KITA Discourse Series 1/2020, 17 January 2020
On Friday January 17th, 2020, KITA Discourse Series No. 1/2020 was held with the following particulars:
Title: Chan See Shu Yuen: A Cantonese Ancestral Clan in Malaysia as Transnational Social Support Network
Speaker: Dr. Rachel Chan Suet Kay (KITA-ÿմapp)
Venue: KITA Meeting Room
Summary: Chinese clan associations can be found in many parts of the world, due to the Chinese emigration from mainland China in the 1800s. This paper contextualises the study of Chinese clan associations, within the Asian approach to cultural heritage preservation. In particular, I take the case of Cantonese clan associations, a dialect group of the Chinese, who have been studied less extensively in comparison to other dialects such as Hokkien and Hakka. The case study used is the Chan See Shu Yuen Clan Association (CSSY), which was originally set up by a founder of Cantonese origin a century ago, in Malaysia. Members maintain relations with the ancestral temple’s branch in Guangzhou, China. Fieldwork consisted of participant observation which included photography, videography, and interviews with clan members; and a content analysis of documents such as brochures, historical documents, and social media of the Chan See Shu Yuen clan association. Under the condition of transnationalism as outlined by Vertovec (1997), the clan association has undergone an evolution of its original functions and therefore remains relevant, both as a social institution and as a tourist attraction. CSSYKL is one example of a combination of both tangible and intangible Cantonese cultural heritage which functioned not only in the past as a community center for the Chinese who migrated to Malaya in search of economic opportunity, but still retains its functions today as a gateway to maintaining links with Mainland China, especially in the economic dimension. Simultaneously, it also attracts tourists from all around the world, including those from China and local tourists themselves. It provides symbolic aesthetic meaning to the future of Kuala Lumpur’s development and enriches the local cultural expression in league with the Malaysian National Cultural Policy.
About the Speaker: Dr. Rachel Chan Suet Kay is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies, National University of Malaysia. She specialises in cultural sociology, having written on cultural capital flows between East Asia and the West. Her latest publications are on English translations of Chinese online fiction, habitus and field in Malaysian cosplay, anti-capital in the Ah Beng subculture, and the convergence of cultural values among Chinese-educated and non-Chinese-educated Malaysian Chinese. Her recent book is “Ah Beng Subculture and the Anti-Capital of Social Exclusion”. Other authored and edited books are in progress, including one based on her PhD thesis, “The Convergence of Chinese and Western Values as Global Habitus”. She received her PhD in Sociology and MA by Research from the University of Malaya; and a BSc (Hons) in Sociology and Diploma in Economics from the University of London. She is currently the Chief Editor of ÿմapp Ethnic Studies Paper Series, and welcomes manuscript submissions.
