Navigating the future: hope and aspirations for future lives among Filipino middling transnational families in Singapore

ABSTRACT

This paper sheds light on the experiences of middling Filipino transnational families in Singapore concerning the intersections of hope and aspiration in constructing their imagined futures. In particular, I examine how middling migrants engage in transnational migration and their children’s university education to achieve such futures. Using their case, I explain how hope undergirds and sustains aspired-for familial futures until they come to fruition. I argue that hope, while futural and uncertain, is felt in the present because it is the scaffold on which the imagined future lives of families rest. Moreover, in investigating the importance of place in the construction of future lives, I show how Singapore provides space for hope to emerge in relation to the future lives imagined by middling Filipino transnational families. Finally, veering away from the normative conception of hope as a constant banner of optimism, I suggest that when entangled with familial aspirations, hope brings to the fore emotions and practices that are not always positive but necessary for the realization of aspired-for familial futures.

Resumen

Este artículo expone las experiencias de familias transnacionales filipinas de clase media en Singapur en relación con las intersecciones de esperanza y aspiración en la construcción de sus futuros imaginados. En particular, examino cómo los inmigrantes de clase media participan en la migración transnacional y en la educación universitaria de sus hijos para lograr ese futuro. Utilizando sus casos, explico cómo la esperanza sustenta y sostiene las aspiraciones de el futuro familiar hasta que se hagan realidad. Alejándome de la concepción normativa de la esperanza como una bandera constante de optimismo, sugiero que cuando se entrelaza con las aspiraciones familiares, la esperanza realza emociones y prácticas que no siempre son positivas, pero sí necesarias para la realización de los futuros familiares aspirados.

RÉSUMÉ

Cet article révèle les expériences des familles philippines transnationales de classe moyenne qui vivent à Singapour par rapport aux recoupements entre espoirs et d’aspirations tandis qu’elles construisent leurs avenirs imaginés. J’étudie plus particulièrement la manière dont les migrants de classe moyenne s’impliquent dans la migration transnationale et les études universitaires de leurs enfants pour achever ces futurs. En m’appuyant sur leurs exemples, j’explique la façon dont l’espoir sous-tend et soutient l’avenir familial convoité jusqu’à ce que celui-ci se concrétise. Je m’éloigne du concept normatif de l’espoir comme étendard perpétuel de l’optimisme et je suggère que quand il s’entremêle aux aspirations familiales, il amène à la surface des émotions et des pratiques qui ne sont pas toujours positives, mais néanmoins nécessaires pour accomplir ces buts.

KEYWORDS:

• Hope
• futures
• transnational family
• aspiration
• middling migrants
• overseas Filipinos

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• esperanza
• futuros
• familia transnacional
• aspiración
• inmigrantes de clase media
• filipinos en el extranjero

MOTS-CLEFS:

• espoir
• avenirs
• familles transnationales
• aspiration
• migrants de classe moyenne
• Philippins vivants à l’étranger

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to everyone who took the time to participate in the study. I thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions in the original draft. The data used in this paper were from the study funded by the Education Research Funding Programme (ERFP), National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), project no. OER 1/17 EOK. The ERFP is granted by the Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect Singapore’s official policies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. SG$ 6,000 as of the time of writing.

2. In the Philippines, ‘college’ refers to tertiary level education, usually university education. As such, I use college and university interchangeably.

3. Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) is a private education institute in Singapore.

4. Polytechnic, considered equivalent to vocational education in the Philippine context.

5. National University of Singapore.

Additional information

Funding

The data used in this paper were from the study funded by the Education Research Funding Programme (ERFP), National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), project no. OER 1/17 EOK. The ERFP is granted by the Ministry of Education (MOE), Singapore.