ENLIGHTENMENT ON DISPLAY: THE RISE AND FALL OF SINGAPORE BUDDHIST MUSEUMS

Abstract

From 2005 to 2008, the first five Buddhist museums in Singapore opened. Two have since closed. At the same time, another Buddhist organization wanted to but did not succeed in establishing a relics museum. The immense interest in and the rapid successive opening of these museums is baffling. Even though the museums were set up by unrelated independent entities, they share a common desire to display Buddhist artifacts in a museological environment to the general public. What could have led to their formation in quick succession? What does the establishment of these museums tell us about the wider Buddhist scene in Singapore? Why were some Buddhist museums successfully established and continued to be operated while others failed? In this thesis, possible explanations are discussed and evaluated, backed by extensive fieldwork and archival research. The researcher suggests framing the topic within the theories of religious rivalry, Buddhist reformism, memorialization, the educational function of museums, resource mobilization and frame alignment to account for the rise and fall of Singapore Buddhist museums.