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A Kaleidoscope of Malaysian Indian Women’s Lived Experiences“Indian Mothers, ‘Chinese’ Daughters”: Child Adoption in Pre-Independence Malaysia and Singapore

A Kaleidoscope of Malaysian Indian Women’s Lived Experiences: “Indian Mothers, ‘Chinese’... [This chapter examines how through cross-cultural child adoption, from the late 1920s to 1960s, the Indian community of Malaya (including Singapore) engaged in subtle shifts in what they thought to be ‘Indian’ in a colonial and post-colonial space. Demonstrating that ethnic boundaries are more fluid than once thought, the chapter delves into the process of ‘cultural incorporation’ of Chinese girls into adoptive Indian families: the ways in which the adoptive daughter is received into the Indian family, taking on the ‘Indian’ identity, erasing the ethnic lines between herself and that of the ethnic grouping of her birth family. The success of the incorporation of these daughters into these Indian families occurred because the girls embraced the ‘categorical attributes’ associated with Indian identity and culture; irrespective of their physical appearance and their ‘cumulative disadvantage’ of being females from an ethnic minority group in which son preference was not only upheld but led to these female children being given up for adoption.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Kaleidoscope of Malaysian Indian Women’s Lived Experiences“Indian Mothers, ‘Chinese’ Daughters”: Child Adoption in Pre-Independence Malaysia and Singapore

Editors: Karupiah, Premalatha; Fernandez, Jacqueline Liza
Devasahayam, Theresa W.
Springer Journals — Oct 23, 2022
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15 pages

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Publisher
Springer Nature Singapore
Copyright
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022
ISBN
978-981-19-5875-5
Pages
43 –58
DOI
10.1007/978-981-19-5876-2_3
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[This chapter examines how through cross-cultural child adoption, from the late 1920s to 1960s, the Indian community of Malaya (including Singapore) engaged in subtle shifts in what they thought to be ‘Indian’ in a colonial and post-colonial space. Demonstrating that ethnic boundaries are more fluid than once thought, the chapter delves into the process of ‘cultural incorporation’ of Chinese girls into adoptive Indian families: the ways in which the adoptive daughter is received into the Indian family, taking on the ‘Indian’ identity, erasing the ethnic lines between herself and that of the ethnic grouping of her birth family. The success of the incorporation of these daughters into these Indian families occurred because the girls embraced the ‘categorical attributes’ associated with Indian identity and culture; irrespective of their physical appearance and their ‘cumulative disadvantage’ of being females from an ethnic minority group in which son preference was not only upheld but led to these female children being given up for adoption.]

Published: Oct 23, 2022

Keywords: Child adoption; Malaya; Singapore; British colonial government; Indian diaspora; Son preference

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