Christian identities in Singapore: religion, race and culture between state controls and transnational flows

Goh, Robbie B. H.

doi:10.1080/08873630802617135

Cited by 18 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Christianity in post-colonial Singapore, a nation-state once prophesied as the ''Antioch of Asia'' by the American evangelist Billy Graham (DeBernardi 2008, p. 120), has been shaped by American Christianity (Goh 2009). In recent years, Singapore has been discussed as a hub for exporting a lucrative megachurch-based business model globally, not just in the Southeast Asia region (Philomin 2014).…”

Section: Singapore: Authoritarian Pragmatic and The Antioch Of Asiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“Whatever Works”

Yip

Ainsworth

2016

Journal of Macromarketing

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Despite predictions that organized religion would decline with modernization and economic development, some forms of Christianity are thriving, particularly evangelically-oriented churches in the Southern hemisphere. However, their doctrine and strategies are not without controversy. Megachurches, Protestant churches with congregations exceeding 2000 members often embrace marketing and preach a version of ‘prosperity gospel’ where material success is taken to be proof of spiritual blessing. North American in origin, this form of religious organization has expanded throughout South East Asia. In this paper, we use a case study of a megachurch in Singapore – City Harvest Church – to explore how their involvement in marketing and the marketplace is constructed. Using a discourse analytic methodology, our findings show how the church purposefully uses the normative dichotomy between the sacred and secular to frame the meaning of their involvement in the marketplace, targeting particular types of enterprising and professionally-oriented individuals to embody their mission. Further we show how this construction reflects the pragmatism, entrepreneurial and business orientation of Singapore. Our research suggests potential for further study of the way the relationship between religion, markets and marketing are constructed, using methods that incorporate an understanding of context.

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Section: Singapore: Authoritarian Pragmatic and The Antioch Of Asiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“Whatever Works”

Yip

Ainsworth

2016

Journal of Macromarketing

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“…As Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong recently stated to Singapore’s Taoist Federation, diversity is “a very unnatural state of affairs” (Yong, 2015), requiring careful state policy to minimize conflicts. Such a perception of religions as homogenous, irreconcilable groups poised against each other is reinforced by the impression that, for the state and many Singaporeans, religious difference is often considered coterminous with ethnic difference (Goh R, 2009: 2). Thus, Singapore’s “Chinese, Indian, Malay, and Other” ethnic grouping is quickly transposed onto a religious “Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and Christian” one 6 in ways that erase historical context and intermingling.…”

Section: Hybrid Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dreaming about the neighbours

Johnson

2016

South East Asia Research

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For Marcel Mauss (2001 [1902]), magic involves border-crossing, with powers founded upon the potentiality presented by the exotic and the unknown. In a similar vein, Webb Keane (2003) points to the movement of religious objects that, via their very materiality, acquire new meanings as they move between one “representational economy” and another. Here, I look at the consumption of Thai necromantic objects by Chinese Singaporean Buddhists. These are, in some cases, Thai body parts, ritually processed and sold via the international marketplace via Chinese Singaporean entrepreneurs and used for local business competition. I argue that, through this process, these objects become fused with Chinese religious notions of potency, Orientalist exoticization, and a fetishization of the entrepreneur. In doing so, these dreams about the neighbours complicate our understandings of cosmopolitanism, masculinity, and the vicissitudes of capitalism.

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“…For example, Pereira (2005: 174) argues that 'religion has been generally able to retain its market share in Singapore'. In particular, Christianity has flourished in post-colonial Singapore, a nation-state prophesied as the 'Antioch of Asia' by the American evangelist Billy Graham (DeBernardi, 2008: 120) and is substantively shaped by American Christianity (Goh, 2009). Yet there is diversity within the Protestant Christian 'market' in Singapore as well.…”

Section: Mega-churches and The Religious Landscape Of Singaporementioning

confidence: 99%

‘We aim to provide excellent service to everyone who comes to church!’: Marketing mega-churches in Singapore

Yip

Ainsworth

2013

Social Compass

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The discourse and techniques of marketing have permeated many non-business areas of social life, including religion. In this paper, we explore the implications of this trend for the practice of the Christian church. Using two cases of mega-churches in Singapore, we show how marketing fosters a re-conceptualization of religion where religious organizations seek to build their ‘brands’ through diversified offerings. Marketing may enable religious organizations to grow, but the cases also show how it can fundamentally change the practice of religion itself.

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Christian identities in Singapore: religion, race and culture between state controls and transnational flows

Cited by 18 publications

References 8 publications

“Whatever Works”

“Whatever Works”

Dreaming about the neighbours

‘We aim to provide excellent service to everyone who comes to church!’: Marketing mega-churches in Singapore

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