Jack Meng-Tat Chia

• PhD (History)
• Professor (Assistant) at National University of Singapore

Venerable Hong Choon (1907–90) made eight visits to China between 1982 and 1990. During these visits, the Venerable met national and religious leaders, made pilgrimages to sacred Buddhist sites, helped to restore the monasteries associated with his master Venerable Hui Quan, and officiated at religious ceremonies. This study aims to examine the dip...

This article examines issues surrounding the revival of the cult of Guangze Zunwang and its religious networks between Southeast China and the Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore from 1978 to 2009. It reveals that the quest of overseas Chinese for the religious roots of Guangze Zunwang’s cult has contributed to the rebuilding of the Shishan Fengshan...

Hsing Yun (Xingyun, 1927–), the founder of Fo Guang Shan, is one of the most influential Buddhist monks in Taiwan and around the world. This study examines the biographies of Hsing Yun as depicted in Fo Guang Shan's popular media—a comic, an online photo album, a documentary, and a music video—to elucidate the uses and significance of Buddhist hagi...

Chinese Buddhists have never remained stationary. They have always been on the move. Why did Buddhist monks migrate from China to Southeast Asia? How did they participate in transregional Buddhist networks across the South China Sea? In Monks in Motion , Jack Meng-Tat Chia tells a story of monastic connectivity across the South China Sea during the...

This article uses the case of True Direction to explore the development and performance of Buddhist music in contemporary Indonesia. I argue that although True Direction’s music in many ways resembles contemporary Christian music, the organization does not produce contemporary Buddhist songs—or “Buddhist rock” as I call this form of religious music...

The restoration of Nanputuo Monastery (Nanputuo si 南普陀寺) in Xiamen and the revival of its South China Sea Buddhist networks in recent decades are significant factors in the religious resurgence in southeast China since the reform and open-door period. This article looks at an earlier role of such networks in this region, using Nanputuo Monastery as...

The arrival and settlement of Chinese migrants contributed to the spread of Chinese religious beliefs and practices from China to Southeast Asia. However, the arrival of Chinese beliefs and practices was more complex than being just a single-direction dissemination process. Chinese migrants not only transferred popular deities and native-place gods...

Singapore is a mythic nation, where our ‘reality’ and ‘common sense’ are conditioned by a group of influential myths. Our main myths are examined in this collection of essays and thoughts on the social ramifications of myth-making: The Singapore Story (that our nation has a singular story), From Third World to First (our story of success), Vulnerab...

This essay aims to use my family history as a prism to examine the religious beliefs and practices of the Chinese diaspora in twentieth century Singapore. It contends that religion played a vital role in shaping the communal identity and contributing to the spiritual well-being of the Chinese migrants. By exploring the migrant experience, and analy...

This article examines the Tua Pek Kong Temple and religious activities in Pulau Kusu as they intersect with the larger forces of social change, state management, and development of the Southern Islands since the independence of Singapore, from 1965 to the present. It argues that the state’s interest in the economic potential of the Tua Pek Kong Tem...

This article is a preliminary observation of the recently established Buddhist College of Singapore (BCS). It seeks to propose, building on Kuah Khun Eng's notion of "Reformist Buddhism", that the college can be seen as a product of the Reformist Buddhist movement in Singapore. By positioning the BCS within this larger context of Reformist Buddhist...

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