June 14, 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic had forced many activities, traditionally held in large groups and in-person, to be adapted into online forms. ‘Cyber Dharma: Celebrating E-Vesak in Singapore’ (CoronAsur: Asian Religions in the Covidian Age, 2023) by Assistant Professor Jack Meng-Tat Chia (NUS History & Asia Research Institute) explores how Buddhist organisations in Singapore have adapted mobility restrictions during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this short essay, Asst. Prof. Chia outlines the ways that Buddhist organisations have engaged their communities and reached out to wider audiences via online technologies. He explores activities conducted by organisations through social media and live-streaming platforms.

For instance, he cites the Buddhist United Facebook page, which started about two weeks before the Vesak Day of 2020 and consolidated the online Vesak activities organised by various Buddhist organisations in Singapore. Activities listed included synchronous celebrations held over conferencing and live-streaming platforms like Zoom and Facebook Live. Other organisations used these live platforms to conduct online blessing services.

While utilising conference and live-streaming platforms might be new, that some Buddhist organisations both in Singapore and abroad have used social media and other forms of interactive media to reach out to younger audiences and spread the Buddhist faith before the pandemic began.

Asst. Prof. Chia suggests that these adaptations prompt questions about what worship in the Buddhist faith could look like in the future, particularly the place of online forms of worship and religious celebration in the wider tapestry of religious practices.

Read the article here: https://ari.nus.edu.sg/20331-10/