Events

CHAIRPERSON

Prof Kenneth Dean, Asia Research Institute, and Department of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

The term “Southeast Asian Buddhism” calls to mind “Theravada Buddhism,” the dominant religion in the mainland Southeast Asian states of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Needless to say, scholars of Southeast Asia have long been interested in studying how Buddhism shaped the history, culture, and politics of mainland Southeast Asia. In contrast, maritime Southeast Asia conjures the image of the Malay Archipelago consisting of the Muslim majority states of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei, as well as the predominantly Catholic Philippines. Singapore, on the other hand, is deemed an anomaly because of the predominant Buddhist and Chinese population. This roundtable features three newly published books examining different aspects of Chinese Buddhism in maritime Southeast Asia.

Monks in Motion: Buddhism and Modernity across the South China Sea (Oxford University Press, 2020) tells the story of three prominent monks—Chuk Mor (1913–2002), Yen Pei (1917–1996), and Ashin Jinarakkhita (1923–2002)—and examines the connected history of Buddhist communities in China and maritime Southeast Asia in the twentieth century. Jack Meng-Tat Chia explores the history of “South China Sea Buddhism,” referring to a Buddhism that emerged from a swirl of correspondence networks, forced exiles, voluntary visits, evangelizing missions, institution-building campaigns, and organizational efforts of countless Chinese and Chinese diasporic Buddhist monks.

The Buddha Lights of Lion City: The Hundred-Year Development of Buddhism in Singapore (Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 2020) offers a comprehensive account of the development of different branches of Buddhism in Singapore, including Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, Southeast Asian Theravadin Buddhism, Tibetan Tantric Vajrayana Buddhism, and Taiwanese Humanistic Buddhist traditions. Hue Guan Thye presents a long durée history of Buddhism in the global port city from fourteenth century to the present. He traces the transformation from mobile Buddhist masters “floating” across Southeast Asia to the founding of local institutions, as well as the growth of a vibrant and committed lay Buddhist community in Singapore.

Buddhist Revitalization and Chinese Religions in Malaysia (Amsterdam University Press, 2020) tells the story of how a minority community comes to grips with the challenges of modernity, history, globalization, and cultural assertion in an ever-changing Malaysia. Tan Lee Ooi examines how the Buddhist revitalization movement in Malaysia is intertwined with various forces, such as colonialism, religious transnationalism, and global capitalism. He argues that Reformist Buddhists have helped to remake Malaysia’s urban-dwelling Chinese community and have provided an exit option in the Malay and Muslim majority nation state.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Hue Guan Thye is Senior Research Fellow of the Department of Chinese Studies at National University of Singapore. His research focuses on Buddhism, Taoism and Chinese popular religion in Singapore and Malaysia, Chinese Education, and Chinese in Southeast Asia. He is the author of The Buddha Lights of Lion City: The Hundred-Year Development of Buddhism in Singapore (2020), Chinese Epigraphic Materials in Singapore: 1819-1911 (2017, with Kenneth Dean), The Propagation of Taoism and Buddhism in Singapore (2013), and A study of the development of Chinese Buddhism in Singapore (2010, with Nengdu etc.). His main articles are “The origin of Singapore Taoism” (Religious Studies, 2011), “The Evolution of the Singapore United Temple” (Chinese Southern Diaspora Studies, 2011) and “Chinese Temples and the Transnational Networks: Hokkiens Communities in Singapore” (Cultural Diversity in China, De Gruyte, 2017) etc.

Jack Meng-Tat Chia is Assistant Professor of History and Religious Studies at National University of Singapore. His research focuses on Buddhism and Chinese popular religion in Southeast Asia, transnational Buddhism, and Sino-Southeast Asian interactions. He is the author of Monks in Motion: Buddhism and Modernity across the South China Sea (Oxford, 2020), as well as articles in Asian Ethnology, China Quarterly, Contemporary Buddhism, History of Religions, and Journal of Chinese Religions. He is currently working on two book projects: Beyond the Borobudur: Buddhism in Postcolonial Indonesia and Dharma Crossings: Long Gen and the Making of Nanyang Buddhism.

Tan Lee Ooi is Head of Department of Mass Communication at UOW Malaysia KDU Penang University College in Malaysia. His first book was published by National University Press of Malaysia on the dynamics of cyberspace during the Reformasi Movement, in the Malay language. His research focuses on Chinese religions, Buddhist modernism, religion and politics, social media and creative industries.

REGISTRATION

Registration is closed, and instructions on how to participate in this webinar has been sent out to registered attendees. Please write to aritm@nus.edu.sg if you would like to attend the webinar.