Transnational Lives in Global Cities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96331-0_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96331-0_4

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96330-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96331-0

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