‘Hinduism’ and ‘Taoism’ in Singapore: Seeing points of convergence

Abstract

The paper begins by documenting the meanings the labels ‘Hinduism’ and ‘Taoism’ carry locally and highlights the complexities and ambiguities in discussions that invoke them. I then present data which demonstrate significant points of convergence between these two religious traditions, viewed as ‘ethnic religions’ and asserted to be ‘different’ in the Singaporean context. The turn to the organisational domain is instructive in revealing how ‘Hindu’ and ‘Taoist’ institutions have talked about their respective religions in the public sphere. This focus allows me to highlight overlaps in the two sets of discourses, to ask why these affinities should exist and to reflect on the sociological implications of such a phenomenon.

“Bringing back the old ways”: enacting a goddess festival in urban singapore

“…Given the multi-religiosity and multiculturalism of Singapore's social life, which has meant close contact and interaction among members of different ethnic and religious groups, it is not surprising that the KVC continues to see non-Indian and non-Hindu participation every year. There is confirmation here of the permeability of religious boundaries and possibilities for negotiating these in practice, something that has been documented in the case of Hindu-Taoist encounters in Singapore (Sinha 2008).…”

‘Mapping a Field: Forms of Hindu Religiosity in Malaysia and Singapore’

“…The truly hybrid nature of 'Hinduism' is visible in the co-presence in shrines, temples and home altars of Vaisnavite, Saivite and Sakti dimensions of Hinduism (for instance in having Hanuman, Ram, Murukan, Mariamman, Periyachee, Bhagvati and Kali together) and the Brahmanic and non-Brahmanic elements (in the co-existence of Muneeswaran, Sanggali Karuppan, Madurai Veeran with Murukan, Ganesh and Vishnu) and the co-location of Brahmin and non-Brahmin religious specialists. 'Festival Hinduism' is conspicuous literally and regularly on the streets of urban Singapore, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Malacca -in the grand taipucam and timiti processions, which see participation across ethnic, religious, class and caste lines and are often conducted under the ritual direction of Brahmin religious specialists, located in Agamic temples (Sinha 2005;Yeoh 2001Yeoh , 2006. This requires a negotiation of the dense urban domain and the co-operation of non-Hindu groups and bureaucratic authorities but also reconfigures the built environment of cities.…”

“…Substantively, the domain of 'Popular Hinduism' is a complex mixture of elements, drawn from diverse local religious traditions, including elements from 'Hinduism' defined broadly. By no means do its empirical boundaries replicate or even approximate what is understood as folk Hinduism 'back home' in Tamil Nadu (Sinha 2006b). In Singapore and the Malaysian cities of Kuala Lumpur and Penang, popular Hinduism is striking for its robust and resilient religious syncretism.…”

Religion-State Encounters in Hindu Domains

“…On the basis of historical data, their incidence can be traced back to at least the mid-nineteenth century. In recent years, non-temple societies are also making a pitch to enact religious processions and achieving some degree of success in this department (Sinha 2008 the Hindus decorated eight chariots for a procession. In these early years, images of deities were placed on wooden chariots which were either pulled by devotees within temple grounds or in the streets, or pulled by bullock carts.…”