Durham E-Theses A Christian social ethic for Singapore with reference to the works of Ronald H. Preston Koh, Kah Soon Daniel How to cite: Koh, Kah Soon Daniel (2000) A Christian social ethic for Singapore with reference to the works of Ronald H. Preston, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4247/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 A Christian Social Ethic for Singapore With Reference to the Works of Ronald H. Preston by Koh Kah Soon Daniel Abstract This thesis proposes a contextual Christian social ethic for a plural Singapore where Christianity, as a late arrival in East and Southeast Asia, is still regarded by most Asians as a foreign religion, mainly because of its association with past colonial exploits and present Euro-North American value-systems. Our thesis begins with an historical overview of Singapore from its founding as a British colony to its present position as an independent prosperous republic. Drawing on two failed attempts at Christian social engagement in post- colonial Singapore as examples, we argue against uncritical adoption of any social ethical model which is not culture-sensitive to the peculiar contextual concerns of that city-state. We show that an appropriate and credible Christian social ethic for Singapore can be found, not so much in Liberation Theologies or Ecclesiological Ethics, though they have rightly attracted a lot of attention in recent years, but rather in the social theology of Ronald H. Preston and the tradition he represents. Preston's social theology, informed very much by a doctrine of creation, recognises God's grace at work in the life of all people and social structures. It encourages and facilitates constructive Christian social engagement in the political arena and the economic sphere where Christians, as members of overlapping communities, live and work with people of other faiths and those with no religious affiliation. When critically adapted and appropriately supplemented by other theological and philosophical materials in areas where we find deficiencies, Preston's social theology provides the congenial theological resources which can be used to frame a contextual Christian social ethic to meet the multi-faceted challenges of a plural, post-colonial Singapore. A Christian Social Ethic for Singapore with Reference to the Works of Ronald H. Preston by Koh Kah Soon Daniel A Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Durham the Department of Theology May, 2000 Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Declaration I confirm that no part of the material offered has previously been submitted by me for a degree in this or in any other university. Signed XI- HAY, 3-<3oO Content Acknowledgement viii Introduction 1 Part One 8 Chapter One The Context: An Historical Overview of Singapore 9 1. The First Period: 1819-1945 9 1.1 The Founding of Modern Singapore 9 1.2 European Hegemony and the Redrawing of Southeast Asian Boundaries 10 1.3 Economic Growth and the Influx of Immigrants 11 1.4 The Making of a Plural Society 12 1.5 The Church in Early Singapore 13 1.6 Japanese Occupation 15 2. The Second Period: 1945-1965 16 2.1 Malayan Union, the Dismantling of the Straits Settlements and Racial Tension 16 2.2 Communist Insurgence, Labour Unrest and Student Riots 17 2.3 New Challenges Threw Up New Leaders 18 2.4 PAP, Cadres, the Pope and His Cardinals 20 2.5 Internal Self-Government and a Warning to the Privileged English-Educated 23 2.6 Open Conflict and the Parting of Ways 27 2.7 Preparing for Malaysia 28 i 2.8 Malaysian Experience and the Peril of Communal Politics 32 3 The Third Period: Post-Colonial Singapore from 1965 33 3.1 The Challenge of Governing Post-Colonial Singapore 33 3.1.1 Starting from Scratch 34 3.1.2 The Making of a Dominant One Party State 35 3.1.3 Ideological Hegemony/Consensus Between the Government and the Governed 36 3.1.4 New Electorates and Changing Aspiration 38 3.1.5 Modifying the Political Institutions 39 3.1.6 Criticisms Against the Political Innovations 40 3.2 Social Well-Being and the Priority of Economic Development in Singapore 45 3.2.1 Export-Oriented Industrialisation 45 3.2.2 Virtues, Social Economic Measures and Tripartite Cooperation 49 3.2.3 Critics of Singapore's Economic Strategy 52 3.2.4 Measuring Social Economic Well-Being and Building a Stakeholding Society 53 3.3 The Political Ideology of the Ruling Party 55 3.3.1 "Socialism that Works" 56 3.3.2 Lee and Hayek's Critique of Socialism 57 3.3.3 Religious Knowledge, Confucian Ethics and Asian Values 58 3.3.4 Communitarian Virtues: National Pledge and Shared Values 61 3.4 Church and Politics in Post-Colonial Singapore 62 3.4.1 Jurong Industrial Mission 64 ii 3.4.2 The Roman Catholic and the So-called Marxist Conspiracy 66 3.4.3 Silencing the Priests and Expelling the CCA 69 3.4.4 The PAP, Religious Groups and the Religious Harmony Bill 70 Chapter Two An Appropriate Christian Social Ethic for Singapore 75 1. Need for Contextual Christian Social Ethic 75 2. Two Schools of Theology 76 2.1 Liberation Theologies 77 2.2 Ecclesiological Ethics 78 3. The Promise of Preston's Social Theology 81 4. Supplementary Theological Resources 82 5. The Task Ahead 83 Part Two 84 Chapter Three The Social Ethics of Ronald H. Preston 85 1. Basic Theological Framework (I) 87 1.1 The Person-in-Community 90 1.1.1 Biblical Teachings on Human Inter-relatedness 91 1.1.2 Conditioning and Determining Factors 93 1.1.3 Against Possessive Individualism 95 1.1.4 The Person and the Individual 96 1.1.5 Communitarian Emphasis 98 1.2 Original Sin and Original Righteousness 100 1.2.1 Original Sin 101 1.2.2 Niebuhr's Understanding of Original Sin 102 iii 1.2.3 Occasion for Sin 103 1.2.4 Feminist Critique of Niebuhrian View of Sin 104 1.2.5 Original Sin as a Myth 107 1.2.6 William Temple and Original Sin 108 1.2.7 Three Categories of Sins: Sensational, Subtle and Systemic 109 1.2.8 Original Righteousness and Hope 112 1.3 Equality, Love and Justice: A Triad of Virtues 119 1.3.1 Equality 120 1.3.2 Love 124 1.3.3 Justice 129 a. Justice as Fairness 131 b. Preston's Critique of Rawlsian Theory of Justice as Fairness 135 1.3.4 Love and Justice 137 Chapter Four The Social Ethics of Ronald H. Preston 140 2. Theological Framework (II) 140 2.1 Natural Law 140 2.1.1 Preston and Natural Law 141 2.1.2 Preston's Criticism of the Traditional View of Natural Law 143 2.1.3 Aquinas and Preston's Critique of Natural Law 145 2.1.4 New Directions in the Roman Catholic Understanding of the Natural Law 147 2.1.5 Basic Morality as Natural Law 151 2.1.6 Tao as Natural Law 154 2.1.7 Natural Law: "For Want of a Better Name" 160 iv 2.2 The Common Good 163 2.2.1 Three Critics: Dumas, Maclntyre and Atherton 165 a. Andre Dumas 165 b. Alasdair Maclntyre 167 c. John Atherton 170 2.2.2 Five Other Points on the Common Good 171 2.2.3 A Commitment to the Common Good and Self-interest 172 2.3 Orders of Creation 174 2.3.1 Structures of Human Relatedness 174 2.3.2 Four Orders of Creation 175 2.3.3 Power Structures 177 2.3.4 Imperfect Social Orders 178 2.3.5 A Case for an Additional Order 180 Chapter Five Pluralism and the Social Ethics of Ronald H. Preston 184 1. Pluralism and Plurality 185 1.1 Race's Typology 186 1.2 Markham's Differentiation 187 1.3 Mouw and Griffioen's Classification 189 1.3.1 Pluralisms and Horizons 190 1.3.2 Six Sub-Classifications of Pluralism 192 2. Pluralism in the Social Theology of Preston 196 2.1 National and Global Plurality 200 2.2 Problem of Directional Pluralism 202 2.3 A Three-fold Response to Pluralism 203 v 2.4 Dialogue, Consultation and Consensus 207 2.5 Truth, the Virtue of Tolerance and the Need for Allies 208 Chapter Six Politics in the Social Ethics of Ronald H. Preston 216 1. The State 217 1.1 The State: A Weak and Erroneous View 218 1.2 The State: An Imperfect Instrument in Need of Critical Support 221 1.3 Three Theological Criteria 223 2.