SCMP Photo: The cover of Jesse Sutanto’s book Dial A for Aunties. Photo: Handout
Commenting on Asian “aunties” who are famed for probing younger generations about their love lives, SMU Assistant Professor of Humanities (Education) Charlotte Setijadi said that in Asian cultures aunties had “influential” roles because “the kinship and social networks are still very much family based” and society was usually more “collective, more communitarian” than in the West. She also explained how aunties’ characteristics were formed by the society to which they belonged.