Over decades, in Singapore’s vigorous economic development, the city-state has been constantly evolving. Without exception, globalisation has shed its mighty impact on Chinatown which enjoys hundreds of years of history. While on the surface, unique architectures in Chinatown have been rather well preserved under the effort of the government’s 1986 conservation plan, this article goes further to perform a close inspection on how globalisation affects the social activities in Chinatown and in turn changes the Chinatown identity.
Concept
We view identity of a place as how people closely related to the place identify with it as individuals and as groups. Consisting this identity are tangible elements like architectures which are vitalized by intangible social activities. The identity of a place is perceived at different levels by different viewers. There are insiders and outsiders. In this case, the identity of Chinatown is by and large developed, enriched and preserved by this insiders closely related to it in an informal way, mainly local inhabitants and shopkeepers, while outsiders being the government and foreign visitors.
Experience with the Chinatown identity
Walking into Chinatown, I was overwhelmed by shopping stands lining the two sides of the street which sell souvenirs to tourists. Under this boisterous scene, however, it was surprisingly hard for me to get a touch of the identity of Chinatown. I decided to hear from the tourists one of whom later exclaimed that the place is of strong Chinese identity to him, “look at the surroundings and all those decorations”, he said. Is simply looking Chinese enough to constitute Chinatown’s identity? I wondered. Beneath the physical outlook with colourful Chinese style archite...
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...tionally measured sense of belonging. Based only on this shared identity, if one day Singaporean economy slows down its rapid development it is all but normal for Singaporeans to leave for a greener pasture.
The authentic identity of a place and of the nation in fact should be the identity that grew bottom up with contribution from every normal citizens. The government though has to bear economic consideration, should respect the authentic character of identity of places and of the nation. It may aid in instilling elements relevant to national interest only when fully recognizes the existing intangible aspect of social identity. In the process of decision making, the government should try to make stakeholders fully involved. Only when the development of place identity and national identity takes place as a natural process can this identity grow firm and deep.
This nation was relatively stable in the eyes of immigrants though under constant political and economic change. Immigration soon became an outlet by which this nation could thrive yet there was difficulty in the task on conformity. Ethnic groups including Mexicans and Chinese were judged by notions of race, cultural adaptations and neighborhood. Mary Lui’s “The Chinatown Trunk Mystery” and Michael Innis-Jimenez’s “Steel Barrio”, provides a basis by which one may trace the importance of a neighborhood in the immigrant experience explaining the way in which neighborhoods were created, how these lines were crossed and notions of race factored into separating these
...has a national identity, an identity borne of many cultures and in the spirit of cooperation.
Identity is 'how you view yourself and your life.'; (p. 12 Knots in a String.) Your identity helps you determine where you think you fit in, in your life. It is 'a rich complexity of images, ideas and associations.';(p. 12 Knots in a String.) It is given that as we go through our lives and encounter different experiences our identity of yourselves and where we belong may change. As this happens we may gain or relinquish new values and from this identity and image our influenced. 'A bad self-image and low self-esteem may form part of identity?but often the cause is not a loss of identity itself so much as a loss of belonging.'; Social psychologists suggest that identity is closely related to our culture. Native people today have been faced with this challenge against their identity as they are increasingly faced with a non-native society. I will prove that the play The Rez Sisters showed this loss of identity and loss of belonging. When a native person leaves the reservation to go and start a new life in a city they are forced to adapt to a lifestyle they are not accustomed to. They do not feel as though they fit in or belong to any particular culture. They are faced with extreme racism and stereotypes from other people in the nonreservational society.
Furthermore, identity comes from how people choose to comprehend and perceive their own self. The elements of identity are limitless because you can choose to be whoever you want to be, despite the opinions of others. Thus, one’s identity tends to be unique, in a sense, compared to other
Toronto is often recognised as a metropolis characterized by its ethnic diversity – As the largest city in Canada, one of the only countries in the world that identifies as a multicultural state in its constitution. Yet, although Canada exists with this as the basis of its formal and constitutional framework – it is without a strong sense of internal cohesion, authenticity or agency. The novel ‘What We All Long For’ by Dionne Brand addresses the more unexplored aspects of Urban life of first generation immigrant communities in the City of Toronto. She follows the life of Tuyen, a rebellious spirit in her twenties who has come to be disconcerted with the concept of longing in the city of Toronto. Tuyen expresses through the eyes of an artist – through her expression of an ancient Chinese symbol, the lubiao. In this essay I will analyse the concept of racialization and resistance in relation to Tuyen’s lubiao. Then I will set the historical background of the city of Toronto.
There is many different ways which the concept of identity has been defined and studied by social scientists. Some of these scientists include, Coatsworth, Shwartz, Srivastava, and Furstenburg. The actual dictionary definition of “identity” is, the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. An individuals’ personality characterstics also relate to their sense of identity. These types of characterisitcs are known as, the “Big Five'”. This is a term used to describe the five broad traits of humans.
This is evident in the persistence of elderly characters, such as Grandmother Poh-Poh, who instigate the old Chinese culture to avoid the younger children from following different traditions. As well, the Chinese Canadians look to the Vancouver heritage community known as Chinatown to maintain their identity using on their historical past, beliefs, and traditions. The novel uniquely “encodes stories about their origins, its inhabitants, and the broader society in which they are set,” (S. Source 1) to teach for future generations. In conclusion, this influential novel discusses the ability for many characters to sustain one sole
She chooses to cite only academic publications, Canadian governmental documents, and local newspaper articles in her long list of sources, none of which provide perspective from the people around which the article is centered; the Chinese. This highlights the key issue within the article; whilst Anderson meticulously examines how Chinatown is simply a construction of white supremacists, she ignores what life was actually like for the area’s inhabitants, and how the notion of ‘Chinatown’ may have become a social reality for those living in it. By failing to include sources written by those who lived in Chinatown during the time or live there now, she misses the notion of Canadian-Chinese agency and its potential willingness to thrive and adapt in an environment she deems simply a hegemonic construction. Barman’s sources are all encompassing from varying perspectives. This may be due to the fact that she wrote the article 20 years after Anderson’s, during a time in which history was beginning to be viewed through a culturally-relativistic lens.
This dynamic conception of identity is in opposition to the proposals to consider identity as a permanent and stable situation, which can’t evolve. The concept of identity proposed Hall steps away from the essentialist bias that considers identity to be something born of naturally formed unit, indicating the stable core of the self, from beginning to end, it unfolds unchanged through all vicissitudes of history, identical itself over time. For Hall then, identity is a set of predetermined qualities with a never-ending construction. For Garifunas then, identities arise from the narrative of self, how they represent themselves and they are represented. Hall, that identities are constructed within the discourse and not outside it. Garifuna identity needs to be understood as it is produced in historical sites and institutions specifically in discursive formations and specific practices, through specific declarative strategies. Garifuna identity is found in a field of struggle and conflict in which the force lines designed by the logic of the machine of society prevail. All identities are transformed in this struggle and therefore also involve transformations of all
Commercial architecture does it respond to the identity surrounding it? Or does it merely respond to the conditions of Globalization? In order to answer the question above, in the following written piece I must explore the key elements of globalization and identity. I intend to relate both factors to commercial architecture, using the Hilton Tower in Manchester as a prime example. This written piece will effectively be split into two parts (Globalization and Identity).
Some of the strengths of the social identity theory are that; throughout the years it has supported many empirical studies, it has also demonstrated the social categorization in intergroup behaviors, allowed us to differentiate between social and personal identities and has provide explanations for other areas of psychology (conformity). A weaknesses of the Social identity theory is that its application is restricted in the sense that it has very low ecological validity. Another weakness is that SIT favors situational factors rather than dispositional is not supported by evidence. The social Identity theory can be used to how to explain how we form our social and personal identities in the terms of in and out groups. SIT can also be used to explain why there is conflict between humans and different societies.
Why is cultural identity important to us as people from different race and ethnical background? Identity is one of the most baffling, unpredictable, problematic, survival instincts of individual life in any society around the world. CulturalIdentity is that is aspect of individual that creates a distinguish characteristics and unique differences from one person to another. It can be looked upon in the different angles and spectrum depending on what the case may be. Identity can be analyzed in terms of way of life of people in a geographical setting.Culture is the back born of every identity, and then we can look into some subcultures like, music, language, and communication and perception.
To conclude, New York City is one of the most densely inhabited metropolitan collection of cultural diversity in the world in which structures our temperament. New York City applies an imperative influence upon trade, economics, mass communication, skill, style, and education. Frequently it is known that New York City is a crucial core for global politics and has been depicted as the ethnic headquarters of the globe. New York City has been known as a melting pot of culture and as this prolong throughout towards the current day, the city has become ornate with distinct cultures. You can easily experience many aspects of different cultures by going to the different ethnic neighborhoods that exist throughout the city.
and Culture of China-US Relations.." CHINA US Focus Urbanization Chinas New Driving Force Comments. N.p., 30 Mar. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. .
In the modern society, the concept of identity is gaining much attention from both scientists and the wide public. The idea of identity is connected with the issues of identification and determining one's role in the society. However, the problem with the identity concerns the idea that it is perceived through numerous external factors that tend to determine the social status of a person and his or her belonging to a certain group. With regard to this, very often the identity of every particular person tends to be misinterpreted and perceived incorrectly. The incorrect interpretation of a person's identity usually comes as a result of cultural differences. The aspects that define the person’s identity usually include the labels that tend to be imposed on people due to their world-view, the language they are speaking, the racial belonging, or even the clothes they are wearing.