CHINESE TEMPLES IN SINGAPORE : ADAPTATION AND CHANGE

Abstract

This thesis is an attempt to study the process of institution building in a Chinese Temple in Singapore. It seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the dialectic of continuity and change in the structure of authority in the Temple. I shall use Weber's concepts of routinisation and his pure types of authority as a theoretical framework. I shall relate this to various specific changes in the administration of the Temple and locate them in the wider historical context. Thus, I hope to show that the dynamics of change is far more complicated and complex as a social force than what is normally perceived. I shall conclude by drawing some general remarks with regards to temples in Singapore.