Conservative Government and Support for the Religious Institution in Singapore: An Uneasy Alliance

During the 1980s various conservative governments tried to strengthen the public role of religion. This is understandable, given that there are affinities between political conservatism and religion. The argument developed in this paper is that when conservatives act in support of religion unforeseen problems develop that lead the conservatives to withdraw their support. The case of Singapore is considered in detail. In 1982, a conservative government passed a law requiring all secondary students to study a religion; in 1989, the same government effectively terminated the religious studies program. The reasons for this change of heart are analyzed. The article concludes with a discussion of which reasons may be peculiar to Singapore or Chinese societies generally and which reasons are likely to trouble any conservative government.