My maternal grandmother was given away by her own foot-bound widowed mother to my maternal grandfather’s family to be raised as a future bride and daughter-in-law.

 

My mother, would later at the age of 7, refuse to graze the family yellow cattle and demand to go to school.

 

Another generation later, I would become the first in my generation on both sides of my very large extended family to go to university and graduate school.

 

After I got admitted into the PhD programme in sociology at NUS, I showed the Google satellite map of NUS campus to my maternal grandma and told her how far Singapore was from our hometown in Hubei of Central China.

 

By then her eyesight had already deteriorated and I did not know how much she could see. Nevertheless, she was amazed. I have always been interested in understanding the social changes and transformations in contemporary China and Asia. I am particularly drawn to topics relating to social mobility and inequality, migration, gender, and family.

 

As an early career sociologist, I am striving to forge my path in academia. Working in a university allows me to pursue my research interests, to teach and share sociological perspectives and tools with students, and to promote social science via community service. The past three years have been very challenging, partly because I could not visit my family in China. Video calls with family and friends and nature walks and running have helped me cope. In addition to hiking, I also enjoy cycling, Zumba, reading, and watching The Expanse.

 

- Dr Hu Shu, Head of Sociology Programme, Singapore University of Social Sciences, CFPR Alumni

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