The Concept of Home and Belonging and the Loss of Heritage in Tiang’s play The Last Days of Limehouse: The Dynamics Complexity of Multicultural Identity

Tiang’s play The Last Days of Limehouse discusses the end of London's first Chinatown. The play raises issues of heritage and loss, as well as what is considered culturally meaningful (and by whom). Moving from a majority Chinese nation to one where they are an ethnic minority allows them to find a sense of belonging in Chinatown. As a response to this loss, Tiang’s play seeks to tell the stories of its residents and to be able to bring this location back to life for the audience before sending them out into Limehouse streets, where they could feel its loss all the more strongly as they made their way home.
This essay tackles the dynamic complexity of multicultural identity as Stuart Hall calls it ‘the second side’  in order to clarify how these multiple identities affect the characters' personalities and psyche in Jeremy Tiang’s play The Last Days of Limehouse. Skin color, language, discourse, class, education, career, skills, community, family, activities, area, friends, food, attire, customs, and political opinions are all examples of cultural identities. Hence the researchers conclude that acculturation, as well as cultural shock, are the main reasons behind the inner conflict of Jeremy Tiang’s characters in The Last Days of Limehouse. This inner conflict reflects their sense of belonging to Limehouse in London as a replacement image of the real home and culture in their Nation's land. 


Introduction
The playwright Jeremy Tiang is a Chinese Singaporean novelist, and he has translated over 10 works from Chinese, including novels by Zhang Yuan, YengPwayNgon, and Chan HoKei. He has received a PEN/Heim Grant, an NEA Literary Translation Fellowship, and the People's Literature Prize Mao-Tai Cup for Translation. He has also translated plays by Wei Yu-Chia, Zhan Jie, and XuNuo. His own plays include Salesman, The Last Days of Limehouse, and A Dream of Red Pavilions (adapted from the novel by Cao Xueqin). He has written a short story collection (It Never Rains on National Day, which was nominated for the Singapore Literature Prize in 2015) as well as a book (the State of Emergency, Epigram Books, 2017). He moved to the United Kigndom for university and later he went to drama school, living there for ten years in total (Thorpe, 2018, p.42 ).
The play is set in 1958 and depicts part-Chinese Eileen Cunningham who seeking to organize a 'Let Limehouse Live!' movement. She is an ineffective advocate. She has left Limehouse at the age of six, lived in America for a while, and now has returned to her place of birth in London when her banker-husband is assigned to England. though she focuses on her movement, she faces many objections from the locals who live in Limehouse, especially Johnny, who owns a Chinese restaurant and believes in change. He finds that the council will give them the change which they want, whether a new apartment, or money to move on. Limehouse for them is no longer a place to be lived in. As the events unfold, the play introduces the audience as well as the readers to the complications of having a multicultural identity, and how these complications make the characters, especially Eileen psychologically shattered.
The last days of Limehouse is presented in the Yellow Earth Theatre. The name of the theater itself symbolically refers to the Chinese culture, since China is known for its "imperial yellow color, the earth's color; the color of the original Yellow River; the fabled Yellow Emperor, and the claimed progenitor of all Han Chinese people". Metaphorically this color becomes a racial designation to describe Chinese people (Keevak,2011, p. 2). The play contains twenty -four scenes and no act. The play discusses the complexity of multicultural identities of Britain Chinese as well as American Britain Chinese. Tiang in several scenes has attempted to use the slideshow technique to show the audience some old beautiful images of the Limehouse and the life in old Chinatown created by that kind of a nostalgic atmosphere of the real home of China. The slideshow of home and all the old days' memories are completely contrasted with the nowadays reality of Chinatown in Britain.
Thematically the play tries to explore the complexity of cultural identity, and how this complication affects the characters psychologically through the process of acculturation. A matter that in turn develops contradicted beliefs and intimations towards the idea of home and belonging verse not -home and unbelonging, and leads them eventually to lose their heritage.
The play shows how the response is different from one generation to another; from the old ones to the young. What do they think about home and belonging? How do they react to this notion? Do they all have the same opinion about maintaining their heritage or they have already lost it?
To show how these ideas are integrally connected, the researchers will come to cross the reaction of the characters towards these ideas in certain situations and scenes throughout the play.

2-The Objectives of The Study
1. The aim of this study is to identify the complexity of multicultural identity 2. The study also introduces the idea of home and belonging and how it's different from one to another. How do these concepts hold by diasporic communities?
3. To present the response of these different generations to Eileen's movement to keep Limehouse.

To show why migrants make a home in diasporic communities?
Lark Journal (2023) 48 (2) 979

The idea of home and belonging
Starting with the idea of home, which was the starting point for all the events in the play, the reader will recognize the different attitudes and reactions among the characters in reference to this idea. The idea of the home appears for the first time in the first scene. The scene is presented in slideshow technique, showing images of Limehouse Chinatown in its glory days.
Eileen Cunningham appears for the first time. She is a Eurasian-American elegant woman in her late 30s, and she dressed slightly too well for the locals. Eileen is shown to flip photographs of her parents, and how they'd been living peacefully and happily in Limehouse. These photographs stand for memory and happy life because she is recalling her past days when she was living in her father's restaurant in Limehouse. By offering these images of Limehouse, Eileen wants to tell people who they are in her meeting in the hall about the importance of Chinatown. She tells them that even if there is a Chinatown in New York, it is not the same as in Britain. "…Limehouse was my first home" (Thorpe, 2018, p 44).
Then what is home? How does this concept hold by diasporic communities? How do these different generations respond to Eileen's movement to keep Limehouse? Do they all believe that Limehouse is their home? Why do they make a home in diasporic communities?
Home is the place of man. It is a place in which people have a long historical connection. This concept embraces a lot of meaning, and what makes it difficult is that defining home is something sentimental that tends to be more emotional than rational. It is also permeated with some characteristics such as; respect, belonging, and political and social pride.
In the scientific traditions and philosophical settings of diaspora and expatriate studies, home is ill-defined or under-theorized. According to subjective analysis, it is a space in which people are involved in their sense of belonging and togetherness. According to a larger context, the notion of the home is based on a dynamic dialectical connection between home and the outside, on which individuals develop their everyday spatial perception of the world. It is characterized as the center of culture, language, and a social engineering tool for emotional bonding. The presence of family, particularly youngsters, heightens the urge to return home. Home, in the traditional meaning, refers to a sense of landholding, an emotional connection to the physical environment, and a place of refuge that is always "warm and cheerful (Nayak, 2019, pp.2-3). This sense of staying at home differs among relatives, parents, generations, and fellow diasporas. The manner in which migrants and succeeding generations feel like stakeholders in the host country demonstrates that the desire to stay at home is conditional on the destination country (Nititham,2017, pp. 38-41). This idea of home or the home itself is different among generations. Eileen is different from Johnny, Iris, Mary, and other characters in the play. A girl who left her home when she was six, hasn't experienced what the locals go through. She does not live in slums as Johnny the man in his late twenties who run a 'Friendship Noodle Restaurant' explains in scene five, when Eileen meets him in the restaurant and tries to convince him to keep the area and save its history, Johnny informs her that he lived in this area from his childhood till his youth, and there is no sense to hold on the past. Unlike Iris, Eileen seems to romanticize home. For her home is an area where one was born and lives, where there are people who are conscious of their shared origin and history; the location of the settlement. Furthermore, home is what binds individuals of a nation through common land, tradition, and family as well as the citizens of a nation. More conscious of reality and the worse conditions of the present, Iris Wong informs Eileen in scene nine that "Limehouse isn't a photo album for your childhood memories" and the change is a must to better their life "We're allowed to change too. You've found something better for yourself, why can't we?" (Thorpe, 2018, p. 69).
If she lives in America and leaves her country, then why does she prevent them to leave? As she changes and adopts American culture, they also have the right to do so leave and find a better place for themselves. Eileen's inner struggle continued throughout the play and this is shown in both scenes, seven and seventeen. In scene seven, Eileen tells Mary that she knows more than her and anyone there because she had previously witnessed this in her father. In scene seventeen she also tells Johnny that they will regret what they have done because there was no time to turn back. This is a straight point of her contradiction and conflict that Jeremy sheds light on. In her speech with Mary, she seems to seek to not make the same mistakes of the first generations which are exemplified by her father. At the same time, she tells Mary that they do this for the sake of their children and to provide them with a clean and healthy environment in order to be valid to live in. Meanwhile, in scene five, she opposes and blames Johnny's actions and his indifference, even though he sacrifices all this for the sake of his child. "I'm going to be a family man. Baby on the way. That's who I'm responsible to, not some 'community." (Thorpe, 2018, p. 55).Their Lark Journal (2023) 48 (2) 981 idea of leaving is not something ridiculous that appeared out of nowhere. It is the product of living in an environment that did not provide them with the requirements of life. Their move now is due to the accumulation of difficulties that did not allow them to stay. Mary Healy explains in her article that, if belonging is associated with home and safety, nesting and rooting, unbelonging is associated with exile and danger, homelessness and rootlessness for those who formerly belonged (Healy, 2020, p.126).
They leave because they feel homeless in their home. Sarah Elizabeth Coward (2018) suggests in her thesis that "Some people don't experience a 'normal' 'home' life, and so may not experience a dwelling place as a haven or refuge to which they can return and express their personal freedom and autonomy." (p.65).

The Idea of "Not-Home" and Unbelonging
'Not-home' is a more unpleasant sensation, whereas 'home' is often depicted positively. The main characteristics of 'not-home' are primarily based on (negative) emotional feelings towards the place dealing with; unpleasant internal relationships; a lack of freedom or privacy; a negative atmosphere; and dissatisfaction with the physical features of the domestic sphere.
These emotions were the polar opposite of descriptions of key 'home' features such as continuity, privacy, self-expression, social interactions, warmth, and physical structure (Coward, 2018, pp. 64-65).
Eileen as an individual, this sense of self is built in the feeling of home as a safe haven, a place of comfort and security enlivened by a web of loving connections. Particularly, the home of childhood is frequently a location that one longs to return to, if not literally, then emotionally or in one's mind in an attempt to "open the gates of lost time." In this situation, the nostalgia to visit home may be initiated by the death of a loved one or by family pictures and mementos, which initiate a process of mourning for not only the lost landscape of the house but also the loss of dimensions of the self (Martins, 2020, pp.20-24) While Eileen has reflected the sense of home and belonging, the idea of 'not home' has been reflected in other characters like Johnny Wong, his wife Iris Wong, and Mary Cheah. In scene four, when Eileen meets Mary in the hallway of Holy Trinity Brompton, she was reading something that does not clearly highlight in the play, but Eileen seems to be amazed by that.
After a small conversation, Eileen asks her about the Limehouse, Mary asks her which one do you mean?' The irony here shows how Eileen does not even know there are other places. Eileen was confused and asked her 'there is more than that?' She is delusional about her idea of keeping Limehouse because the reality is different. If she is really connected to the place, then she should know about every single thing related to her home. For Johnny and Mary, a home is no more a place where the community feels linked. The International Organization for Migration provides some factors that individuals are searching for in their community like employment opportunities, Environmental and climate factors, and the Existence and accessibility of services (education, health care, financial services, decent housing, and other social services) (IOM, 2020, p. 182). But these factors were absent in Limehouse, this matter of lacking, highlighted the political strategy to kill people inside. Their (governments) reaction to the Chinese community as well as their culture inside their country maybe indicate their fear of China that it will be able to dominate the world as Gregor Benton and Edmund Terence Gomez named Sinophobia (Benton,2008, p.292).
This twenty-nine year of neglect shows how the government led the people to leave their homes.
In scene five, Eileen discusses Limehouse's matter to Johnny and how she wants to save the place. Eileen states that everyone should think about others not only about themselves, because if they do, then Limehouse will vanish. "If everyone just looked out for themselves, then what happens to Chinatown? Who's looking out for the community?" (Thorpe, 2018, p. 56). This is another piece of evidence of the political strategy to kill their inner belonging to their home. This internal killing of affiliation generated hatred towards their community. For them is not their community that will pay for their pills or raises their children as Johnny declares "What is this community you keep talking about? Is community going to pay our bills? The way they keep raising the rates-" (Thorpe, 2018, p. 57). Besides Johnny's speech and Mary's, there is another piece of evidence that proves this fact (the negligence) in the same scene, when Eileen meets Johnny in a Friendship Noodle Restaurant, Iris Wong whose Johnny's wife enters and tells her husband about how the smell of the place seems like dead fish. Fish has various meanings in different myths and nations, but generally speaking, Fish is associated with loss and failure, as Nina Jay mentions on her website that the dead fish is extremely symbolic of sentiments of damage, failure, regret, conflict, bad judgments, and wasted opportunities. The dead fish is not anything to be afraid of; rather, it is an acknowledgment of the experience and a desire to go on. This might be a loss of money, a friendship, a relationship, a house, or a job. The dead fish should be regarded as an acknowledgment of loss in your life (Jay, 2020, p.1). Falcón et al (2014) explain in their research that youth of the second generation is obliged to confront the categorization and labels of their origin groups as well as those of their original nation. They are through a process of self-construction, made more complicated by the diversity of their feeling of belonging, which always occurs through a different line of division, of separation. These many modes of belonging create a schism that is always highlighted by those on the outside, either in the family group or in a similar group. Falcón states "I belong to this environment, or at least I feel like I do, yet my beginnings will always be different... You're constantly from elsewhere..." (p.564).
In scene nine after the conversation between Eileen and Iris about the food and the restaurant is over, she brings up the topic of belonging and Limehouse. Eileen informs her that if they don't want to save Limehouse for their sake, then save it for their children, to make them know their culture, and where they come and belong. She does not want the next generation to be overwhelmed by their identity and belonging. Because she has been through this conflict all along which has resulted in the loss of her identity and makes her confused about where she belongs to. The conflict of belonging appears in three scenes, the first time when Eileen declared her loss to Iris in scene nine after their discussion about the redevelopment, she tells Iris about her feeling about the place, that she does not belong anywhere. In scene seventeen, In the show, which is presented by Eileen, and after the residents raged at her, she told Johnny, Iris, and Mary that she does not know where to belong" I feel lost! I don't know where I belong.
That's the truth. I don't feel like I belong here, but I want it to stay. I'd feel better, knowing it was here." (Thorpe, 2018, p. 88).
In the final scene, when Eileen encounters with Iris and Johnny's granddaughter. Chole Mann asks Eileen to tell her story and how she was a heroine in order to put it in her project. Eileen tells that she wasn't a heroine, but each one of them had different outcomes and thoughts. She declares that in a moment she felt that she didn't belong here but somewhere else. " … We tried.
Or I did. I really did try. I wasn't under any illusions that this would become my home." (Thorpe, 2018, p. 100). This complexity of having multiple belongings and homes affects Eileen psychologically as reflected in her behavior and attitude even making her lose her own cultural identity.

Cultural loss, Acculturation, and Cultural Shock
This theme explains Eileen's cultural loss and how this multicultural identity is reflected in her attitude as well as identity. This conflict of multiplicity creates a sense of confusion and loss.
The image of cultural loss was represented when Eileen rents some people to participate in her movement in scene twelve, she does not even offer them Chinese tea. "She calls herself Chinese, then does not even serve us Chinese tea." (Thorpe, 2018, p. 73). Sibal (2018)  Tea and Chinese culture are inextricably linked. It embodies not just the spirit of civilization but also the spirit of the ideological form, it also refers to respect (Jiang, 2021, p.2). Then if she's Chinese, why does not she know her culture? Jeremy in this scene tells the reader how this multicultural identity generates this conflict within Eileen. She tries her best to keep the history of this area but at the same time, she does not know its culture and traditions. For Eileen, Limehouse is the place of birth, where her family lived. She does not belong to it culturally but emotionally, because she has already adopted American culture.This appears from the first paragraph of the play in scene one when Tiang describes her, she dressing too well for the locals. Her attitude may seem ironic to the characters as well as to the reader. But this is what Hall et al (2011) call 'Acculturation', which is the most well-known example of cross-cultural psychology. Acculturation is the multifaceted process through which one culture accepts components of another culture's values and practices, such as attitudes, language, and beliefs. It is often characterized as a shift in cultural attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors caused by interaction between two cultures, most commonly between dominant and minority cultures. Historically, thinkers are claimed that acculturation entailed abandoning one's own culture in order to acquire the values, attitudes, beliefs, and practices of another (p. 44). It also refers to the process of adapting individual values and attitudes to a new environment via psychological and behavioral changes. Alice Hearst (2012) construes in her book that "Thus, a child placed for adoption at birth may have spent no time "acquiring" a culture of origin, and stands in a very different position from a child adopted when he or she is older." (p 48).
American identity has overshadowed her original culture and identity. Eileen was born in Britain but grew up in the United State. As a child, she was adopted neither British culture nor Chinese, because she left her home when she was in her sixth year. During this short period, Eileen did not inherit her culture. Tiang presents this affection for multicultural identity in different scenes in addition to the one which was previously mentioned. In scene six after Eileen has left the Friend Noodle Restaurant, Iris tells her husband to not be rude to her because she's American and she is direct and honest. Individualism, independence, and self-reliance are prevalent characteristics of Americans. Each individual is expected to make the majority of life decisions for himself or herself. According to Linda Reed (1982), Americans tend to deal with problems and conflicts head-on. In the United States, there is not as much focus on "preserving face" as it is in China (Reed, 1982, pp. 42-44). Wittwer, J (2018) clarifies on his website that "When you become part of this new culture, the culture becomes part of you."(p.1) This is highlighted in scene nine, when Iris and Eileen have lunch, in this scene, three things are notable. The frst one is when Eileen sees the menu, she seems that she does not have a complete knowledge of the menu so she informs Iris that she might find this silly, but she doesn't see a menu like this.
The second one is her unfamiliarity with her original language. When Iris asks the waiter to bring them some food, Eileen does not understand a word of Iris's speech, she even asks her what language is, and Iris responds that Cantonese. This is another evidence of losing the sense of culture and heritage. Iris Wong's mother at least teaches her daughter her original language to communicate with others. She even told her daughter how she could open the school if her own daughter does not speak the language of her ancestors. While Eileen's father is tried but he failed because his daughter does not feel that the language is important to her if she does not stay in the same place forever. Shedding light on the cultural heritage of the parents plays an important role in influencing the personality of the individual. In the case of Eileen, who is not strictly (purely) Chinese, her lack of culture and language played a major role in alienating the citizens from her, and her unwillingness to accept her idea of keeping the Limehouse. Her acquisition of culture from American society and her way of speakingcreated a kind of mistrust of her. Jean Gilbert et al (2007) in their article 'A Project of the National Center for Cultural Competence' explain: "We humans are in the process of absorbing our culture, consciously and subconsciously, throughout our lives, while most of our core cultural understandings are gained early on through our parents and other intimates, schools, and religious teachings." (p.17).
The reason behind Eileen's adoption of American culture is not clear, because other characters in the play also have multi-identity. Then why does Eileen seem more American than Chinese?
And why do other characters still keep their culture even if they are British Chinese? What the researcher assumes is that Eileen may have experienced what is known as "culture shock". Cultural shock is caused by both the unfamiliarity with new cultural surroundings and the loss of a familiar cultural context. Cultural shock stress reactions result in both psychological and physiological responses. Psychological responses include physiological, emotional, interpersonal, intellectual, and social components, as well as the impacts of changes in sociocultural interactions, cognitive weariness, role stress, and identity loss. Individual reactions to cultural shock are influenced by a number of factors, which include previous experience with other cultural contexts and cross-cultural adaptation; the degree of difference between one's own and the host culture; the extent of preparation; social support networks; as well as an individual's psychological characteristics (Winkelman, 2017,p 121). These factors are reflected in Eileen's personality, she adopts the new culture, loses her identity, as well as loses the familiar cultural context.
Depending on the text, Johnny is also a Eurasian man, he is similar to Eileen who's she has multiple identities, as Iris says. But Johnny still has his Chinese culture and tradition, and his restaurant clearly refers to his Chineseness. According to Wickberg (2007), Chineseness referrers to Chinese nationality, ethnicity, or culture (Wickberg,2007,pp, 177-178). So even though he supports the idea of leaving, which is built on reasons but he still thinks of opening a new restaurant in the new place. He tells Eileen in scene five that he will open a new restaurant for Chinese food.
His speech has proved in scene twenty-three when more time passes. Johnny appears alienated and talking to himself. He wishes that his daughter can take over his restaurant. The researcher by highlighting this situation is trying to prove that this reaction to that kind of loss is differ from person to person and group to group. For Eileen, this loss is something that she has already witnessed. In scene six Iris tells her husband after what Eileen told them about her objection to development in her meeting with them in Friendship Noodles restaurant, that Eileen knows more than them when she says: "She's done it before, she said. She knows how these things work." (Thorpe, 2018, p.59).
In scene seventeen, after the failure of Eileen's movement to keep Limehouse safe. In addition to her attempts to deter the council's plan to demolish the place. She thought that by providing them with logical proof to convince them, maybe they will be convinced. But she realizes that logic is something in vain use since people are themselves consenting to the destruction. So, she arranges a show or something similar, to present Limehouse and its history to others to demonstrate her idea, to remind people of this area and its glory days. But the contradiction or the irony here is that she wanted to protect and relive the shining days of the Limehouse, but at the same time, she told the citizens that they want to see the old Chinatown. In scene thirteen the council gathered with people to discuss the Limehouse matter and they told them that there isn't an economic reason to destroy the place; it is just that they strive to provide clean, contemporary flats to all inhabitants, indoor restrooms, and community services. In scene seventeen, she provides them with an economic reason. This situation dipects her conflict. If she wants to keep Limehouse alive, why does she provide them with an economic reason? This question is answered above, which is cultural shock, and how this trauma affects her psychologically, and emotionally, which in return leads her to lose her own identity.
The third confirmation of the loss of her culture is her shock, when the waiter brings her the food that Iris offered before, which was duck's tongue, she thought that it was metaphorically speaking from Iris. Duck's tongue is one of the classic dishes in china's restaurants. Not knowing the dish of her country indicates how little knowledge she has of her own culture. This might be not convincing because it wasn't highlighted clearly, maybe she acquired her attitude from learning in school. Perhaps her father does not teach her that.
Probably there are other possibilities, but this is what the researcher concluded because the writer did not shed light on Eileen's life clearly.
Once migrants leave their home country, they invariably leave a number of moorings behind. These may contain kinship, family, home, possessions, connections, friendships, and other emotional and physical needs. Depending on the nature of the migration, preparedness for such a shift, and other reasons, the migrant may take a sense of loss with them. This loss may result in cultural mourning, which is associated with some loss of culture, cultural values, and customs, particularly while adjusting to a new culture. The reaction to that kind of loss will, predictably, differ from person to person and group to group. Another reaction to a new society has been labeled as culture shock, however, not every migrant will feel this. Some members of the same family may settle down better and faster than others. Depending on the rate of acculturation, this may lead to a sense of conflict (Dinesh, 2011, p.139).
As previously explained, Eileen in the first scene appears to dress better than the locals. Besides, her language is different from others. The ultimate proof that she has acquired American culture is in scene five when Johnny recognizes her identity through her accent. In Friendship Noodle restaurant, when the period of lunch ends. Stanley cleans up as Johnny prepares the meal for the guests -slicing veggies, etc. Jenny, Chuang, and Mabel, three patrons, linger over their tea, Eileen enters at the time of closing, and Johnny tells her that the restaurant is already closed, and then she tells him that she comes all this way to have a simple East End meal. Her American accent has attracted Johnny's attention.
It is not a matter of witness and intelligence, but it is an obvious sign that she does not belong here. People do not acquire their identities in a vacuum; rather, they develop their identities via their encounters in the cultural environments in which they inhabit. It is acceptable to argue that cultural identities are flexible rather than set.

Loss of Cultural Heritage
In its broadest meaning, cultural heritage is both a product and a process that provides communities with a richness of resources inherited from the past, developed in the present, and bequeathed for the benefit of future generations. The concept of heritage is essential in terms of culture. It contributes to the ongoing veneration of cultures and identities, and it serves as a crucial channel for the transfer of expertise, skills, and information between generations ( UNESCO, 2014, p.132). This loss is appeared in scene twenty-one after Iris gives birth to her daughter Frances, Jeremy shows the reader the difference between generations and how Chinese culture has faded. He elaborates that she's good at speaking English, and how France's attitude toward their family friend Stanley was mean and inappropriate. She has become more British than Chinese and this is what Eileen was afraid of. In scene nine after the conversation between Eileen and Iris about the food and the restaurant is over, she brings up the topic of belonging and Limehouse. Eileen informs her that if they do not want to save Limehouse for their sake, then save it for their children, to make them know their culture, and where they come and belong: "And your child? Don't you want it to know where its parents came from?" (Thorpe, 2018, p. 70).Her concern about maintaining the children's cultural identity reflects the conflict she has been through all along which resulted in the loss of her cultural identity and makes her confused about where she belongs to. In scene seventeen, Eileen tries to convince Johnny to save the place because she wants to avoid repeating the same mistake that her father has done to her when he takes her to America. She tries to convince him not to throw the baby in the bathwater because she will face what she (Eileen) has been faced before.
Their decision of leaving creates this loss of heritage as it appears in the final scene, Though Chole Mann, in her 20, Iris and Johnny's granddaughter appears and illustrate Eileen as a project of the present Limehouse. Eileen is now 93 years old. The idea of cultural heritage loss appears clearly. Jeremy exposes to the audience howLimehouse ends and how there are no signs referring to it. Chole tells Eileen that she wants to see her grandfather's restaurant, and she informs her that she strolled around Limehouse looking for Chinatown. Where there are a few street signs Amoy Lane, for exampleand a strange dragon monument, but not much more because in fact, they get rid of it. Meanwhile, she asks Eileen to tell her story and how she was a heroine in order to put it in her project. Eileen says that she was not a heroine, but each one of them had different outcomes and thoughts. Their differences in opinions make them lose their culture. Johnny tries his best to make his daughter lives in a healthy environment, which makes him forget about inheriting her Chinese culture. Meanwhile, Eileen tries to inform them about the consequences behind this left, which eventually is going to be the reason for the disappearance of Chinese culture from Britain.

Conclusion
In this analysis, the researcher answers these questions 1. How cultural identity is affected by acquiring a new national identity? 2. Do people of diaspora communities have the same reaction to the idea of home?
3. Does the conflict of having multi-identity can lead to the loss of one's heritage? 4. Is it possible that there is a gap between the original identity and the acquired identity? Tiang Jeremy's play has conveyed a message to the readers as well as the audience especially the young generation of immigrants to comfort their unrest feelings and confusion about their new cultural identity. He clarifies that the process of gaining a cultural identity may occur concurrently with the process of acquiring a new national identity as has been reflected through his characters.
Migrating to a new homeland, whether deliberately or unintentionally, is a difficult experience considering the economic, political, and social conditions associated with it. This may lead many individuals to confront a gap between their cultural history, customs, language, and religious beliefs as well as those of the new country when they move in quest of a new home.
The researcher explains that the migrants' new cultural identity to be constructed in the new homeland depends on what they bring with them (both materially and emotionally) and what they have abandoned behind and what they will acquire; and this is the critical aspect of the migration process: Whether they are drawn to the new surroundings or driven away from the old setting, they cannot overcome the feeling of loss. He adds that after migrating and establishing in a new community, an individual may feel cultural grief, cultural conflict, or culture shock.
Cultural conflict is commonly associated with a conflict between one's cultural values as well as those of family or society at large that would lead to the loss of one's heritage or real cultural identity for the sake of the new one. This loss may be more painful in the short term, although nagging sentiments of losing societal ideals and cultural support networks may become more apparent later in the post-migration case. The sensory image of the bad smell of dead fish is a clear reference to the decaying and collapsing of the old place with all its representation of the Chinese culture, traditions, food, people, and home; hence the need for novation. Therefore, accepting the idea of acculturation as a compromise to relieve the feeling of loss seems to be a better solution for the post-migration generations and the future of their children as has been tackled through Tiang's play.