Religion in Southeast Asia: An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures

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JAINISM

Jainism is a religion of Indian origin that advocates the path of nonviolence toward all living beings. The origin of Jainism can be traced back to the ascetic Mahavir, who was a contemporary of Buddha as both lived in India around 2,600 years ago. Mahavir preached abstention from hurting living beings not just by physical acts, but also through mind and speech. Jainism, therefore, advocates spiritual independence and the equality of all forms of life. The religion is divided into two major sects: Digambara and Śvētāmbara. Monks of the Digambara order do not generally wear clothes, whereas the Śvētāmbara monastics have no such restrictions and they wear white seamless clothes. There are also differences between the two in their understanding of women monastics, with the Śvētāmbara order being more open to women’s equal participation.

The practitioners of Jainism—known as Jains—believe that nonviolence and self-control are the ways for salvation and liberation from the cycle of reincarnations. In fact, the Jains are accepted as some of the most peace-loving people in the world. They are so passionately wedded to the principle of nonviolence that besides being strict vegetarians, several senior monks cover their mouths with a towel, especially when they travel, so as to prevent any tiny life-forms (like insects and germs) from entering their mouths. Fasting is also an essential part of the routine of Jains, and they abstain from food, often for several days and even months, as an act of penitence, cleansing, and devotion.

While most Jains reside in India, the religion traveled to different places, primarily with the Indian merchants and traders who went all over the world. Today, there are Jain communities in Belgium, the United States, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, and several other places. There are Jain communities also in several places in Southeast Asia. There is a small but historically significant Jain presence in Malaysia. Some members of this ancient community arrived in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Malacca, which today has a moderately active Jain community. The only Jain temple in Southeast Asia is also located in Malaysia, at Ipoh. Apart from serving the small Jain congregation in Ipoh, the temple functions also as a cultural center that benefits the wider community. It is a small but beautiful symbol of Malaysia’s diverse and vibrant pluralist heritage.

For over 100 years, there has been an active Jain community in Singapore. While there are few historical documents available on the arrival of the first Jains in Singapore, it is believed that they reached there in the early years of the twentieth century. In the initial years, the programs of the community were conducted sporadically, but after the Second World War, the Jains of Singapore were organized. In 1972, the Singapore Jain Religious Society was formed and registered as a religious society. Having felt the need to have a physical structure that can serve as the meeting point for the community, in 1978, land measuring about 1,000 square meters was purchased and a two-story building built there. A hall in the building is used for religious functions. There is also an office, library, kitchen, store, parking lots, and open spaces.

The Singapore Jain Religious Society plays a key role in upholding the values and traditions of the faith in that nation. According to the rules of the society, any Jain, whether belonging to the Śvētāmbara or Digambar sect, and speaking any language, can become a member and carry out Jain religious activities. They need only adhere to the fundamental principles of the religion. While the Singapore Jains hail originally from the Gujarat region of India, there are also small communities of Marwadi, Punjabi, and Tamil Jains. The Tamil Jains of Singapore are organized under the banner of the Singapore Tamil Jains Forum.

Indonesia too has a historically significant Jain presence, as the accounts of ancient trade and commerce indicate. The Jain merchants from India are believed to have traveled to Java-dvipa, Maha dvipa, and many other such islands and places in the country. Archeologists have successfully unearthed Jain idols and temples in some of the other Southeast Asian countries too, such as Cambodia and Myanmar. Further study is required to prove their historical origins.

While Jainism is an ancient religion that made an especially deep impact in the areas of art, architecture, and literature, today it is a small group confined to a few centers. The Jains in the diaspora, particularly in Southeast Asia, add to the rich pluralistic tradition of the region. Wherever they go, the Jains represent the values of peace, nonviolence, unity, and integrity.

Jesudas M. Athyal

See also: Cambodia; Indonesia; Malaysia; Myanmar (Burma); Singapore; Women.

JESUITS

History

The presence of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits, founded in 1540) in Southeast Asia has a very long history, dating back to the earliest missionary movement of the order. Francis Xavier, one of the founding members of the Jesuits and the most renowned Jesuit missionary, stayed in Malacca (now Malaysia) for some period in his Asian missionary journey. Arriving there in 1545, he even studied Malay language, while his companions founded a school shortly after. This mission was short-lived due to the arrival of the Dutch, who took over Malacca in 1641. During his stay in Asia, Xavier also passed through the Moluccas (now part of Indonesia) and baptized some natives upon his arrival in 1546. In the same journey, he also briefly visited the islands of Moro in the Philippines.

Then, in the Philippines, the first Jesuits from Mexico arrived in 1581, while the French Jesuit missionary, Alexandre de Rhodes, settled in Indochina (Vietnam) in 1619. In Southeast Asian countries, however, the significant growth of the Jesuit mission came as a fruit of missionary work during modern European colonialism. The Philippines became a Jesuit province in 1605 but was suppressed in 1768, so the current Province of Philippine Jesuits was actually founded in 1958. In the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), the Jesuit missionaries started to work among the natives only in the late nineteenth century. The great Jesuit missionary in Java, Father Franciscus van Lith (d. 1926) founded a vibrant Catholic community in Java, and the growth of the Indonesian Jesuits has been very closely related to this missionary work under Dutch colonialism.

Work and Ministries

At present, there are around 1,400 Jesuits in Southeast Asia, a very tiny presence compared to the whole population. The contemporary Jesuit works in this region are colored by the complexity of the Southeast Asian reality. In response to the diversity and plurality of religions in this area, the Jesuits emphasize the ministry of interreligious and intercultural dialogue as one of the most distinctive pillars of their presence in this area. The Jesuits have also been working in the area of development and social works, responding to the growing problem of poverty and social crises such as wars and conflicts that result in internally displaced people and refugees. In this respect, it should be noted that the Jesuit Refugee Service, the Jesuit NGO specializing in the long-term service, advocacy, and accompaniment of the refugees, was founded in 1980 in response to the crisis of the Vietnamese boat people. In general, throughout their history, the Jesuits in this area have been aware of their call to be involved with the poor and marginalized, such as: the lepers in the island of Culion, the Philippines; landmine victims in Cambodia; or rural parishes in south central Java, West Papua, Thailand, and East Timor. Recently, some Jesuits have died for the cause of the poor in this region; for example, Richie Fernando in Cambodia (d. 1996) and Albrecht Karim Arbie and Tarcicius Dewanto in East Timor (1999).

The postcolonial condition has also led the Jesuits in this area to address the question of indigenous people as they are being left behind by the rapid growth of some modern nation-states in this area. Furthermore, the era of globalization has also been affecting Southeast Asian societies and creating some problems such as migration. Asia is the biggest source of migrant workers in the world. It has very large intraregional flows of migrant workers as well. The Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam have been top suppliers of migrant workers to China, Korea, Singapore, and Japan as well as Europe, the Middle East, and North America. The Jesuits have been trying to respond to the plight of these workers through networking for changing the policies and practices that affect these vulnerable people. In the same spirit, the Jesuits in Southeast Asia have started in recent years to pay more attention to environmental issues, among others, by creating a program called “Flights for Forest,” asking all Jesuits and partners in this area to contribute US$5 for every flight taken. These contributions go into a fund to be used for forest renewal activities in Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

In the field of education, the Jesuits in the Philippines and Indonesia run some very prestigious high schools and colleges. In this area, the need for an integral and humanistic education characteristic of the Jesuits is high due to the youthful population in the region. In Indonesia, it is through education that the Jesuits have found acceptance among large non-Christian segments of the society. Internally for the local church, Jesuits in Southeast Asia are also involved traditionally in the education of local clergy, such as San Jose Seminary (since the early seventeenth century) and Loyola School of Theology on the campus of the Ateneo de Manila University, as well as the Sanata Dharma University School of Theology and St. Paul Major Seminary in Yogyakarta. Jesuits in Vietnam, before being expelled in 1975, were running the Pontifical College in Dalat to educate local priests. Everywhere in this region, even when their number is small such as in Malaysia and Singapore, Jesuits are actively engaged in the formation of the spiritual life of religious, clergy, and laypeople as well.

In the area of culture and public life, some notable Jesuits, such as Horacio de la Costa (d. 1977) in the Philippines and Franz Magnis-Suseno (b. 1936) in Indonesia, are recognized in their own countries and in the region as influential public intellectuals. In the area of culture, the Jesuits are running different enterprises such as printing press and communication media; for instance, Kanisius Publishing House and SAV Puskat in Indonesia, Jesuit Communications Foundation in the Philippines, and Casa de Produção Audiovisual (CPA) in East Timor.

In some sense, the contemporary Jesuit work in Southeast Asia continues the earlier spirit of the great Jesuit missionaries to this area, such as Xavier, Rhodes, van Lith, and others. These were towering missionary figures whose legacy, such as the principle of adaptation to the local contexts (enculturation), not forcing Western forms and concepts of Christianity, has been a source of inspiration for the ways in which the contemporary Jesuits engage the reality of Southeast Asia.

The Future

In recent years, the number of Jesuits has grown rather significantly in Vietnam and East Timor, while tending to be steadier in Indonesia and the Philippines. In present-day Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, has the largest concentration of Jesuits in the whole region, numbering over 350 members. In Vietnam, the order is flourishing despite some restrictions by the Communist government. This is a surprising development given the struggle of the Catholic Church and the Jesuit Order in that country in the past few decades under Communism. They lost the support of foreign missionaries, mostly French Canadians who fled to different countries in the area as a result. However, the persecution and corresponding struggle, in fact, opened up a different course of the order’s development in this country. In East Timor, the increasing number of native Jesuits has also been a feature after the independence of the country from Indonesia in early 2000s. In Myanmar, the vocation to the Jesuits seems to be doing well, although still in a very initial stage. While in other parts, such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, the number of the Jesuits will continue to be small but steady. It is very likely that the overall number of Jesuits in Southeast Asia will be stable in the near future.

In contrast to their European missionary beginning, the future of the Jesuits in this region will be marked by more intensive collaboration between different countries in this area as well as East Asia, such as Korea, China, and Japan. Jesuits from the Philippines and Indonesia, for example, have been working in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, and East Timor; while young Jesuits from Myanmar, Thailand, and East Timor undergo their studies and obtain some work experience in other countries in the region as well. Regional cooperation is a new feature that will continue to be decisive in the future development of the Jesuit order in Southeast Asia.

Albertus Bagus Laksana, S.J.

See also: Christianity; Colonialism; Communism; Contextualization; Education; Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences; Globalization; Indonesia; Interreligious Relations and Dialogue; Malaysia; Missionary Movements; Myanmar (Burma); Philippines; Postcolonial Theory; Religion and Society; Thailand; Timor Leste (East Timor); Vietnam.

JUDAISM

While there are accounts of Jewish presence in Southeast Asia that go back over 1,000 years, the history of Judaism in the region in the modern times is traced back to the arrival of the early European explorers and settlers. Most countries in the region had small but significant numbers of Jews till the 1940s, but in the twenty-first century, there is only a minuscule presence of Jews in Southeast Asia. However, the rich Jewish heritage in the region, in the form of synagogues and cemeteries and other markers, enrich the cultural and architectural landscape of the region.

Malaysia has a long Jewish heritage that goes back to the ninth century CE though historical records of this are scarce. Much later, in the nineteenth century, there was an influx of Jewish trading families from Baghdad to Malaya. That community was concentrated mainly in the state of Penang and also in Negri Sembilan and Malacca, and they contributed richly to the development of trade and commerce in the region. In the late 1970s, however, there was a large-scale exodus of Jews from the country, resulting largely from the anti-Semitic sentiments sweeping the country then. The Malaysian Jewish community left behind a lasting legacy, in the form of heritage and traditions. These include the Penang Jewish Cemetery, established in 1805 and believed to be the oldest single Jewish cemetery in the country.

The Jewish presence in the Philippines can be traced back to the sixteenth century, when Spain was in control of the country. During the Spanish Inquisition, many Jews fled Spain, with some of them reaching the Philippines. Among them, there were also the Sephardi Jews, some of whom settled down in Northern Samar of the country. While a small Jewish community survived in the Philippines in the following centuries, the Christianized laws of the Spanish colonial rulers did not permit them to be formally organized. Following the Spanish-American War of 1898, however, Jews in the Philippines were officially recognized and given the freedom to openly practice their religion. During the Holocaust in Europe in the 1930s, Manila emerged as a safe haven for Jews, and a large number of them migration to the country. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, there were a few hundred Jews in the country, which also included some recent converts.

In Indonesia, Judaism is not one of the official six religions, but there is a heritage of over 400 years of Jewish presence in that country. The first Jews are believed to have reached Indonesia in the seventeenth century, along with the Dutch East India Company. Even after the Company was liquidated in 1800, a small number of Jews remained in the archipelago. In his report on the Indonesian Jews, Jacob Halevy Saphir (1822–1886) had noted that this was a tiny community with an uncertain future. The early decades of the twentieth century, however, saw a growth in the Indonesian Jewish community with their number reaching several thousand, a change mainly due to the influx of Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe. With the end of the Second World War and the founding of the nation of Israel, however, most Jews left the country, leaving behind only a tiny community.

Some of the other countries in the region have younger histories of Jewish presence. The original Jews in Singapore were immigrants from Baghdad in the nineteenth century. The arrival of a large number of Ashkenazi Jews and others in recent years has strengthened the Jewish population of the city-state. In Vietnam, the arrival of the Jews followed the French colonization in the nineteenth century. As the French withdrew from the country in the 1950s, however, most of the Jews too left Vietnam. While there are practically no native Jews in Vietnam now, since the country established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1993, there has been a steady increase in the number of the Jews coming from outside. The Jewish heritage of Myanmar (Burma) too goes back to the nineteenth century, when a sizable number of Jews reached Burma from India. They prospered as trading communities, though following the Japanese invasion of the country in the early 1940s, most of them fled to India, leaving behind only a handful of Jews.

While many countries in Southeast Asia had fairly active Jewish communities—some with several centuries of history—by the beginning of the twenty-first century, the Jews of the region had dwindled drastically. Several reasons can be cited for this. The Jews were active traders and businesspersons but did not take adequate steps to preserve their own faith, culture, and practices in their new locations. Intermarriage with the local people further eroded the distinctiveness of this community. Also, in the Muslim-majority countries of the region, there were, at times, strong anti-Semitic sentiments, even with the support of the rulers, prompting Jews in large numbers to leave the countries. The founding of Israel in 1948 and the welcome the new nation extended to Jews worldwide provided a further incentive for the Jews in Southeast Asia to leave the region. In the following decades, most Southeast Asian Jews migrated to Israel or to one of the Western nations. Thus, while the original Jewish communities have virtually disappeared from the region, their legacy remains in many places and has recently been rekindled, in some countries, following the arrival of new teams of expatriate Jews, mainly for diplomatic and business purposes.

Jesudas M. Athyal

See also: Christianity; Colonialism; Diaspora; Freedom of Religion; Indonesia; Malaysia; Myanmar (Burma); Philippines; Singapore; Vietnam.

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JAINISM

Further Reading

JESUITS

History

Work and Ministries

The Future

Further Reading

JUDAISM

Further Reading