This project seeks to shed light on how everyday ‘ways of being’ affect intangible ‘ways of belonging’ across class and generation in cross-national families where one spouse (either husband/wife) is a Singapore citizen and the other, a foreigner (i.e. a permanent resident or holding other passes). Everyday lived experiences, negotiations and opportunities have impacts on the forms of consciousness, self-definition and subjectivities, affecting cross-national family members’ capacity to see themselves as part of the social fabric. This project also provides a more comprehensive context to understand how social resilience develops within the cross-national family and among its members. By examining the resources, social networks, and affective ties that adults and children from cross-national families are able to forge and draw upon, this research contributes to a more robust and all-rounded understanding of integration, identity and resilience among cross-national families and their members in Singapore.

PI & Co-PIs (NUS): Brenda S.A. Yeoh FBA, Esther Goh & Theodora Lam
Co-Investigator (DSO): Bernice Khoo (2022-2023) and Forster Khoo (2023-2024)
ARI Research Fellow: Bernice Loh

Project Duration: 1 May 2022 – 30 September 2024