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This study focuses on the participation and contributions of female Buddhists in 20th-century Singapore to local Buddhist philanthropy. Unlike male Buddhists, who are categorized as laymen and monks, female Buddhists have varied identities: nuns ordained under eminent monks, laywomen who learned Buddhism at home, and vegetarian nuns living in private temples. The study outlines the network constructed by these different types of female Buddhists and their development. Early female Buddhists in Singapore, including scholarly nuns, laywomen, and vegetarian nuns, had limited understanding of Buddhist teachings, with few involved in supporting Buddhist activities. After 1940, the spread of Humanistic Buddhism engaged more laywomen and vegetarian nuns in promoting Buddhist education and philanthropy. By the 1960s, a network linking Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan led to the rise of scholarly nuns with advanced Buddhist education, who began to replace vegetarian nuns and laywomen as the main force in continuing the philanthropic spirit of Humanistic Buddhism.
Hue et al. (Sat,) studied this question.