本文透過對1945年之後新加坡及馬來(西)亞客家人與潮州人社群的比較研究,分析兩者在建構原生性認同、祖籍地關係及全球性網絡過程中的異同,進而揭示客家社群的特殊性與普遍性。本文認爲,新馬的客家社群具有兩個較明顯的特徵,即方言認同强於地緣認同,以及身份認同的超社群性及泛華化。相對於潮人社群而言,客家社群處於其他主要社群之邊緣,加之其原祖籍地概念的相對分散性,使他們較爲強調其方言及自身的華人身份,並以此突破族群觀念的限制,與其他社群組織進行多層次的合作,積極參與本地的政治及社會活動。對華人性(Chineseness)以及「客家精神」的强調和論説構成了客家人的主要特徵。在與祖籍地和中國的聯繫上,他們也更容易突破狹隘的地域限制而形成一種更為區域性的關懷,並進而在全球化背景下建構起基於地方社會聯繫基礎上的地方-全國-全球-祖籍地之間的多重網絡聯繫及超地域的文化認同。
A comparative approach to various sub-ethnic Chinese communities constitutes an integral component of an emerging Global Hakkaology. This essay attempts to comparatively reconstruct the changing identities and homeland linkages of the Hakka and Teochewese communities in post-1945 Singapore and Malaysia. Through a close examination of different patterns of homeland linkages and identity formation by these two sub-ethnic groups, we argue that while Teochewese identity has been mainly shaped by localism and extensive connections with the homeland, Hakka identity was less influenced by such locality linkages. Instead, dialect link and a sense of marginality have been instrumental in the making of a trans-local Hakka identity and the discourse on Chineseness (often through a constant emphasis upon 「the Hakka Spirit」), which in turn prompted the Hakka to become pioneers in the globalization and regionalization processes and politically more active in comparison with other sub-ethnic Chinese communities in postcolonial Southeast Asia.