Identity construction in the South Asian diaspora in Singapore in the process of decolonisation : from post-war to independence (c. 1945–1965)

• Main Author: Al-Mehraaj Mohamed Rahim
• Other Authors: Jessica Bridgette Hinchy
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::General::History; DRNTU::Humanities::History::Asia::Singapore
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/76607
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The thesis explores identity construction in the South Asian diaspora in Malaya, and more specifically Singapore, in the context of decolonisation from the immediate post-war period until Singapore’s independence in 1965. There will be an analysis of the construction of a) national identities, in terms of the South Asians’ identifications with their country of origin, India and migrated country, Singapore; and b) social identities, in terms of the making of religious, language, ethnic, and caste identities. The study shows that it was in the long process of decolonisation of both South Asia and Southeast Asia, particularly after the Partition of India in 1947, that identities experienced significant shifts. With transformations in migration patterns and changing power balance within South Asian identity categories, the diaspora’s outlook and identity narratives were substantially transformed over the process of decolonisation. The study contributes to an understudied area in the scholarship of South Asian diaspora in Singapore, in terms of the effects of Partition on South Asians there. This would be done through a close examination of Partition discussions in Malaya and Singapore from 1946-47, illustrating the limited effect it had on producing identity shifts.