When one is abroad and gets to make new friends, the question, “Where are you from？”, is one that will inevitably pop up. As the number of immigrants here rises, more Singaporeans are asking new acquaintances this same question.
    For Chinese nationals, the answer can be just China, or narrowed down to the specific province or city. If the person who asks the question does not understand Mandarin, one's citizenship is often an adequate reply. But if he or she is an overseas Chinese or has some knowledge about China, the answer may include province, city and even district.
    Having experienced both situations often enough, I am beginning to feel that much more is involved in this seemingly simple conversation.
    For someone with a straightforward life experience - born, raised and lived in the same place - the answer is equally straightforward. But it is trickier for a person whose ancestral home, birthplace, the place he grew up, got married and worked in are not the same - in different cities, provinces and even countries. There is a lot more that he can choose to say in response to the simple “Where are you from？”query. Why and what he decides to say may reveal a lot about him.
    One may mention the ancestral home, perhaps out of a deep sense of affection for the forefathers, or maybe it is a place that is world-famous for boasting many renowned personalities. Yet another person may refer to the city where he was born, grew up, got married and set up his essential network of relations. He may have a fond memory of the place or, in short, it is a place where he feels he belongs to.
    Whatever one says and the reasons for it, it is easy to detect the affection for, and a sense of identification with, the place mentioned. The feeling is neither ethnic nor national identification, but a sense of belonging.
    Let me explain how this happens. First, one must enjoy a certain mobility, having been to different cities in a country or different parts of the world and, in the process, develops varying degrees of liking for the place he has spent time in, which is the basis for growing a sense of belonging.
    Second, while such an emotional affiliation may overlap with national identification, they are different. It is possible for someone living in a foreign land to feel attached to that place but remains a citizen of the country where he came from.
    Last year, when I was in Australia on an official assignment, the public relations consultant who received me is a New Zealander who has been working in Australia for some years. She told me： “I love Australia even though I'm a foreigner here. But dealing with another foreigner like you makes me feel that I'm an Australian. I love this feeling.”
    Taiwanese Hsiao Bi-khim who holds an American passport but also serves as an adviser to the Taiwanese President, is another example of someone whose sense of belonging and national affiliation are not identical.
    Last but not least, one has full control and freedom over the matter. While one cannot choose one's birthplace, one can certainly decide, based on what one has experienced, the best place to settle in.
    A place which can make one grow fond of, and identify with, must have its charm and attraction. A scenic environment, a warm and caring people, a gracious society, good living conditions and more opportunities for success are just some possible reasons.
    The intense global competition for foreign talent has made some countries and cities take this “sense of belonging” approach to attract them.
    The dynamic Shanghai city is an excellent example. It used to be the city that was “most discriminatory against foreigners” - in the eyes of Shanghainese, all non-Shanghainese were “country bumpkins”。 Yet it has now opened its door to foreign talent and is promoting the idea of a “new Shanghainese”。 One is a Shanghainese so long as one works or runs a business there, never mind where one comes from. Global capital and talent have flocked there and it now has plenty of dwellers who do not speak Shanghainese.
    This discussion on sense of belonging and identification has a special meaning for an immigrant society like Singapore. If we can make passing travellers and foreign talent identify with us and sink roots here, there will be added dynamism and vitality for our progress.
    （The writer is a Senior Sub-editor of Lianhe Zaobao.Translated by Yap Gee Poh. ）
    “你是哪里人？”與歸屬認同
    周兆呈
    “你是哪里人？”出門在外、認識新的朋友時,總能聽到這句問話。隨著外來移民越來越多,經常也聽見新加坡人問新認識的人“你是哪里人？”
    就中國來的朋友而言,答案的范圍從國家到省份、到城市,可大可小,視不同環(huán)境而定。問的人若是不諳華語,通常說國籍即可。若是海外華人或對中國有些認識的,就可以具體到省、城市甚至區(qū),就看對方對中國的了解有多深了。答的多,自己問別人的也多,漸漸覺得人們在這一問一答間,還頗有講究。
    有的人經歷簡單似一條直線,自祖輩就生于彼、長于彼,答案只有一個選項。有的則有些特別,祖籍、出生地、成長地、成家地、工作地各有不同,跨城市、跨省份、跨國家,被問到“你是哪里人？”的時候,背后選項越多,選擇某一答案的考量就頗有意思了。
    選擇祖籍地的,或許是對宗親祖輩懷有深情,也可能此地人文薈萃,名噪天下；選擇出生、成長的城市,或許是對那里記憶深刻；選擇成家立業(yè)的地方,或許因為那里有主要人際關系的網絡,在那里才感覺到擁有和歸屬。
    不管是基于什么原因、又作出怎樣的選擇,我們不難發(fā)現其中必然有著對所選地的感情和認同。這種認同既不是民族認同,也有別于國家認同,我將它稱之為一種“歸屬認同”。
    這種歸屬認同,看來有以下幾個特點。第一,認同的主體要具備流動性?；蚴窃谝粐牟煌鞘?或是行走于不同國家。人們在流動之間,對所處的城市和環(huán)境產生不同程度的認知情感,形成歸屬認同的基礎。
    第二,歸屬認同與國家認同有交叉,但不隸屬同一范疇。歸屬認同可以建立在國家認同的基礎上,在一個國家的不同城市間作出符合情感的選擇。也可以跨越國度,一個在外國生活的移民,在情感和法律上分別認同不同的國家和城市并非不可能。
    去年筆者到澳洲公干,負責接待的一位公關顧問是紐西蘭人,已經在澳洲工作了不少年。她對我說,“我很喜歡澳洲,雖然在這里我是外國人。不過,接待你這個外國人的時候,我又成了澳洲人。我很喜歡這種感覺?！?BR>    臺灣的蕭美琴持美國護照,又擔任總統顧問一職,也可說是歸屬認同與國家認同不并軌的一個例證。
    第三,這種歸屬認同賦予主體充分的自主性和可選擇性。籍貫、出生地無從選擇,但這種“后天”的歸屬認同則讓主體根據自己的生活經歷和體驗,選擇最愿歸屬的一個所在。
    一個能夠讓人成功地建立“歸屬認同”的地方,一定有著特別的魅力和吸引點。優(yōu)美的環(huán)境、熱情的市民、優(yōu)雅的社會、方便的起居出行、更多成功的機會等等,不一而足。
    激烈的全球競爭已經使不少國家和城市開始用“歸屬認同”來凝聚外來人才的精神世界?；盍λ纳涞纳虾＞褪抢C。曾幾何時,上海被稱為“最排外”的城市,在上海人的眼里,所有外地人都是“鄉(xiāng)下人”。
    而如今,上海以寬闊的胸懷迎接人才,崇尚“新上海人”的概念,不管你從哪里來,只要是在上海工作、創(chuàng)業(yè),就是“新上海人”。上海吸引到了全球資本和人才,現在的上海,不會講上海話的“上海人”比比皆是。
    “歸屬認同”對于新加坡這樣的移民社會似乎也有著特別的意義。一個社會如果能讓過客、外來人才都認同、都樂意“歸屬”,一定會有充足的發(fā)展活力。