In Place of Ritual and Parallel Universes

Singapore: A Growing Economy with Diverse Religious Traditions

Singapore is a rapidly growing economy of people from all over the world. The growing number of immigrants resulted in a variety of religious traditions. Religion is seen as the people’s opiate, as shown by how each seeks to make a personal devotion to their God. The Singapore urban planning model is committed to the development of a sustainable inclusive community. This paper would compare and contrast the two pieces by Kenneth and Goh, as well as look at the effect of this faith on modernity and secularization.

Influence of Religious Rituals on Singapore’s Development

In lieu of the ceremonial article, Goh emphasizes New Year’s Eve rituals around Sri Krishna and Guanyin temples. He understands Religion to be dominated by rituals and practice rather than doctrines and belief. It is for these reason Chinese worshippers always pray in traditional Chinese styles in front of the Indian temples; this act is seen to be unique thus raising questions about their beliefs and teachings. The two temples are understood to have attracted the building of crucial features like shops, offices and private apartments around the temples. It is clear that the temples have a significant impact and influence on the development of Singapore. On the other hand, Kenneth analyzes how despite the increasing urban planning towards promoting cultural diversity, Singapore remains a state with different religious practices making them parallel universes. He reports that Singapore has witnessed a growing change in the spiritual scene with a rapid spread of evangelical Christianity through the rise of mega-churches. It also discusses the sacred space in Singapore, alongside the Singapore model of development and its disadvantages. Most importantly, the essay analyzes the space and time in ritual events and the colonial and post-colonial rules of religion in Singapore.

Religious Spatiality in Singapore

Kenneth says that Singapore has so many temples, churches, and altars which are evenly distributed across the major towns whereas Goh does not mention this. The government highly charges the sacred spaces which are uniformly distributed across essential cities of the country. Most religious destinations are given just thirty-year leases, toward the finish of which they are much of the time compelled to migrate, buy another site from the legislature, and after that assemble another sanctuary. On other occasions, the confiscation of land by the government has led to the consolidation of temples under one building. This concentration of temples under one roof makes it easier for the government to guide and direct its operations. I agree with his report on the sacred space simply because religious buildings take up more space which might hinder setting up of business buildings like shops and stalls. In dealing with this, charging the sacred places is inevitable.

According to Goh, the rapid spread of Christianity has been reported; this led to the rise of mega-churches and consequently a rising number of Christian converts. With the limited space thereof, there emerged the need for expansion and extension. Temples that were initially crowded expanded to their original homes and proper infrastructure provided that enabled the worshippers to travel there. On the other hand, Goh argues that religious spatiality has influenced to a vast degree the informal urbanism around it. It contends that the state has neglected to bind the spiritual spatiality as the social legacy, and preferably, the Guanyin Temple keeps on contaminating the informal urbanism with a full natural sense of being that opposes simple consolidation into the formative state’s optimal worldwide city. In the above comparison, I concur with Goh’s view on religious spatiality. The location of the temples influences the urban environment. The growth of businesses and economy will be determined by how the state will manage the spiritual centers and not reconstructing temples back in the founding countries. The morality in business dealings in Singapore is also controlled by the proximity of the religious places and the business areas.

Temple Processions: A Force for Social Change

In both, religious practices act as a force for social change and transformation. Temple processions play a significant role in exerting a ritual power over the environment in the urban centers. The temple ceremonies attracted many bystanders and passers hence capturing their attention. They also get absorbed into the rituals, and in most cases, they take part in the celebrations. In my view, I believe the religious processions will lead to a conversion of so many people unlike in the other essay. On the other hand, the marches may lead to interruption of business operations.

Preserving Historical Times in Singapore

Kenneth talks about the elimination of historical times in Singapore. The rapid transformation of urban areas consequently led to the past events to be forgotten. This is because the Chinese language in which most of the stories were narrated; its use had been suppressed and ignored. In the bid to the increasing need for more space, most buildings were destroyed creating room for urban development and religious space expansion. There is need to critically preserve the history of the people of Singapore; destroying it will bring more harm than good to the people and even the tourists.

Goh assesses that the sanctuary and its ceremonies have been partaking in the social existence of the country, connecting with the country’s multiculturalism and everyday realism in their particular terms. It is inappropriate to state that the sanctuary and its customs have opposed innovation or, in a syncretistic way, retained present day culture to hold on in an unceasing heavenly mode. Or maybe, they have been constitutive of the “advanced soul” of Singapore, viably interlacing the otherworldly and the familiar with all the orderly strains and inconsistencies and breathing soul into a technocratic cityscape. I disagree with the idea that the rituals and spiritual places haven’t had any impact on innovation. Innovation has been handicapped by the many religious practices; many people focus more on religiosity rather than creativity and innovation. The increasing number of temples and churches deprives the country of centers to conduct change and creative activities.

Mixed Perspectives on Singapore’s Religious Diversity

Unlike in Kenneth’s essay where Singapore is a country with communities forming a parallel universe, Goh describes the Chinese worshippers passing by Krishna and offering joss sticks just because they assume him to be Guanyin.

Worship in the temple brings about the transformation of a person. The ritual and sincere gestures of prayer bring about the peace and tranquility within a person. During the ritual period, they related as fellow Buddhists but rather as “it is.” They rejected all feelings of self-centeredness but instead focused on unity and togetherness irrespective of their religious beliefs and doctrines. There is a lot of peace and tranquility that comes as a result of the ritual performed. I agree with the peace and tranquility due to the love and feelings that people harbor towards each other including visitors.

In both essays, the establishment of networks between temples in Singapore and China has created a new sense of spatiality. It has led to the emergence of new ways of performing ritual and exchange of knowledge between the worshippers of the two nations. It, in turn, leads to a quick proliferation of faith and temples. This trade has also increased the rates of interaction and understanding of all the local traditions hence improvements in ritual performance.

Celebrating Birthdays and Embracing New Cultures

In parallel universe essay, the Chinese temples celebrate the birthdays of the gods. They do so by inviting the gods to a feast and rites of invocation. Gifts are offered during this ritual, and good music played. On the other hand, the essay by Goh does not pay keen attention to the birthdays of the gods.

According to Kenneth, hybrid Chinese communities are gradually diminishing in Singapore. A new culture is embraced and highly celebrated. The other essay by Goh contains no mention of the same. In both, there is an emergence of mixed races as a result of their constant interactions. Daniel Goh discusses the growth of Christianity in Singapore, especially which shows the impact of charismatic religious movements on class and youth culture, but in some cases, these Christian groups uncomfortably preserve certain modern Chinese rituals acts, such as burning incense or spirit possession. He also mentions reform-minded branches of syncretic sectarian movements such as Dejiao (Teaching of virtue) that live in an uncomfortable relationship with the “magical” production of their religious texts utilizing spirit writing which is not the case from Kenneth’s argument.

Daniel Goh mentions the idea of mixed race couples seen to be worshipping in the temples. He gives an example of a white man and a Chinese woman; this signified the interracial marriages that were taking place as a result. Therefore, this shows religious freedom as the people could readily socialize with other people without referring to their religious beliefs and doctrines. Religious tolerance has also been seen by the fact that any individual could only pop into the temple and observe the holy rituals taking place without any form of intimidation. The Buddhists accommodated one another and even strangers and are often welcomed with a broad smile of satisfaction.

Personal Fulfillment and Satisfaction through Rituals

Rituals bring about personal fulfillment and satisfaction. Daniel gives an example of the young men exclaiming that they had achieved it. The boys were happy and contented; they were all united and were delighted with one another’s accomplishments. During the rituals, people often encourage one another and be happy for their achievements throughout the last year as they usher in a new year, they seek blessings from the god of fortune.

Ritual and sincerity are also evident during the entire process. Worshipers worshipped in unity and love; they held each other’s hand as a sign of respect and togetherness. Different postures were acceptable; this was an act of submitting one’s life to god entirely to enable his blessings of the New Year to fall upon them.

Summary

In summary, it is evident that the two essays have a similarity concerning ritualistic spatiality. Religious space in Singapore is compressed due to the diverse spiritual practices that take place. Singapore has so many churches, so many temples and even so many shrines. The temples have in a way influenced the development of the urban centers; it has led to increased business activities especially around the temples. Secularization has also been a significant concern even though the state has remained independent of the influence that these religious beliefs and practices impact to the economy.

Temple procession has also been seen to affect significantly on the growth of the economy as it captures the attention of tourists and bystanders. The two essays contrast in that Daniel Goh majorly describes the rituals that take place in the church and the transformation they give to the individuals whereas Kenneth majorly focuses on how despite everything being done by the Singapore model to bring harmony among the religious diversity, there have always been parallel universes.