May 10, 2019

In a joint book launch on 7 May 2019, the issues of transnational migration and marriage in India, China, and Singapore came together with the release of Citizens in Motion: Emigration, Immigration, and Re-migration (2019, Stanford University Press) by Associate Professor Elaine Ho (NUS Department of Geography) and Marrying for a Future: Transnational Sri Lankan Tamil Marriages in the Shadow of War (2019, Washington University Press) by Assistant Professor Sidharthan Maunaguru (NUS South Asian Studies and NUS Sociology).

Assoc Prof Ho elaborates on how her research on transnational migration flows from China, Canada, Singapore, and Myanmar have overlapped to create changing perspectives and self-perceptions of immigrants and their cultural identity. She also narrows down this phenomenon to the Singapore context; in a country with so much cross-cultural conglomeration, she adds that “Juxtaposing immigration and emigration…highlights that there are dual concerns over the loyalty of overseas Singaporeans as well as new immigrants.”

In a similar light, Dr Maunaguru investigates how Sri Lankan Tamil communities deal with the suffering of war, particularly with regard to transnational marriages. Dr Maunaguru remarks, “How do people live in the time of mass migration and war which is full of uncertainty? Transnational marriage within this context is actually also a journey full of uncertainty so the two kinds of uncertainty were coming together…”.

The two books, despite coming from separate social science perspectives, tackle how the influences of cross-border migration affect both societies and individuals at differing levels of the community. Assoc Prof Ho shares her insights on the books’ common ground as well, stating, “Both books…talk about how the past matters for the future, how migrants through their intentionality are actually strategising for the future…”.

Read the article on NUS News here.

Get the books here:

Citizens in Motion: Emigration, Immigration, and Re-migration – https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=28697

Marrying for a Future: Transnational Sri Lankan Tamil Marriages in the Shadow of War – https://www.amazon.com/Marrying-Future-Transnational-Lankan-Marriages/dp/029574541X