Thinking in the Dire Straits: Creolised Chinese Philosophy in the Straits Philosophical Society

The Straits Philosophical Society (1893–1916) was a monthly meeting of educated and esteemed Singaporean residents (who were largely colonial administrators), forming a de facto intelligentsia in colonial Singapore. The Society was a space of negotiation between coloniser/colonised perspectives, with frequent interaction with other “learned societies” within the Southeast Asian region. There were only two ‘Asiaticʼ members of the Society, Tan Teck Soon and Lim Boon Keng (the former being a founding member and the latter being the last active member). Their participation in the Society were significant wayposts for the development of both the laws and culture of the country: e.g. Tanʼs debut response in 1893 was an important footnote to the development of the Criminal Procedure Code enacted in 1902, while Limʼs engagements paved the way for his later involvements in social reforms in Singapore. Yet, Tan and Lim understood their racialised identities in dialogue with the other members of the Society in distinctive ways.

Paying attention to their articles written as both essayist and critic during the Societyʼs meetings and taking inspiration from Hung (2009), we argue that their negotiations of the imaginaries ‘Singaporeʼ, ‘Chinaʼ, and ‘Britainʼ are tied to their constructions of racialised identities. These twin processes were situated within the ongoing dialogue between them, the members of the Society, and the wider public. In this paper, we attend to how this specifically manifests in the various ways in which they discussed and deployed creolised Chinese philosophy in the context of the Society: Tan favouring the flexibility and “broad spirit” of the Zhuangzi, while Lim gravitating towards the benevolent embrace of the Confucian tradition. This allows us crucial historical insight into the production of critical knowledge by Straits Chinese intellectuals at the height of the British Empire in Southeast Asia.

Day 1 (May 27, Thu HK/SG time)

Panel 3: Folk and Creole Epistemologies

3:30-5:30pm HK/SG time / 8:30-10:30am BST / 9:30-11:30am CEST / 3:30-5:30am EDT / 12:30-2:30am PDT