‘They Will not Suffer a Church More Beautiful Than Their Own’:

Abstract

This paper traces the Chinese patronage of church architecture in early twentieth-century Singapore through a discussion of three churches built or renovated during this period. In the early twentieth century, Singapore’s Chinese community became significant patrons of ecclesiastical architecture. As Chinese congregations grew, so too did their spatial needs. Donations from this mercantile community ensured that their churches were lavish monuments, tangible symbols of piety, wealth, and patronage. These churches are also monuments to an Asian diaspora negotiating their Western faith, and expressing their religious affiliations through architecture. The influence of French missionaries is discernible in Singapore’s Catholic churches, where Chinese patronage is read through donor panels on stained glass windows and other architectural benefactions. By contrast, some Protestant churches demonstrated a willingness to incorporate Chinese architectural elements, as in the Telok Ayer Chinese Methodist Church. Singapore’s Chinese Christians thus practiced architectural patronage in various ways: by funding the construction of new churches, by bankrolling the renovation and expansion of old ones, and by constructing new monuments which blended Western architecture with Chinese architectural traditions. The churches built by and for Singapore’s Chinese Christians were thus syncretic monuments to this multifaceted community’s faith and identity.