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When ethnic Chinese are forced by war or racial discrimination to be repatriated to China, do they finally find home? Do they feel nostalgia about their former lives? This article describes the repatriation of the overseas Chinese from Malaya (now Malaysia), Indonesia, Vietnam and India and their re-establishment of home at the Yingde Overseas Chinese Farm in Guangdong. The discussion is organised around the idea of home as a process. The returnees' perceptions of home are shaped both by their lives at Yingde and by their memories and experiences of migration. Recreating certain intimate cultural ways of life is essential to making the state farm a home to the returnees. We also show how transformations in international politics and local conditions have impacted on the experiences of the returned overseas Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on ethnographic and documentary research that concerns shantangs, Chinese charitable temples, in Southeast Asia and in the Chao-Shan region of Guangdong in China. Unlike the shantangs as benevolent societies in late Ming and Qing China, the shantangs described in this article not only emphasize charitable activities, they are also temples that honor Song Dafeng as a deity. I show that the religious nature of these shantangs account for their resilience, while the tradition of charity helps to promote their secular and benevolent image, especially when there is a need to emphasize their existence as non-superstitious organizations. I also describe the agency of the local elite--and especially merchants--in the development of shantangs in Southeast Asia and China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the re-migration and adjustment of Indonesian Chinese to living in Hong Kong and their cultural belonging to Hong Kong, China, and Indonesia. Known in China as guiqiao or 'Returned Overseas Chinese', these were Chinese who re-migrated from Indonesia to mainland China in the 1950s and 1960s. By the early 1970s, many were allowed to migrate to Hong Kong. Although arriving with very little money, many have succeeded in establishing a fairly good life in Hong Kong, although there are also many who survive on low incomes. This paper discusses the experiences of the Indonesian Chinese in relation to local and transnational belonging, the perception of homelands, and the re-establishment of a Southeast Asian lifestyle in Hong Kong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an examination into the social conditions of the Balinese Chinese population in the city of Quanzhou, China. Details are given briefly reviewing the history of the group and their immigration from Bali, Indonesia in the early 1960s. Extensive discussion is then provided illustrating the cultural practices and position of the "guiqiao" group in Fujian province. Subjects addressed include their relations with the local populations, their speaking Balinese, and their use of Indonesian cookery. Conclusions are offered regarding the dynamics of social acculturation and identity in China.

This article examines soybean curd and kindred byproducts in Hong Kong, where an ethnographic survey revealed that traditional forms of soy products have been supplemented with new consumption practices. Soyfoods have been part of Asian food systems for millennia. But a century ago, soybeans entered the world market, taking on new nutritional and economic roles. Swiftly changing technology and unexpected market opportunities have since transformed the place of soybeans in the panorama of global food. Hong Kong is now a place where novel soyfood-eating styles are becoming fashionable, and these are diffusing to other, more Western societies. (Asia, anthropology of food, globalization) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Whether fi nal height is associated with quality of life and mental health is a matter of epidemiological and medical concern. Both social and biological explanations have been previously proposed. This study aims to assess the associations in ethnic Chinese in Singapore., Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of 4414 respondents aged at least 21 years seen at a major polyclinic was performed. Socioeconomic and behavioural features of the sample and the Singapore population of similar ages were comparable. Height was measured by clinic nurses using an ultrasonic height senor. Participants were interviewed for socioeconomic, behavioural, health and quality of life information. Clinical morbidity data was collected from the participants' treating physicians. The SF-6D utility index and its Mental Health domain were the main endpoints. Linear and ordinal logistic regression models were used to analyse the utility index and the Mental Health scores, respectively., Results: Having adjusted for age and gender, the Mental Health domain (P <0.01) was associated with height but the utility index was not. Further adjustment for health, socioeconomic and behavioural covariates made little difference. Analyses based on height categories showed similar trends., Conclusion: Adult height has a positive association with mental health as measured by the SF-6D among ethnic Chinese in Singapore. Socioeconomic status and known physical health problems do not explain this association. Adult height had no association with SF-6D utility index scores.

Objectives: To evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a multiethnic Asian population in Singapore, and to explore if the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of alternative BMI cutoffs for Asians could be further strengthened by evidence of higher risk of impaired HRQoL using these criteria., Methods: Consenting English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil-speaking primary care patients (age >or= 21 years) were interviewed using English/their respective mother tongue versions of the EQ-5D/EQ-VAS, Health Utilities Index (HUI2 & HUI3) and the SF-6D. We first evaluated the relationship between BMI and HRQoL (overall and individual attributes for each instrument) using multiple linear/logistic regression (where appropriate) to adjust for factors known to affect HRQoL. We next reorganized BMI into five categories (reflecting the differences in cutoffs between International/Asian classifications) and evaluated if median HRQoL scores were significantly different across these categories., Results: Among 411 participants [response rate: 87%; median age: 51 years; obese: 19% (International); 33% (Asian)], after adjusting for sociodemographic and other factors, a tendency for underweight and obese subjects to report lower overall HRQoL scores was observed for most instruments. At the individual attribute level, obese subjects reported significantly lower HUI2 pain scores (regression coefficient: -0.035, P = 0.029) and greater odds of reporting problems for SF-6D role-limitations (odds ratio: 2.9, P = 0.005). Median overall HRQoL scores were not significantly different across the five BMI categories., Conclusion: Consistent with available studies, obese subjects reported worse HRQoL than normal-weight subjects. That underweight subjects also reported worse HRQoL is interesting and requires confirmation. HRQoL was similar in Asians using either WHO criteria.