ABSTRACT
Managing and enclaving religions Our central argument has been that the Singaporean state, since achieving independence in 1965, has been active in creating policies to manage the Muslim community. These policies have been, from the political elite’s point of view, largely successful in incorporating the Muslim community, suppressing radical movements and avoiding overt racial conflict. The Singaporean experience may well have relevance for other societies in the region such as China and a degree of relevance beyond Asia. There is some anecdotal evidence that the Chinese authorities are following the Singapore way in regarding religion as potentially part of the rich tapestry of Chinese culture and a useful source of foreign currency when its sites and pilgrimages can attract foreign tourist interest. For instance, Taoist sites at Wudang mountain in China are slowly emerging as part of the new commercial order by attracting pilgrims, including overseas Chinese (DeBernardi, 2008). However, converting religion into a tourist attraction can only be successful if religious expression and recruitment are carefully managed. In developing this idea of the ‘management of religions’, we have examined the implicit and explicit policies of containment, or enclavement as we call it, and the more positive policy of ‘upgrading’ of Muslims in order to manage them more effectively. The Singapore elite is obviously conscious of the revival and growth of Islam in the region and is concerned with maintaining control of its own Muslim community. Islam is inevitably associated with the ‘Malay problem’ and part of the state’s religious policy is to incorporate Muslims into its vision of a technological, rational, consumer society through paternalist strategies of education, training and improvement. As we have seen, one aspect of this strategy is to modernize madrasah education in both content and orientation. More broadly, these state policies and institutions include:
• State management of Islam in Singapore (AMLA, Syariah law, MUIS, mosques, and religious leadership);
• ‘Upgrading’, through the education system, public housing, legislation, the National Service, self-help groups and the group representation constituency (GRC) electoral system;
• Defusing crises, such as the 9/11 and JI issue, and managing the possible impact on community relations in Singapore; and
• State management of the predominantly Muslim working class.
