When a Chinese does not speak Chinese

Abstract

This chapter analyses the online narratives of locals and migrants to argue that state constructions of ethnicity can become a site of contestation for people on the ground. It shows how Chinese migrants imagine Singaporean- Chinese as “not Chinese enough” by deriding their weak Mandarin proficiency. In defence, Singaporean-Chinese claim Chinese migrants as “not Singaporean enough” by focusing on their “culture” of being loud and not queueing. Challenging extant studies on immigrant incorporation which take for granted host societies’ sense of belonging, this chapter reflects broadly on the unstable belonging of both migrants and hosts in this age of migration.