January 22, 2023

Chinese New Year begins on January 22 in 2023. As Southeast Asia has a large population of Chinese immigrants and their descendants, Chinese culture has played a large part in shaping Southeast Asians’ history and identity.

In ‘Chinese Temple Networks in Southeast Asia: A WebGIS Digital Humanities Platform for the Collaborative Study of the Chinese Diaspora in Southeast Asia’ (Religions, 2020), Dr Yingwei Yan (NUS Chinese Studies), Professor Kenneth Dean (NUS Chinese Studies), Associate Professor Chen-Chieh Feng (NUS Geography), Dr Guan Thye Hue (NUS Asia Research Institute), Associate Professor Khee-heong Koh (NUS Chinese Studies), Professor Lily Kong (SMU), Professor Chang Woei Ong (NUS Chinese Studies), Associate Professor Arthur Tay (NUS Computer and Electrical Engineering), Associate Professor Yi-chen Wang (NUS Geography), and Ms Yiran Xue (NUS Asia Research Institute) collectively introduce a digital platform for collaborative research on the Chinese diaspora in Southeast Asia, focusing on networks of Chinese temples and associations extending from Southeast China to the port cities in Southeast Asia. Specifically, the Singapore Historical Geographic Information System (SHGIS) and the Singapore Biographical Database (SBDB) make up this expandable online platform compiling data on cultural and religious networks across Southeast Asia.

The researchers began building the database by developing a website with contemporary maps as the base and adding historical maps from 1822 to 2019. Other maps such as Street Directory Maps from the 1950s were also added. From 2016 to 2018, the researchers collected information of over 800 Chinese temples, 250 Chinese associations, 600 Christian churches, 100 mosques and other buildings across Singapore, including their former and current locations.

Moreover, A/P Tay led the team to develop a mobile phone application that enabled NUS students to carry out research visits to over 250 temples and associations from 2018 to 2020. The students used the app to directly upload photographs and other information about the places they visited to the database.

Since 2017, the researchers have created additional map layers to track the historical expansion of the boundaries of Housing Development Board (HDB) residential apartments. Data on the multiple relocations of several hundred temples over the past 50 years, as well as the annual performance of religious rituals in Singapore, was also recorded.

Within each map of the SHGIS database, each Chinese temple or clan association identified has three features. Upon clicking on the temple/clan association, one can access its detailed attributes and hyperlinks directing to a comprehensive report.

In addition to the numerous maps collated, the project also tracks the social networks of famous people throughout Singapore’s history, revealing their interpersonal ties and connections to various sites. An initial product was developed for users to query individuals and their interpersonal relations with other famous Singaporeans. The Singapore Biographical Database enables users to visualise links between 200 key Singaporeans and 600 related individuals. Moreover, it contains a digital record of various inscriptions found on tombs, monuments and temples in Singapore.

Read the article here: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/11/7/334