摘要：Before citizenship was offered to the Chinese in Singapore in 1957, the Chinese were considered “aliens” by the British colonial authorities. The British colonial government would not protect the Chinese and left them to manage their own affairs through clan and dialect associations, trade associations, clubs and societies. The main Chinese organisation was the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce (sccc), founded by merchants in 1906. The sccc, in turn, was a link between the Singapore Chinese and China. Before 1949, all overseas Chinese were citizens of the Republic of China (roc) by jus sanguinis (where Chinese nationality was based on ethnicity and not on the place of birth) and the sccc would act as the voice of the overseas Chinese to the National Government in Nanjing. As citizens of China, the overseas Chinese were concerned about the problems in China and did all they could to organise relief efforts whenever China faced natural disasters or military conflicts.
