ABSTRACT
The use of the term 'Hinduism' to denote a religion in the same way as Islam or Christianity has been subjected to considerable criticism by historians and anthropologists of South Asia. Regardless of the debate on dating the construction of Hinduism and it's problematic use when employed to refer to a single world religion, scholars nevertheless recognise that both in India and in the diaspora, the labels Hindu and Hinduism have grown increasingly salient and are now 'embraced and internalised among practitioners'. All the major religious communities of the sub-continent are represented in the Indian diaspora in Singapore. Even at the earliest stage of Singapore's development, Hindu migrants comprised a diversity of region, caste and sect. The late nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a further expansion in the size of the Hindu population in Singapore. Of greater consequence than the reformist organisations was the Tamil Nadu-based 'Self-Respect' movement, which sought the moral, social and religious upliftment of Tamil society.
