In this webinar, Dr. Tan Lee Ooi, a researcher at the Penang Institute, shared his insights on the transformation of Chinese Buddhism in Malaysia and its resulting implications on nation-building amongst the Chinese-Buddhist community in Malaysia.
REGIONAL SOCIAL AND CULTURAL STUDIES PROGRAMME WEBINAR
Friday, 8 December 2023 – This webinar examined how the Buddhist revitalization has allowed the Malaysian Chinese Buddhist community to respond to social and political issues through mass participation in spiritual and social engagement. Dr. Tan Lee Ooi is joined by Dr. Norshahril Saat, a Senior Fellow from ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, who served as moderator for the event. The webinar attracted 50 registrants.
Dr Tan began by tracing the history of Buddhist revitalization, demonstrating how it has strengthened Buddhism into a more organized religion through two main phases. In the first phase in the 1960s, local Buddhist groups were influenced by overseas clerics who promoted modern Buddhism. The second phase saw two main forces that shape the landscape of Buddhism in the 1980s. Firstly, the emergence of charismatic, local-born, second-generation clerics who leverage their popularity to promote Buddhism. Secondly, an influx of new ideas and practices from transnational Buddhist groups from Taiwan, notably Tzu Chi and Fo Guang Shan. In this phase, Dr Tan argued that there has been greater religious learning at the personal level through the popularization of meditation, the adoption of new forms of communications by Buddhist groups, as well as the advancement of humanitarian work and volunteerism.
Thereafter, Dr Tan examined how these Buddhist organizations contributed to the nation-building effort in Malaysia. One example was the COVID-19 pandemic, where the Buddhist organization Tze Chi mobilized volunteers to aid medical workers during a supply shortage. Kidney dialysis centers ran by Tze Chi also employed staff from all races and religions. He noted that their inclusive efforts have helped challenge racialization and societal biases in a multireligious and multiracial Malaysia. Nevertheless, Dr Tan cautioned against assumptions that transethnic solidarity will successfully arise from Buddhist revitalization. Instead, success will depend on future interactions between majority and minority religious groups.
Based on interviews, Dr. Tan identified three themes of major concern to Buddhists in Malaysia: Firstly, activists stress the continued importance of Dharma education for the younger generation. Secondly, Buddhist activists demonstrate a strong philanthropic focus, seeking to respond to the needs of society whilst achieving personal growth. Thirdly, Malaysian Buddhists have localized over several generations. Thus, Buddhist initiatives mostly address the needs of their own communities and nation, serving beneficiaries from various ethnicities.
As such, Dr Tan proposed three new types of Chinese orientations in Malaysia in response to Professor Wang Gungwu’s three types of Chinese orientations: (A) those who are attentive to China or Sino politics but remain loyal to Malaysia, (B) those concerned with national politics and local community and (C) those that hold anti-China sentiments. He noted that (B) consists of most Malaysian Chinese who leverage on Buddhist revitalization to contribute to humanitarian work and transethnic efforts with the vision of making their country a better place. He concluded his presentation by proposing “religion” as the fifth pillar of Chinese community – next to Chinese associations, education, media and businesses. These pillars serve to create a self-sufficient imagined community amongst Malaysian Chinese within a country that prioritizes the majority ethnic group in national discourse.
During the Q&A session, Dr Tan fielded questions relating to the impact of global Buddhist dynamics on Malaysia, the potential pushback against Buddhist revitalization, the usefulness of “Buddhisization” as a comparative framework against “Islamisation”, similarities between Buddhist revitalization in Malaysia and elsewhere, as well as youth’s attitudes towards Buddhism.