Teochew Poit IP Huay Kuan - Demise of Chinese Clans and Present Challenges

Demise of Chinese Clans and Present Challenges

Chinese clan associations faced a period of stagnation and decline which began around the period of post independence of Singapore. After Singapore gained independence, community centres were established by the People's Association to promote communal activities for people in Singapore. Successful public housing policies also made the people less inclined to approach the clan associations for assistance on housing issues. Further, educational and health facilities were established to meet the needs of Singapore citizens. Employment issues were greatly reduced by the country’s industrialisation projects. These factors led to the decline of Chinese clan associations as pointed out by BG Lee Hsien Loong in one of his speeches,"since Independence, many of the services the clan used to provide have been taken over by government and other civic organizations…the government took over the running of schools and public services.

Chinese clan associations started to lose their appeal and purpose towards the community and thus they experienced a dwindling membership".

With the decline of Chinese clan associations, Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan and other clans increasingly faced obstacles in sustaining their survival. It is a common perception among the Singaporean youths that Chinese clan associations are old-fashioned concepts and thus they lack interest in participating in the clan’s activities. This worry over the youths’ perception is implied by the former Chairman of Chongshan Huay Kuan, Leong Ah Soh, 59 years old, who told the Straits Times on 13 February 1998, that "even though clan leaders want to re-fashion clans to attract the young, there is great resistance from the ground".

The language divide between the Mandarin and dialect speaking general population of the Chinese clan associations and the English speaking younger generation also acts as an obstacle to getting youth to be engaged in activities. In a report by the Straits Time on 13 February 1998, it cited that many people gave the Chinese cultural festival's events a cold shoulder due to their inability to understand or speak Mandarin. The decrease in importance of the Chinese language can be attributed to the fact that many youths view Chinese languages as inferior. According to Professor Chew Cheng Hai, a consultant to Nanyang Technological University's Centre for Chinese Language and Culture, he states that the “Singaporean society views Mandarin as the language of those who are not successful”.

Unable to effectively reach out to the youth, due to language and generation barriers, Chinese clan associations face an aging membership and a problem of finding successors to clan leadership positions. This is a pertinent problem pointed by Tan Koh Tiang.