Religious Tolerance

Anyone who has traveled abroad with me knows that I can’t walk past a cathedral without stopping to look inside. This isn’t driven by any particular religious conviction, but they are usually architecturally fascinating and it’s always worthwhile to explore a place that people respect and hold sacred.

I wouldn’t want to discriminate, so as you’ve probably guessed I have extended this personal philosophy to cover all houses of worship. I had a banner day in Singapore: visited a Hindu temple, a Buddhist temple, and a mosque all in the span of a few hours and a couple kilometers!

Mosques are a little intimidating for me, as the unfamiliar often can be. My normal approach to this is to watch others and follow their cues (shoes on, shoes off, etc), but I hadn’t seen any women going in and out of mosques so I wasn’t really sure if I’d be welcomed in one or if I’d misstep once inside. I thought the place to figure this out was Kampong Glam. When Singapore was first colonized by the British, they created different ethnic communities, and Kampong Glam is the historic neighborhood originally intended for the Sultan and his household as well as for the Muslim community.

The streets are lined with shophouses that hold cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops, carpet shops, and the odd 7-11. On Arab Street, these shops overflow with brightly colored and patterned fabrics and tailors offering their services. Tempting! From a few blocks away, the minaret and the dome of Masjid Sultan (Malay for Sultan Mosque) peeked over the rooftops. I circled it outside a little tentatively, looking for the entrance and found it at what I had assumed was the back of the building.

There were the standard shoe racks found at many temples, a rack of heavy sky blue hooded robes and a couple of American women standing there putting the robes on. I followed right on their heels, being warned by an old man on the steps that the robes would be very hot, and then being welcomed at the door by guides who were there to explain the small exhibit on Islam and answer any questions we had. There wasn’t a huge amount to see, as we were limited to the entrance area, but I was happy to finally be able to satisfy my curiosity!

“You have learned our ways.”

True quote, said by an elder in…a hawker center. Maybe I haven’t exactly achieved spiritual enlightenment, but I’m figuring out how to get around!

While Grant has been working hard in the office, I’ve been working hard to see everything Singapore has to offer. Basically, each day I’m choosing a new neighborhood and hitting the streets. I’m working on learning the city, so I’ll be a better tour guide both for him and for all of our visitors!

I spent a day in Chinatown, and the first temple I saw was not a Buddhist temple, but the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore. I loved the sacred cows perched on the top of the walls.

This is on the corner of Pagoda Street, which leads into a pedestrian shopping area aimed directly at all of us tourists, but that was fun to wander anyway. The surprising highlight was The Tintin Shop, which seemed out of place amid the souvenir booths. Grant is a fan, so I was excited to bring him back here. The new Tintin movie is the top movie here in Singapore right now as well, but it’s doubtful we’ll see it while we’re here. We just got word that Grant’s visa has come through, and we’re headed up to KL on Sunday!

My favorite shop was the one that sold nothing but chopsticks, and Grant bought me my first (and only, so far) souvenir. They are Chinese zodiac chopsticks, and I was born in the year of the monkey. That means I’m very smart, or so the saleswoman told me. I think she was a very smart saleswoman.

After running the gauntlet of shopkeepers, you emerge at the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple (top picture). This is a striking building, five stories tall and built during the last decade. As it turns out, it is directly across from the Maxwell Road Food Centre, a hawker center we had eaten in on our second day here. We may have been feeling the effects of the jet lag more than we thought, since neither of us had noticed the gigantic temple.

It’s very ornate inside, and the main hall is lined with small statues of One Hundred Buddhas and tables holding offerings that have been made to the Three Jewels: Buddha (the Enlightened One), Dharma (the Teaching), and Sangha (the Spiritual Community). Upstairs, there was a beautiful museum telling the story of the life of Buddha and displaying Buddhist icons from all over Asia.

At the other end of the spectrum in temple visits for the day, was one of Singapore’s oldest temples: Thian Hock Keng Temple, also known as the Temple of Heavenly Happiness. It’s dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea, and Chinese sailors would visit it to pray for safe passage.

Today was my first meal on my own, and I knew the custom was to first “chope” or save yourself a seat by putting a package of tissues down. I’d brought some with me so I was ready to dive in, but I wasn’t sure what the etiquette was for joining other people at a table and the place was pretty packed.

My technique in food courts and hawker centers is to wander the rows of food stalls, looking for the ones with long lines and counting on those to have the best food. It’s tough to choose with so many options (poor me, right?), but this day I settled on a fried rice and noodle stand, and saw a table for six with only two people at it not far away. I asked if I could take a seat, and left my tissues there – it helps that everyone speaks English!

By the time I returned with my food, two gentlemen had sat down as well, and the older one watched me as I claimed my seat and put away my tissues, and then leaned in and announced “You have learned our ways”. Whoo-hoo! I felt pretty good about that.

They were very friendly, and interested in who I was and what I was doing there. They shared their perspective on Singapore’s history, what food I should eat next (very important!), and other sights to see. They pointed me into Singapore City Gallery, which I hadn’t planned on seeing, but ended up spending over an hour there. It’s an exhibit about the nation’s planning efforts, and covers the past, present and future with videos and dioramas. Since their land is so limited, this city-nation is in a state of constant evolution, but they are very aware of the need and desire to preserve historic elements as well. That conscious planning effort comes through in a slightly Disney-esque feeling as you stroll the city, which I don’t necessarily mean as a bad thing. This is certainly a comfortable environment for me to ease into life in Southeast Asia.

 

Fish Head Curry and other adventures in Little India

Roly-poly fish heads are never seen drinking cappuccino in Italian restaurants with Oriental women! Garth, we were thinking of you.

On Sunday, we decided to explore in Little India, which is only a 10 minute taxi ride away from our hotel.

Deepavali was celebrated recently, and there are still arches over the roads decorated with swirling patterns and peacocks and lights. It’s a technicolor paradise: women dressed in gorgeous saris, fabric shops galore, and temples covered in statuary and floral decorations. The air is perfumed with spices and incense, and it was a far cry from the shopping malls of Orchard Road.

We visited two temples: Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, dedicated to Kali, and Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple, dedicated to Vishnu. I wish I knew more about Hinduism to better understand what I’m seeing, and I guess this will be my year to learn! The second temple actually had a nice exposition tucked away on the side about Vaishnavism that was very interesting.

Shoes off before you enter, and it’s customary to bring some type of offering for prayers and to receive blessings, such as fruit or flowers, and there were many shops nearby to purchase them. Lots of chanting and people were queueing up at the different shrines to pray and prostrate themselves in front of them. You could wander the entire temple as long as you didn’t enter the inner chamber.

I could have happily stayed in the first temple for hours, watching everyone participating in small rituals. My favorite one is the ringing of the bells on the doors as you enter and exit. Both temples had huge wooden doors studded with small bells and carved icons, and it seems that the ringing of these bells creates an auspicious sound, announcing your presence and driving away evil energy.

We spent a couple of hours walking around, and on the advice of our taxi driver and Lonely Planet finally ended up on Race Course Road in search of fish head curry. Why? Why not! When in Rome…or Singapore…

Grant hadn’t tried this when he was in KL, and in the morning he announced that today was the day. Once the taxi driver recommended it too, it seemed like a no-brainer (and no, I don’t think I ate fish brains). Banana Leaf Apolo had been mentioned in the guidebook, and the promise of air-conditioning along with the presence of lots of Indians made it our choice.

We ordered a small Fish Head Curry to share, and the serving that arrived was huge; I can’t imagine how enormous a large order would be! It was delicious, not too spicy and kind of fun to pull the meat off the bones. After we’d attacked the first side, I flipped it over and the flesh kind of disintegrated into the curry from there, leaving the eye and the skeletal remains looking balefully up at me.

Probably not a dish I’d put on my regular rotation (there are too many options here to consider developing a regular rotation yet!), but I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to order it again, and I think it’s going to be one of those must tries for anyone visiting, but I promise not to force it on you. It’s too early to scare anyone away!