ABSTRACT
This chapter, which provides an in-depth qualitative investigation into the migratory strategies and experiences of the Chinese minority in Brunei Darussalam, seeks to complicate this sociological trope. It illustrates how Chinese minorities' struggles with belonging are multifaceted, taking on not only economic, but political and symbolic, dimensions as well. The chapter demonstrate how migration to and integration within a third country emerged as a viable strategy for middleman minorities such as the Chinese in Brunei to reject and transcend their historical role as unassimilable 'strangers' outside of their homeland. It describes the issue of citizenship. The chapter identifies two conditions factoring into the conceptualisation of citizenship: the impacts of being stateless on Chinese-Bruneians' life chances, namely in education, employment, and property ownership; and an incongruity with Brunei's Malay-centric national identity. A counterpoint to ethno-nationalist citizenship models can be found in the civic nationalist Canada. Faced with a multiplicity of disadvantages in Brunei, stateless Chinese resorted to searching for alternatives overseas.
