Identity politics of being and becoming of the Chetti Melaka in Singapore

The objective of this paper is to explore identity politics in the representations of the chetti melaka identity at a one-day symposium entitled the lost tribe of chetti melaka - who are we? in singapore. the paper focusses on three speakers whom we found most engaged in identity politics in their presentation at the symposium. engaging with stuart hall's ideas of being and becoming and farish noor's ideas of fluid peranakan-ness, we employ discourse analysis to explore the sense of displacement seen at the symposium and chetti identity in singapore. our discussion and findings reveal the interesting minoritisation dynamics of the chetti melaka in terms of ethnic and national identity,particularly in the context of modern,postcolonial,globalised and cosmopolitan singapore. © universiti putra malaysia press.