December 27, 2021

Although only one-sixth of the resident population in Singapore is Christian, Christmas is still a well celebrated holiday. Many celebrate with church services, or with Christmas themed foods, decorations, gift-giving and shopping sales across Singapore.

Another role of Christianity in Singapore can be found in the chapter “Mission Schools in Singapore: Religious Harmony, Social Identities, and the Negotiation of Evangelical Cultures” (ISEAS, 2018), which traces the historical development of Christian mission schools from colonial Singapore to post-independence. In it, Prof Robbie Goh (NUS Department of English Language and Literature) examines how mission schools have achieved their reputation for excellence even after the creation of Singapore’s national school system post-independence.

The article details the history of mission schools from their beginnings in colonial Singapore. The schools were set up with the main purpose of a moral and domestic education through religious teachings, rather than a focus on academic education. Critically, the article emphasises that much of the religious impact of the mission schools was carried out by Christian teachers who played a fundamental role in creating a strong moral atmosphere through informal personal interaction with students.

The article contrasts the success of mission schools’ education with the educational climate in post-independence Singapore, which saw mission schools having to adapt to the newly created national education agenda alongside the rise in a large number of government schools. It explains that mission schools had to balance the creation of a religious education curriculum that necessitated the teaching of other religions, with their work of Christian evangelism. The new emphasis placed on academic results and high-quality education also saw a decline in the number of Christian educational missionaries, whose primary purpose has always been with the non-curricular aspects of moral teaching.

The article ends with a policy suggestion for mission schools. Prof Goh encourages the development of religious education away from formal religious instruction and towards non-curricular moral influence in the area of personal and informal relationships between students and teachers, which has always contributed to the effective shaping of mission schools’ distinctive school “spirit”. Furthermore, Prof Goh argues that the enhancement of the religious atmosphere would help prevent a climate of religious contention and politicization, especially in the larger multireligious landscape of Singapore.

Read the article here.