(3) Relationship with Parents
VIII. Self-Identity of Young Returnees
This section analyses how the young first generation migrants traverse the two cultures completely or otherwise, trying to get out of their 'marginal' situations in two different cultures. In our sample, the young returned Taiwanese migrants identify themselves as Taiwanese or Australians, or both. We try to further differentiate the three types by looking at their backgrounds. Those who said that they are Taiwanese amount to more than half of the 22 respondents. The ability to write and read Chinese to fulfill the expectation of their parents, and their familiarity with the Taiwanese culture characterize this group, under close supervision by their parents while growing up in Australia. Most of their friends are from Taiwan, and they went back to Taiwan every year for vacation or to visit their relatives.
Also, they tend to have completed their high school education before immigrating to Australia and therefore had longer exposure to Taiwan culture before immigration.
Only one sample in the second group, Ms. Tsui (B-12), claims that she is an Australian, having lived there for 15 years starting with grade two when she migrated with her parents. When both of her parents left Australia when she was 14, her only brother joined her. She emphasized again and again that her Australian friends are like her family members. Among her
friends, most are second generation migrants from other national groups, followed by white Australians and Asians. She said:
"I don't feel comfortable among Taiwanese here... we talk about different things... Although I know that I look Taiwanese and my roots are here, but what I have learned as a child is Australian in essence--what I eat, drink, and the air I breathe... I even dream in the Australian language. When I was with Australians, I did not feel that I was Taiwanese anymore, because they treated me as one of them."
We also found quite a few who think that they are 'half Australian' and 'half Taiwanese'. Their social circles in Australia consist of both Taiwanese and other ethnic groups, while at home, they are expected to uphold the Chinese traditional values of filial piety, respect towards elders and priorities given to family relations.
Interestingly, their identity is also situational, and varied according to whether they are in Australia or Taiwan by the notion: "I am Australian when I live there; and Taiwanese when I live here... We have no pre-disposition of who we are, and race is not a problem" (B-8, S-4, S-6). In an earlier study by Hsiao et al. (1994), they found that the returnees from the United States think that they are Americans and Chinese at the same time.
Lastly, three of our respondents consider themselves as 'global citizens' or 'world citizens.' They accept the differences in culture and adopt new values almost right away, not limited to the territory in which they live, be it Taiwan, Australia, or another country. Their friends are from a wide selection that includes different racial groups.
To summarize, we find that the factors affecting the self-identity of
return migrants are: age of migration, family values, peer group identity, early experience of discrimination in Australia, and intensity of relations with Taiwan. It would appear that the Chinese culture that prevails in one's family or friendship group has significant impact on the younger generation.
The ease of information transmission and communication with Taiwan through electronic devices forge close links between Australia and Taiwan after their migration.
Their trans-national experience grows out of the blending of two cultural values, and sometimes results in a paradox in their identities. Ms.
Peng (B-9) expressed her 'confused' feelings in a forthright way:
"I have spoken with many friends who are of similar ages--their feelings are similar to mine--we are neither Australian nor Taiwanese, and we are perturbed by our social distance from either."
Ms. Cheng (S-6) expressed a common feeling toward her peers as follows:
"When we were in Australia, we felt like aliens. When we are back in Taiwan, we are regarded as different because we are from overseas."
According to Ms. Hung (B-10):
"We are in between the Australian and the Taiwanese. We can be friends of both; yet we cannot be real friends, since we do not know either of them well enough."
This simply means that the young returned migrants have the advantages of having a different exposure abroad, while they are also disadvantaged in being distanced from both. Where they will settle eventually depends on future opportunities, and many of them indicated a desire to return to Australia in future and even retiring there.
IX. Conclusions
In this paper, we study the transnational experience of young Taiwanese return migrants from Australia at one point of their life-times.
With bi-local residence because of their immigrant status, they have tried to adapt in both sending and receiving societies, in their 'blended social field'7 by living across two territories at one point of their lives
As education for children came foremost in the parents' decision to immigrate to Australia, the young Western-educated generations are the outcome of social reproduction of Taiwanese trans-national families, as in other countries of East Asia (Waters 2005). They not only come back to work, but follow suit on family business and largely support traditional values of their families in Taiwan. As this small sample suggests, they come back not because of poor adjustment, or have 'failed' in Australia, although some of the returnees encountered a 'glass ceiling' in their work, but because of better employment opportunities at the time of return. Similar findings are obtained by Ip (2006) regarding Chinese migrants who moved back from New Zealand to China. Compared to the returning overseas students to Taiwan in the early 1970s, these young returnees are more cosmopolitan
7 This term was used by Ley and Kobayashi (2005) to describe Hong Kong returnees from Canada.
in outlook, equipped with bilingual ability, and have adopted global values while sojourning abroad. While they face many problems in Australia, including language and school, social relationships, and adjustment in the workplace, and relationship with their families, they also need to adapt to a variety of situations in their homeland, and face challenges of identity and life goals. Frequently, due to their constant need to adapt to both Taiwanese and Australian environments, they have developed a dual/situated identity that encompasses Taiwanese and Australian cultures through which they strive to make the best use of their backgrounds in the global community.
Influenced by factors of age, family education, peer identity, experience of initial immigration and frequency of contacts with Taiwan, their identities are influenced by their experiences of living in Australia vis-a-vis living in Taiwan. Thus, their identity is layered through their experiences upon return to Taiwan. Even as returnees, they fit the description of trans-nationals by Portes (1997: 812) as being "often bilingual, move easily between different cultures, frequently maintain homes in two countries, and pursue economic, political and cultural interests that require their presence in both."
We are not stating claims that the sample of returnees are representative of young immigrants in the same age cohorts, but we hope that the preliminary findings will shed light on future studies of return migration, which is an increasing trend in Asia. Identity is a complex issue which need to be further explored among returnees and those who stayed behind.8
8 This research is part of a project to study the young first generation in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth, as well as young return migrants in Taipei. The study was funded by a grant from the National Science Council, Taiwan, R.O.C.
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