Religion-State Encounters in Hindu Domains (eBook)

Acknowledgements 8
Abbreviations 10
Contents 12
List of Tables 14
List of Maps 15
List of Figures 16
1 Making Sense of Religion and State Encounters: Locating Religions in Secular States 17
1.1 Turning to the Hindu Scene in Singapore 31
1.2 Abstracting Ethnographic Insight from Archives 35
2 Governance in the Straits Settlements, 1796--1874 40
2.1 Preamble 40
2.2 Constructing a Region 40
2.2.1 From Economic Interests to Political Control 41
2.2.2 The Naissance of the Straits Settlements 43
2.3 Principles of Governance in the Straits Settlements 46
2.3.1 Tentative and Reluctant Administration 47
2.3.2 Towards Greater `Interference' 55
3 The `Religious Question' in the Straits Settlements 59
3.1 Preamble 59
3.2 Religions in British Malaya 60
3.3 Reconstructing the Religious Landscape of Nineteenth-Century Straits Settlements 62
3.3.1 Non-Christian Religions in the Straits Settlements 66
3.4 Strategies for Managing Public Expressions of Religiosity 76
4 The Mohammedan and Hindu Endowments Ordinance, 1905: Recourse to Legislation 96
4.1 Preamble 96
4.2 The Need for `Order': The Mohammedan and Hindu Endowments Ordinance 96
4.2.1 Towards Legislation 102
4.3 The Founding of the Mohammedan and Hindu Endowments Boards for the Straits Settlements 114
4.3.1 Advisory Boards in the Straits Settlements 133
5 Mohammedan and Hindu Endowments Board, 1905--1968: The Singapore Experience 138
5.1 Preamble 138
5.2 Mohammedan and Hindu Endowments Board, Singapore: Its Realm of Jurisdiction 139
5.3 The SMHEB and Native Committees of Management: `Work' Performed and the Division of Labour 151
5.3.1 The SMHEB's Interactions with the Larger Community 171
5.3.2 Hindu Endowments Board, Singapore 183
6 Constructing Hinduism in Singapore: Legitimating Agamic Temples and Tai Pucam 197
6.1 Preamble 197
6.2 Instituting Proper `Work' Practices 197
6.2.1 Institutionalizing an Agamic-Style Temple and Worship 213
6.2.2 Legitimating Tai Pucam in `Singaporean Hinduism' 222
7 Religion, Law and Bureaucracy 244
7.1 The Hindu Endowments Board: 1969 to Date 244
7.1.1 Singapore Hindu Domains in the Present 255
7.1.2 Negotiating a Culture of Bureaucracy 258
Glossary 267
References 272
Index 285