Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T15:53:30.290Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Veiled entrapment: a study of social isolation of older Chinese migrants in Brisbane, Queensland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2007

DAVID IP ,
CHI WAI LUI  and
WING HONG CHUI
DAVID IP
Affiliation:
School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
CHI WAI LUI
Affiliation:
Australasian Centre on Ageing, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
WING HONG CHUI
Affiliation:
School of Law, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; formerly School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a study of the support and service needs of older Chinese people in Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, Australia. There were two specific objectives: to ascertain the problems encountered by older Chinese-Australians in their daily lives and social activities; and to develop policy and service development recommendations, with a view to mitigating their problems, meeting their unmet needs, improving their quality of life, and enhancing their participation in Australian society. The study used multiple methods, including a literature review, focus group meetings, and a community survey. The findings indicate that older Chinese people, and particularly women, experience significant restrictions in their activity patterns, social isolation and loneliness. Their lack of proficiency in the English language, and the difficulties they have in accessing language-support and interpretation services, limit their autonomous mobility and make them heavily dependent on their adult children, not least for transport. Their physical and psychological wellbeing is affected further by strained relations with their adult children, and these are compounded by financial concerns. The implications of the findings for welfare policy and practice are discussed at the end of the paper.

Keywords

older migrantsChineseoverseasneeds assessmentlonelinessfamily relationshipsfilial piety
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 27 , Issue 5 , September 2007 , pp. 719 - 738
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 1999. Older People, Australia: A Social Report 1999. ABS, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT).Google Scholar
ABS 2001. Coming to Australia. In ABS, Australian Social Trends 2001. ABS, Canberra, ACT, 16–20.Google Scholar
ABS 2002. Older overseas-born Australians. In ABS, Australian Social Trends 2002. ABS, Canberra, ACT, 17–21.Google Scholar
ABS 2003. Census of Population and Housing: Ageing in Australia 2001. ABS, Canberra, ACT.Google Scholar
ABS 2004. Mature Age Persons Statistical Profile. ABS, Canberra, ACT.Google Scholar
Batrouney, T. and Stone, W. 1998. Cultural diversity and family exchanges. Family Matters, 51, 13–20.Google Scholar
Bauman, Z. 1998 a. On glocalization: or globalization for some, localization for some others. Thesis Eleven, 54, 1, 37–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bauman, Z. 1998 b. Globalization: The Human Consequences. Polity, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Benham, C. and Gibson, D. 2000. Independence in Ageing: The Social and Financial Circumstances of Older Overseas-born Australians. Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Canberra, ACT.Google Scholar
Birrell, R. 1990. The Chains that Bind: Family Reunion Migration to Australia in the 1980s. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, ACT.Google Scholar
Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research (BIMPR), 1995. Atlas of the Australian People – 1991 Census: National Overview. BIMPR, Canberra, ACT.Google Scholar
Chan, K. 1997. A family affair: migration, dispersal, and the emergent identity of the Chinese cosmopolitan. Diaspora, 6, 2, 195–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiang, L. H. and Hsu, J.-C. 2003. A Survey Research of Contemporary Taiwanese Immigrants in Australia. Committee of Overseas Chinese Affairs, Taiwan Government, Taipei.Google Scholar
Chiang, L. H. and Hsu, J. C. 2005. Locational decisions and residential preferences of Taiwanese immigrants in Australia. GeoJournal, 64, 1, 75–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiu, S. and Yu, S. 2001. An excess of culture: the myth of shared care in the Chinese community in Britain. Ageing & Society, 21, 6, 681–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chow, N. 2004. Asian value and aged care. Geriatrics and Gerontology International, 4, S21–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daatland, S. O. and Biggs, S. (eds) 2004. Ageing and Diversity: Multiple Pathways and Cultural Imaginations. Policy, Bristol, Avon.Google Scholar
de Vaus, D. 1996. Children's responsibilities to elderly parents. Family Matters, 45, 16–21.Google Scholar
Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) 2003 a. China Born Community Profile, 2001. DIMIA, Canberra, ACT.Google Scholar
DIMIA 2003 b. Hong Kong Born Community Profile, 2001. DIMIA, Canberra, ACT.Google Scholar
DIMIA 2003 c. Taiwan Born Community Profile, 2001. DIMIA, Canberra, ACT.Google Scholar
Fitzgerald, M. H., Mullavey-O'Byrne, C. and Clemson, L. 2001. Families and nursing home placements: a cross-cultural study. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 16, 4, 333–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, G. G. (ed.) 1999. Cosmopolitan Capitalists: Hong Kong and the Chinese Diaspora at the End of the 20th Century. University of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington.Google Scholar
Ho, E. 2002. Multi-local residence, transnational networks: Chinese ‘astronaut’ families in New Zealand. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 11, 1, 145–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hugo, G. 2003. Australia's ageing population: some challenges for planners. Australian Planners, 40, 2, 2109–18.Google Scholar
Hugo, G. 2004. Australia's Most Recent Immigrants 2001. ABS, Canberra, ACT.Google Scholar
Hui, Y. 1993. The ‘astronaut family’. Hong Kong Journal of Social Work, 27, 1, 59–68.Google Scholar
Ikels, C. (ed.) 2004. Filial Piety: Practice and Discourse in Contemporary East Asia. Stanford University Press, California.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ip, D. 1999. Network as capital: PRC immigrant entrepreneurs in Brisbane. In Tseng, Y.-F. (ed.) Asian Migration: Pacific Rim Dynamics. Interdisciplinary Group for Australian Studies, National Taiwan University, Taipei, 149–65.Google Scholar
Ip, D. 2006. Contesting Chinatown: place-making and the emergence of ‘ethnoburbia’ in Brisbane, Australia. GeoJournal, 64, 1, 63–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ip, D., Anstee, M. and Wu, C. T. 1998. Cosmopolitanising Australian suburbia: Asian immigration in Sunnybank. Journal of Population Studies, 19, 1, 55–79.Google Scholar
Ip, D., Hibbins, R. and Chui, W. H. (eds) 2006. Experiences of Transnational Chinese Migrants in the Asia-Pacific. Nova Science, New York.Google Scholar
Ip, D., Wu, C. T. and Inglis, C. 1998. Settlement experiences of Taiwanese immigrants in Australia. Asian Studies Review, 22, 1, 79–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ip, R. and Chui, W. H. 2002. Resettlement experiences of five Chinese skilled women migrants to Australia. Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 11, 3, 333–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Irving, H. and Tsang, A. 1999. Satellite children in Canada: an exploratory study of their experience. International Review of Modern Sociology, 29, 2, 1–21.Google Scholar
Jupp, J. 1995. From ‘White Australia’ to ‘Part of Asia’: recent shifts in Australian immigration policy towards the region. International Migration Review, 29, 1, 209–29.Google ScholarPubMed
Kettner, P. M., Moroney, R. M. and Martin, L. L. 1990. Designing and Managing Programs: An Effectiveness-based Approach. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Kaufman, R. 1992. Strategic Planning Plus: An Organisational Guide. Sage, Newbury Park, California.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingston, B. 1993. 1860–1900: Glad, Confident Morning. Volume 3, Oxford History of Australia, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Landolt, P. and Da, W. W. 2005. The spatially ruptured practices of migrant families: a comparison of immigrants from El Salvador and the People's Republic of China. Current Sociology, 53, 4, 625–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lui, C. W. 2006. Transnational Chinese migration: an Australian profile. In Ip, D., Hibbins, R. and Chui, W. H. (eds) Experiences of Transnational Chinese Migrants in the Asia-Pacific. Nova Science, New York, 17–39.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, M. E., Gien, L. and Durst, D. 2001. Silent pain: social isolation of the elderly Chinese in Canada. In Chi, I., Chappell, N. L. and Lubben, J. (eds) Elderly Chinese in Pacific Rim Countries: Social Support and Integration. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 1–15.Google Scholar
Mak, A. S. and Chan, H. 1995. Chinese family values in Australia. In Hartley, R. (ed.) Families and Cultural Diversity in Australia. Allen and Unwin, St Leonard's, New South Wales, 70–95.Google Scholar
Man, G. 1993. The astronaut phenomenon: examining consequence of the diaspora of the Hong Kong Chinese. In DeBernardi, J., Forth, G. and Niessen, S. (eds) Managing Change in Southeast Asia: Local Identities, Global Connections. Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference of the Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies, Edmonton, 269–81.Google Scholar
Mehta, K. K. and Ko, H. 2004. Filial piety revisited in the context of modernizing Asian societies. Geriatrics and Gerontology International, 4, 1, S77–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, T. 2003. Clara Law's floating life and Hong Kong-Australian ‘flexible citizenship’. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 26, 2, 278–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Office of Multicultural Affairs 1988. Older people in multicultural Australia. Australian Journal of Ageing, 7, 4, 3–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ong, A. 1999. Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality. Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina.Google Scholar
Ong, A. 2005. (Re)Articulations of citizenship. PSOnline, 697–9. Available online at http://www.apsanet.org [Accessed 19 December 2006].CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ong, A. and Nonini, D. (eds) 1997. Ungrounded Empires: The Cultural Politics of Modern Chinese Transnationalism. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Pe-Pua, R., Mitchell, C., Castles, S. and Iredale, R. 1998. Astronaut families and parachute children: Hong Kong immigrants in Australia. In Sinn, E. (ed.) The Last Half Century of Chinese Overseas. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 279–98.Google Scholar
Rao, V. D., Warburton, J. and Bartlett, H. 2006. Health and social needs of older Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds: issues and implications. Australian Journal of Ageing, 25, 4, 174–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowland, D. T. 1991. Pioneers Again: Immigrants and Ageing in Australia. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, ACT.Google Scholar
Rowland, D. T. 1997. Ethnicity and ageing. In Borowski, A., Encel, S. and Ozanne, E. (eds) Ageing and Social Policy in Australia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 75–93.Google Scholar
Rowland, D. T. 1999. The ethnic aged population and the likelihood of special needs. Australian Journal of Ageing, 18, 3, 50–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skeldon, R. (ed.) 1994. Reluctant Exiles? Migration from Hong Kong and the New Overseas Chinese. M.E. Sharpe, New York.Google Scholar
Thomas, T. 2003 a. Older migrants and their families in Australia. Family Matters, 66, 40–5.Google Scholar
Thomas, T. 2003 b. Aged immigrants: the forgotten older adults. Clinical Psychologist, 7, 56–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsang, A., Irving, H., Alaggia, R., Chau, S. and Benjamin, M. 2003. Negotiating ethnic identity in Canada: the case of the ‘satellite children’. Youth and Society, 34, 3, 359–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsang, E. Y. L., Liamputtong, P. and Pierson, J. 2004. The views of older Chinese people in Melbourne about their quality of life. Ageing & Society, 24, 1, 51–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waters, J. 2002. Flexible families? ‘Astronaut’ households and the experiences of lone mothers in Vancouver, British Columbia. Social and Cultural Geography, 3, 2, 117–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waters, J. 2003. Flexible citizens? Transnationalism and citizenship amongst economic immigrants in Vancouver. Canadian Geographer, 47, 3, 219–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waters, J. 2005. Transnational family strategies and education in the contemporary Chinese diaspora. Global Networks, 5, 4, 359–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weston, R., Qu, L. and Soriano, G. 2003. Australia's ageing yet diverse population. Family Matters, 66, 6–13.Google Scholar
Wu, C. T., Ip, D., Inglis, C., Kawakami, I. and Duivenvoorden, K. 1998. Settlement experiences of recent Chinese immigrants in Australia. In Sinn, E. (ed.) The Last Half Century of Chinese Overseas. University of Hong Kong Press, Hong Kong, 391–422.Google Scholar
Yeoh, B., Huang, S. and Lam, T. 2005. Transnationalizing the ‘Asian’ family: imaginaries, intimacies and strategic intents. Global Networks, 5, 4, 307–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhou, M. 1998. ‘Parachute kids’ in Southern California: the educational experience of Chinese children in transnational families. Educational Policy, 12, 6, 682–704.CrossRefGoogle Scholar