ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief overview of the development of Chinese medicine in Singapore with an emphasis on the impact of the local historical and social contexts. It examines not only the top-down approaches (through laws and policies) implemented by the government in different eras, but also the bottom-up strategies deployed by the professional associations and religious organisations. These include the professionalisation, institutionalisation and secularisation of Chinese medicine, in aspects of practices, training, regulations and research. In different ways, all these agencies have played critical roles in promoting the modernisation of Chinese medicine in the specific milieu of Singapore. The distinctive characteristics and complex modernisation processes of Chinese medicine in Singapore shed light on how Chinese medicine adapts, innovates and negotiates with external intervention in an overseas modern society, both institutionally and practically. This case study also highlights the influences of British colonial legacies and China as the origin of practices in Chinese medicine. It seeks to explore and reconsider the coexistence of multiple modernities in Singapore.
