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When C.M. Turnbull's A History of Singapore, 1819-1975 appeared in 1977, it quickly achieved recognition as the definitive history of Singapore. A second edition published in 1989 brought the story up to the elections held in 1988. In this fully revised edition, rewritten to take into account recent scholarship on Singapore, the author has added a chapter on Goh Chok Tong's premiership (1990-2004) and the transition to a government headed by Lee Hsien Loong. The book now ends in 2005, when the Republic of Singapore celebrated its 40th anniversary as an independent nation. Major changes occurred in the 1990s as the generation of leaders that oversaw the transition from a colony to independenc...
Singapore Malays subscribe to mostly traditional rather than modern interpretations of Islam. Singapore state officials, however, wish to curb the challenges such interpretations bring to the country's political, social, educational and economic domains. Thus, these officials launched a programme to socially engineer modern Muslim identities amongst Singapore Malays in 2003, which is ongoing. Negotiating Muslim Identities documents a variety of ethnographic encounters that point to the power struggles surrounding two basic and very different ways of living. While the Singapore state has gained some successes for its project, it has also faced significant and multiple setbacks. Amongst them, ...
Brimming with verve and dramatic incident, Singapore: A Biography offers fresh insights into the life story of this island city-state through the personal experiences of the workers, adventurers, rulers and revolutionaries who have shaped its history over the last seven centuries. The authors, drawing on research undertaken in collaboration with the National Museum of Singapore, have woven together ancient chronicles, eyewitness accounts, oral histories and even modern radio and television broadcasts to create a vivid and compelling narrative that brings the past back to life. Grounded in scholarship yet fired by the imagination, this book reveals the Singapore story to have been as rich, diverse and multilayered as the city-state is prosperous, ordered and successful today.
Keramat, holy graves and shrines, represent physical markers of Singapore’s history as a multi‐ethnic maritime trading center. They offered sanctified spaces not only for Muslims but also for the entire community in which they emerged. Maintained by self‐appointed caretakers, the stories of keramat often interweave fact with folklore that mirror the history and sensibilities of the community. While once an abundant part of the social landscape of Singapore, many keramat were destroyed during the post‐independence rush to develop. These keramat now face a second vanishing with memories of them fading as caretakers and community members age and pass away. In parallel, many modern Musli...
A major intellectual current in the Muslim world during the 19th and 20th centuries, proponents of modernist Islam typically believed that it was imperative to show how "modern" values and institutions could be reconciled with authentically Islamic ideals. This text collects their writings.
According to some observers, Southeast Asian Islam is undergoing a conservative turn. This means voices that champion humanist, progressive or moderate ideas are located on the fringes of society. Is this assessment accurate for a region that used to be known for promoting the “smiling face of Islam”? Alternative Voices in Muslim Southeast Asia examines the challenges facing progressive voices in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore today. It examines their discourses, which delve into how multiculturalism and secularism are the way forward for the diverse societies of these three countries. Moreover, it analyses the avenues employed by these voices in articulating their views amidst the do...
This volume examines cases of accommodation and recognition of minority practices: cultural, religious, ethnic, linguistic or otherwise, under state law. The collection presents selected situations and experiences from a variety of regions and from different legal traditions around the world in which diverse societal stakeholders and political actors have engaged in processes leading to the elaboration of creative, innovative and, to a certain extent, sustainable solutions via accommodative laws or practices. Representing multiple disciplines and methodologies and written by esteemed scholars, the work analyses the pitfalls and successes of such accommodative practices, presenting insights into how solutions could or could not be achieved. The chapters address the sustainability and transferability of such solutions in order to further the dialogue in both scholarly and policy spheres. The book will be essential reading for academics, researchers, and policy-makers in the areas of minority rights, legal anthropology, law and religion, legal philosophy, and law and migration.
This volume originates from the proceedings of an international conference convened by the Department of History and Civilization, International Islamic University Malaysia, in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Yemen, in Kuala Lumpur, from 26 to 28 August 2005. Twelve out of thirty-five papers presented at the conference have been reviewed, thoroughly revised and published in this volume. The introduction and the twelve chapters address the question of Hadhrami identity in Southeast Asia from various perspectives and investigate the patterns of Hadhrami interaction with diverse cultures, values and beliefs in the region. Special attention is paid to Hadhrami local and transnational politics, social stratification and integration, religio-social reform and journalism, as well as to economic dynamism and the cosmopolitan character of the Hadhrami societies in Southeast Asia.
Muslims constitute about half a million or 15 percent of Singapore's multiracial and multireligious population. In 1968, the Singapore Parliament passed the Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA), which led to the formation of Muis or the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (Islamic Religious Council of Singapore). The formation of Muis has brought about better administration of Muslim affairs in Singapore in meeting the religious needs of the Muslim community in areas like the issuance of fatwa (religious rulings), provision of halal food, management of haj (religious pilgrimage), collection and disbursement of zakat (charity tithe), running of madrasahs (religious schools) and having access to s...
The twentieth century was a fascinating period of profound political, social and economic changes in Indonesia. These changes contributed to the diversification of the religious landscape and as a result, religious authority was redistributed over an increasing number of actors. Although many Muslims in Indonesia continued to regard the ulama, the traditional religious scholars, as the principle source of religious guidance, religious authority has become more diffused and differentiated over time. The present book consists of contributions which all deal with the multi-facetted and multidimensional topic of religious authority and aim to complement each other. Most papers deal with Indonesia, but two dealing with other countries have been included in order to add a comparative dimension. Amongst the topics dealt with are the different and changing roles of the ulama, the rise and role of Muslim organizations, developments within Islamic education, like the madrasa, and the spread of Salafi ideas in contemporary Indonesia.