This study proposes to view Lee Guan Kin (the former director of the Center for Chinese Language, Culture, and Division of Chinese at Nanyang Technological University) in the historical context in which the identity of Southeast Asian Chinese has transformed from overseas Chinese to ethnic Chinese, from Straits Chinese to Chinese Singaporeans. Based on the interview with Lee and the study of Lee’s numerous publications, this article exemplifies Lee’s enduring efforts on researching diasporic Southeast Asian Chinese and their ties with Chinese language and culture is a meaningful choice rather than an essentialist returning to ‘roots.’ In this article, Lee’s continuous engagement with China, Chinese language, and culture is illustrated by analyzing Lee’s assertion of ‘doing justice’ for Lim Boon Keng and Tan Lark Sye. Accordingly, this study is divided into four parts. First, the concept of Chineseness is reviewed and explored in the context of Southeast Asia. Second, the historical background of English-educated and Chinese-educated Chinese groups and their varying degrees of Chineseness are introduced. Then this study analyzes how Lee does justice for Lim Boon Keng, a baba who served as chancellor of Xiamen University for 16 years, and Tan Lark Sye, who was the founder of former Nanyang University. Lee believes that both prominent figures were unfairly and relentlessly treated by Chinese and Singaporean historiography, respectively, and therefore, Lee wants to do justice to them as a way to relocate their position in the context of Chinese diaspora and to redefine Chinese accordingly. Finally, this study argues that locality defines Lee’s Chineseness, her relation with China, China studies, Chinese identity, or Chinese culture. While locality defines Lee’s Chineseness, a diasporic stance characterizes her articulation, which challenged the homogeneous threat of identity imposed by the nation-state and the kind of Chineseness traditionally shaped by the authority of a sino-centric core.

The growing phenomenon of serial migrants – people who have moved at least three times and profess belongings to more than two places – challenges the dialogic relationship imagined in studies of transnationalism. This is particularly true in the case of the mobile middle class, which has attracted less attention than the multiple migrations of low-waged labour migrants and the global professional elite. Drawing on interviews with 35 Australian and Indonesian migrants in Singapore, this article proposes the idea of orientation in order to understand the serial migration biographies of middle-class migrants. Rather than focusing on the propulsion and direction of movement, the notion of orientation suspends a migrant between reflection, action and imagination as they forge provisional pathways that upend or cleave to more conventional social trajectories. Developing this concept helps us to understand how migrants with middling resources navigate post-national socio-political formations contoured by race, gender, and class.

This paper compares the findings of two sequential cross-sectional studies of Singaporeans conducted in 2001 and 2011 with regard to the stability of values and their influence on life satisfaction. Using supporting literature, we propose several hypotheses on the relationships between values and Singaporeans' life satisfaction. We first report the means, importance ranks and changes in percentages for the values in the List of Values and the movements over the years. While values like security and sense of belonging have become more important, being well-respected has become less important over the decade. We then discuss the levels of life satisfaction, satisfaction with specific life domains and overall life satisfaction for Singaporeans, and the changes over 10 years. Using regression analyses and ANOVA, we examine the impact of shifting values and certain demographic variables on the life satisfaction of Singaporeans over the decade. Excitement and warm relationships with others were found to have a significant and positive influence on life satisfaction for both 2001 and 2011. The positive impact of self respect on life satisfaction was only significant in 2001, while security and sense of belonging had a significant negative and positive impact respectively on life satisfaction only in 2011. The effects of these values on life satisfaction were felt differently across age, gender, marital status, education, and income levels in 2001 and 2011. We conclude the paper with limitations and implications for policy making and future research.;This paper compares the findings of two sequential cross-sectional studies of Singaporeans conducted in 2001 and 2011 with regard to the stability of values and their influence on life satisfaction. Using supporting literature, we propose several hypotheses on the relationships between values and Singaporeans' life satisfaction. We first report the means, importance ranks and changes in percentages for the values in the List of Values and the movements over the years. While values like security and sense of belonging have become more important, being well-respected has become less important over the decade. We then discuss the levels of life satisfaction, satisfaction with specific life domains and overall life satisfaction for Singaporeans, and the changes over 10 years. Using regression analyses and ANOVA, we examine the impact of shifting values and certain demographic variables on the life satisfaction of Singaporeans over the decade. Excitement and warm relationships with others were found to have a significant and positive influence on life satisfaction for both 2001 and 2011. The positive impact of self respect on life satisfaction was only significant in 2001, while security and sense of belonging had a significant negative and positive impact respectively on life satisfaction only in 2011. The effects of these values on life satisfaction were felt differently across age, gender, marital status, education, and income levels in 2001 and 2011. We conclude the paper with limitations and implications for policy making and future research.