宗教空間的改造：新加坡淡濱尼聯合宮的「道教化」

Abstract

新加坡向來予人的印象，似乎只停留在「專制」、「高效」的一面，很難想像新加坡在獨立初期也面臨過許多來自民間的挑戰。克服挑戰的過程使新加坡政府意識到民間組織「亦敵亦友」的時代特質；頗具「威脅性」的組織是那些帶有政治意味的左翼組織和鄉間協會，那些能夠加以籠絡的組織則包括宗鄉會館和宗教團體。就毫無政治色彩的民間組織而言，新加坡政府既不是強行管制，又不是完全放任不管，所採取的折衷方案是「兼併式」的包容和監控。本文以「空間」為組織原則，以座落在新加坡東部的淡濱尼聯合宮為例，從宗教的角度剖析新加坡獨立以後的歷史演化。淡濱尼聯合宮「道教化」的過程除了透露新加坡道教的發展歷史，也揭示新加坡政治、社會及宗教等領域之間錯綜複雜的關係。新加坡政府對宗教空間的改造，使淡濱尼聯合宮也兼具「服務國家」的政治使命；淡濱尼聯合宮既是「明顯」的宗教空間，又是「潛在」的政治空間。

Since its independence in 1965, Singapore has figured prominently in the debates between human rights activists, political observers, and social organizations over whether the small nation-state - whose government has been well known to combine both effective governance and political repression in its half-century rule - should be categorized as authoritarian. What we have neglected or perhaps forgotten to see, however, is Singapore’s troubled past - that of the 1960s and 1970s - with its own civil and social organizations, some of which had threatened to undermine state power from their local bastions in villages and other rural settlements. Some organizations, such as those in which Communist agents were active, posed a direct challenge to the nascent state; others, such as clan associations and religious groups, were relatively easy to manage and coopt. Adopting the concept of space as its organizing principle, this article argues that the Tampines United Palace, a large temple situated in the eastern part of Singapore, has become a prominent Taoist religious site accommodating the temples (and their patron deities) that were dislocated as a result of the state’s land acquisitions, resettlement plans, and religious policies. The founders and subsequent leaders of the Tampines United Palace made conscious attempts to construct a Taoist temple in line with state directives and laws, one that can also live up to state expectations to provide for its immediate community. Their efforts reveal a great deal about the nature and dynamics of interactions between politics, society, and religion in Singapore. As such, a reconceptualization of the Tampines United Palace from religious space to political space is possible.