MODERNITY IN SINGAPORE:
A CHRISTIAN THEOLOGICAL CRITIQUE

Date & Time
13 November 2008 (Thursday)
11.00 am to 12.30 pm

Venue
National University of Singapore
Blk AS7, #04-13 (Shaw Foundation Building)

Organiser
Religion Cluster, Department of Sociology,
Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences,
National University of Singapore

Abstract

All throughout the history of Christianity, the religion has had to interact with the broader societal and cultural ethe which were dominant in the various geographical localities of its presence. The church of every era and at every place has had to undertake its dutiful obligation of critiquing these wider realities from a theological perspective.

This tradition of church-and-world interaction poses a challenge to the church of Singapore in her interaction with a modernity that is unique unto the Singaporean nation. For decades since Singapore emerged as an independent nation, there has been insufficient articulation from the Christian theological community in Singapore pertaining to the city-state's modern culture. As the Singaporean Church matures, it is now time for her people to interact critically with her wider societal ethos in an attitude of solidarity with the country, and certainly as no less than children of the nation.

This talk highlights some dominant expressions of Singapore's unique modernity, such as secularism, materialism and pragmatism. It delineates how these expressions are variant from what seem to be similar expressions of Western modernity. Thorough descriptions and interpretations of these embodiments of Singaporean modernity will also be presented. Together with that, the speaker will rigorously critique these facets of Singaporean modernity from a Christian theological viewpoint.

Speaker's BiodataSherman Kuek (DTh, TTC Singapore) is a theological researcher, writer, and speaker from Malaysia who dialogues with people of various backgrounds and traditions on issues pertaining to theology, spirituality, and culture. He is the Convenor of Revolution of Hope (RoH Malaysia), a Christian group of theological and social-scientific thinkers from various Christian traditions. At the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, he also serves as Resident Researcher in the Archdiocesan Ministry of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs (AMEIA) and an editorial team member of Catholic Asian News (CANews). At the level of his local church, he serves as a Pastoral Associate.