Using Oral History Methods to Document 77 legal condition that has undergone little qualitative investigation. The conversations, which took place in participants’ homes or in coffee shops, revolved around their memories of being raised in Brunei, the impacts statelessness had on their daily lives, their attitudes towards the Bruneian and Canadian governments and citizenship policies, their reasons for immigrating, and their experiences of integration into Canadian society. These dialogues were guided by the following questions: What are the material and subjective repercussions of being stateless in Brunei? How did statelessness factor in to respondents’ strategic decisions to immigrate out? And lastly, how do the respective citizenship models of Brunei and Canada structure individuals’ understandings of citizenship, civic identity, and national belonging?4 Through the privileging of stateless Chinese-Bruneian immigrants’ voices, I argued that while Brunei’s exclusive policies restricted people to an instrumental understanding of citizenship as restricting access to material entitlements, Canada’s civic nationalist model guided respondents to espouse more symbolic ideals of freedom, democratic participation, and civic engagement. 3 Bruneian Citizenship: Instrumental and Exclusive5 In recounting their earlier years in Brunei, respondents spoke of Bruneian nationality in primarily instrumental ways. The denial of legal status was perceived as a way for the government to restrict certain groups from enjoying an array of government privileges and benefits. As one respondent put it: Even though I was born in Brunei, I was never a ‘Bruneian.’ My status was a Brunei Permanent Resident, even though I was born there. It’s a very weird thing because when I talk to people, they just don’t understand. They’re like, ‘What? You’re born in Brunei but you’re not a Bruneian? What do you mean by that?’ I honestly thought it was weird. For me, personally, I felt it was discrimination. I still don’t comprehend. Because I’m born in Brunei, I should be called Bruneian! In Malay, it’s called anak Brunei. Anak means child. So child of Brunei. Because my status is Brunei Permanent Resident, it’s just strange when I talk to people, ‘I’m from Brunei but I’m a Brunei PR.’ So it just doesn’t click. So that means if anything happens to me, I have no home country that I can run to! 4 See Irene Bloemraad, Becoming a Citizen (University of California Press 2006). 5 See Rogers Brubaker, Citizenship and Nationhood in France and Germany (Harvard University Press, 1998). tilburg law review 19 (2014) 74-80