Orang Cina Bukan Cina: being Peranakan, (not) being Chinese and the social construction of race in Singapore

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper explores how being Peranakan is related to (not) being Chinese in Singapore, intertwining descent, racial categorization, cultural practice and choice. Tracing the complex history of Peranakan identity, it highlights how the social construction of race has created a hybrid yet ethnically Chinese identity, with a rich cultural heritage largely relegated to the past. Drawing on theories of racial formation and the racial state, this study illuminates racial ascription and categorization in Singapore. Interviews with 32 Peranakan individuals highlight the positioning of Peranakan identity within the multiracial framework, subsumed within the Chinese category. Examining the idea of being ‘Orang Cina Bukan Cina/Chinese but not Chinese’, the paper addresses nuances of locating the mixedness of hybridity in a racially structured context. Juxtaposed against the recent revitalization of Peranakan material culture, Peranakan as ‘locally born’ illustrates how this complex identity is used in everyday life by individuals and the state.