Why Do Rich Sindhi Women Need a Kitty Group? Space, Sociality and Status Production among Upper-Class Housewives in Singapore

Abstract

Abstract Since the 1970s, a network of Sindhi housewives in Singapore has met monthly to feast and socialise. At every meeting, each member pools in cash to form the ‘kitty’—the prized sum won by a lucky recipient of the draw. The size of the contribution is a measure of the group’s exclusivity. Indeed, these are affluent women who seem to have no apparent need for the money. Rather, they indulge in incessant bickering over car-pooling, consumption practices and about how to break down the lunch bill. Though members are regularly absent, exiting the group is a rarity. But why stay, and why have a kitty? This essay probes into the social value of the kitty group, identifying it as a critical space for the women’s independence beyond the household where they actively engage in status production. Their participation secures their identities as upper-class Sindhi women, as ‘housewives’ and as ‘aunties’.