Areas with lots of religious buildings

[ManWearPants]

Why are there pockets of areas in Singapore where a lot of churches, temples, mosque congregate? There are places such as Queen street, Bukit Timah near Salvation Army, Bukit Batok St 11, etc. Is there more than meets the eye?

 

[diver-hloc]

Religious Harmony is a very good and beautiful thing... trying to 'Stir' is not... :think:

 

[catchlights]

Have you check out the Old Tampines Road?

 

[ManWearPants]

Religious Harmony is a very good and beautiful thing... trying to 'Stir' is not... :think:

"You have become moderator. Got pay or not? If not, why bother?" - This is stirring.

The question I have asked above is not.

 

[UncleFai]

Geylang area.

 

[ManWearPants]

Have you check out the Old Tampines Road?

Yes. I am asking is there a particular reason why these places of worship harmoniously congregate around an area. Cannot be due to coincidences right?

 

[ManWearPants]

Geylang area.

Ok. This one probably due to the area being a place where there are a lot of hui guan.

 

[ManWearPants]

The reasons I am asking is:

(1) Could these places be where a lot of civilians are killed during WW2, or

(2) There has been previous frequent sightings of spirits in the area.

other possible reasons.

 

[Octarine]

Cemeteries were always located outside the town. Places of war or massacres were ususally marked with shrines, but not with churches.
I suggest you get away from such strange ideas and use common sense. Go back in history and watch the development in the past.

Usually settlements developed around certain places: springs, rivers, ports, road or trading route crossing, army camps / border posts etc. When such civilian settlements were established they usually followed the same pattern: an open space (market, congregation place) is surrounded by the official buildings (administration, army, mayor, palace, court) - and the respective religious buildings. In fact, many European cities were developed with the church in the centre of it. (Google maps helps here.) If a city had citizens of more than one religion then each of them built their own somewhere around the centre.
Today, these old structure are no longer visible. Towns have merged, the entire infrastructure has changed, population and their structure as well. That's why it might look unusual to you today. But in the past it made a lot of sense. Funky ghost stories have never driven any development.

 

[kandinsky]

Yes. I am asking is there a particular reason why these places of worship harmoniously congregate around an area. Cannot be due to coincidences right?

Wouldn't it be stranger to find a place with 20 PWs of the same faith together? It makes more sense that PWs of the same faith spread out cross the island so that they serve people in different areas, so some PWs of different faiths are bound to end up 'congregating', especially if it's a place where a lot of their adherents gathered/lived. Actually don't see why it can't be due to chance especially since we are a land-scare nation, you can only go that far. But there are enough practical/logical reasons that they end up congregating in an area... Maybe the land simply was available at that time, or maybe the land next to an existing PW may not be so attractive as housing as it might deter buyers of other faiths, etc. It could also be due to government planning? Although I'm not so sure how early land use zoning started, so wonder if this applies to those PW that date far back.

Here's one explanation for the older ones in Telok Ayer at least:

Temples and mosques are plentiful in this area as they were built by Chinese and Muslim immigrants to show their gratitude for safe passage. The numerous religious and clan buildings on Telok Ayer Street testify to their importance in the past.

These buildings include:
Thian Hock Keng Temple (1820s), the oldest Hokkien temple in Singapore, dedicated to Matsu, Goddess of the Sea, Queen of Heaven and Patron of Sailors,
Fuk Tak Chi Temple (1824), built jointly by the Hakkas and Cantonese, colloquially known as the mah cau toh peh kong, now restored as a museum,
Hock Teck Chi Temple (1824–1869),
Ying Fo Fui Kun Hakka Association Hall (1882),
Ying Fo Fui Kun Temple (1823), the earliest building on the street built by the Hakkas,
Nagore Durgha Shrine (1828–1830),
Al-Abrar Mosque (circa 1827), and
Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church (1924).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telok_Ayer

 

[ManWearPants]

Here's one explanation for the older ones in Telok Ayer at least:

nice.

Here is one on Queen street. It started with it being an Eurasian enclaves which was why churches were built.


History
Beginning at Arab street, Queen Street forms major junctions with Ophir Road, Rochor Road, Middle Road and Bras Basah Road before ending at the junction of Stamford Road and Armenian Street. Queen Street along with Waterloo Street became Eurasian enclaves so much so that Queen Street was also called Eurasian Street. The first Catholic church was built here in 1846 and many schools of high regard came to be established here. The area around Stamford Canal, Dhoby Ghaut and Selegie Road also became known for the laundry services provided by the dhobies (laundrymen).

Description
A Catholic church, built on this street next to St. Joseph's institution in 1846, was consecrated as the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd in 1897. It was founded by Jean Marie Beurel, a French priest and is a national monument since 1973. French missionary, Pierre Paris, added another Catholic church to this street in 1870, the Church of Saint Peter and Paul. It has been gazetted a national monument since 2003. Francisco de Silva Pinto i Maria, a Portuguese missionary, built the church of St. Joseph in 1853 but it was demolished in 1906. A new building for the church in Gothic architecture was erected at the same site in 1912. Other churches on this street are the Kim Yan Cantonese Methodist Church and the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Central Sikh temple, the oldest Sikh temple in Singapore, which was built on this street in the 1930s was pulled down in the 1980s to make way for new development. It was moved to Towner Road and flats and shops were built on the original land at the Queen Street site.

source: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_287_2004-12-14.html

 

[Bukitimah]

We do have such thing call Master Plan and change of use, where the authorities control the use of spaces. Very good theory but somehow people mess them up.

With limited land resources, we should put our land to better use. More public spaces that everyone can enjoy please. Garden by the Bay is one of the great recent planning.

 

[9V-Orion Images]

How 'bout side by side?

 

[kandinsky]

Under one roof even! Interesting stuff.

Walking down the inside lanes of Hougang Avenue 5 one Sunday morning, I witnessed an unfamiliar sight.

Inside the Chinese temple complex across the road was a beautiful idol of Lord Ganesha being bathed in milk. I have seen Chinese devotees in Hindu temples, but had never imagined spotting a Hindu deity in a Chinese temple.

-------

This set me on an interesting task to find out if this confluence of religious beliefs occurred in other temples in Singapore.

And to my delight I found two more such temples which included my favourite god as one of their deities - Tua Pek Kong temple in Loyang and Jiu Tiao Qiao Xinba Nadugong Temple in Tampines.

The Tua Pek Kong temple is a unique structure housing different faiths - Buddhism, Taoism, Islam and Hinduism - all under one roof. Inside the huge complex is a colourful temple of Ganesha in typical south Indian architecture.

The 2m-tall statue of the Hindu god is said to be the tallest in any temple in India or Singapore. Behind the statue are the shrines of Lord Subramanya, Goddess Durga and the Goddess of Wealth Mahalaxmi.

This statue, an Indonesian version of the elephant god, has a small head-like structure at the crown holding a hongbao in its right hand.

The temple priest Shankarasivam told me that many Chinese devotees perform traditional Indian rituals there for luck and prosperity.

He even showed me the Seng Puay, two crescent-shaped pieces which are used by devotees to find out if their wishes will be granted.

The resplendent Ganesha at the 80-year-old Jiu Tiao Qiao Xinba Nadugong Temple along old Tampines Road is a sight to behold.

Here the Hindu deity is honoured along with an earth god by the name of Datuk Kong as well as the Chinese deity Tua Pek Kong. The temple moved from Ang Mo Kio in 2004 and the Hindu god was included to symbolise racial harmony.

From: Ganesha lives in Chinese temples by Sandhya Iyer
http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20101126-249329.html

 

[Octarine]

Under one roof even! Interesting stuff.

At its former location at the end of Loyang Industrial Park, Tua Pek Kong temple also has a Muslim prayer room / corner. Not sure whether this got transferred to the new place as well.

 

[kei1309]

We do have such thing call Master Plan and change of use, where the authorities control the use of spaces. Very good theory but somehow people mess them up.

With limited land resources, we should put our land to better use. More public spaces that everyone can enjoy please. Garden by the Bay is one of the great recent planning.

what has that got to do with Religious Buildings and Places of Worship?

are you saying that we should tear them down?

 

[Bukitimah]

what has that got to do with Religious Buildings and Places of Worship? are you saying that we should tear them down?

I thought what I shared was simple and straight forward enough. With good planning, we designate areas for various activities. You don't get too many of such buildings and no covers ion of buildings / spaces to place of worship. If I got money, can I buy Ion and turn it into a place of worship? Obviously not because it is approved as a commercial retail. It is not about tearing down but control and limit them. Put land into better use.

 

[Octarine]

I thought what I shared was simple and straight forward enough. With good planning, we designate areas for various activities. You don't get too many of such buildings and no covers ion of buildings / spaces to place of worship. If I got money, can I buy Ion and turn it into a place of worship? Obviously not because it is approved as a commercial retail. It is not about tearing down but control and limit them. Put land into better use.

Did you notice that this mantra does not apply to religious buildings? Plenty of temples in prime locations still exist and are far from being torn down.

 

[daredevil123]

We do have such thing call Master Plan and change of use, where the authorities control the use of spaces. Very good theory but somehow people mess them up.

With limited land resources, we should put our land to better use. More public spaces that everyone can enjoy please. Garden by the Bay is one of the great recent planning.

Many of these temples/churches have been there long before there is any master plan. Tear down everything old and rebuild? what will happen to our heritage?

And please, spending billions of taxpayers money on fake trees after pulling down real trees... is that such a great idea?

 

[Bukitimah]

Of course some were there for a long time but many were added or converted. Do we need that many and do we encourage conversion?