A History of Immigrant Roman Catholics and Converts in Early Singapore 1832-1945 by Dr Marc Sebastian Rerceretnam

After four decades of research and a six-month stint as a National Library Board Researcher in 2018, Dr. Marc Sebastian Rerceretnam has published his book A History of Immigrant Roman Catholics and Converts in Early Singapore 1832-1945. Marc, the great-great-great-grandson of 19th century church benefactor Pedro Tan No Kea and great-grandson of David Wee Cheng Son and Regina Tan Mui Liang, has a PhD in Economic History and is an independent researcher, historian and published author. He was born and raised in Singapore but currently lives in Sydney with his wife and three daughters. 

Marc sharing the Tan Family’s role in Singapore Roman Catholic Church history.

Marc’s book which is available at S$25 at sgbookshelf.com records for the first time, the story of the multiracial communities which made up the new community in Singapore. The story begins in 1832, with the establishment of the Catholic French Mission on Bras Basah Road and looks at the 100-year long evolution of what would become a template for modern Singaporean society. The book examines the communities’ outlook, motivations, and opportunities.

Marc’s book has received the “Thumbs Up!” from family historians Cyprian Lim and Shawn Seah.

“Marc’s new book is an interesting and wide-ranging take on Teochew Catholics in Singapore. I am always delighted to read about Teochews and Catholicism in Singapore.” – Shawn Seah, author of My Father’s Kampung

“An eye-opening read about the origins of the Catholic Church in Singapore, with stories that have yet to be told. Marc’s research brings to light the role of the local community in the church’s growth, bringing to mind the struggles and contributions of our forebears in the Faith. I am delighted that this precious heritage is being recorded.” – Cyprian Lim, author of My Maternal Roots

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For those interested, the book’s contents and synopsis are below.

CONTENTS
Foreword by Peter Lee
Preface by Fr John Paul Tan
Acknowledgements

Chapter 1. Setting the Scene
Arrival of Christianity
From Home to Singapore
Arrival from Guangdong Province, China
The Melaka Portuguese and Eurasians
India and Ceylon
The French, English, Irish and other Europeans

Chapter 2. The Multiracial Landscape of Early Singapore
Establishment of the Roman Catholic church
Conversion – the Chinese community
Conversion – Melaka Portuguese, Eurasians and Malays
Conversion – South Asian community
Strategic omissions and the adoption of new names
Intermarriage within the Catholic church
Singapore’s first homegrown Peranakan bloodline
The Life of Pedro Tan Nong Keah (1808–c.1886)

Chapter 3. Clans and Kongsi
Teochew clan conflict with the Catholics
The Anti-Catholic Riots of 1851

Chapter 4. Growth of Roman Catholic Businesses and Patronage
The Church needs cash
The 1892 Saints Peter & Paul’s Church benefactors’ marble tablet
The Ellenborough ‘New Market’, Clarke Quay
The philanthropic first wave, 1840–1880: Pedro Tan Nong Keah
The philanthropic second wave, 1880s–1930: Small and large businesses emerge
The philanthropic third wave, 1930–1945: Grassroots organising, more businesses arise

Chapter 5. The Role of Women, Marriage and Matchmaking
Women
The different roles of women
Marriage
Homosexuality
Female orphans, and males desperately seeking respectability
Orphanages
Intermarriages
Intra-ethnic divisions
Social conservatism and divisions
Gender interaction
Interaction between priests and parishioners
Matchmaking and marriages between family groups
Marriage during the Japanese Occupation

Chapter 6. Catholic Education Fills the Colonial Gap
The founding of Catholic schools
St Joseph’s Institution
The Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus
The key role played by Catholic schools
Colonials keeping ‘natives’ in their place

Chapter 7. The Roman Catholic Church: Architect of Multiracial Education & Social Services in Colonial Singapore
Multiracialism
Education
Social services.

Book specifications

ISBN: 978-0-6452364-0-8

Size: 145 mm x 220 mm (H)

Paperback

160 pages

Weight: 403 grams (128gsm)

SYNOPSIS
The island of Singapore has long thrived on the fusion of trade and culture, and this history goes back at least 700 years; a tradition which continues into Singapore’s immediate past. Beginning in 1832, this story is about the meeting of different cultures, who are united under a newfound faith. While most other communities at this time were bound by some degree of clan, racial affiliation or language, the Roman Catholic community was different. From its early days, it was an amalgam of people from different backgrounds. It is possible that divisions did exist, but there were also more opportunities to overcome them than previously recognised. In effect, this community predates modern concepts of multicultural and multiracial Singapore by at least a century.

Peranakan culture in the Southeast Asian region goes back many centuries. In the Malayan and Indonesian realm, this started off with the coupling of Chinese, Indian, Arab traders and later even European invaders and colonialists. In the Malay Archipelago, settlements like Penang and especially Melaka come to mind. Strong Hokkien, Chetti, Kristang/Portuguese and Jawi Peranakan communities have evolved from these locales and have spread throughout the region and now dominate the Peranakan milieu and history. However, the creation of Peranakan communities is an evolving process. While established Melaka and Penang towkays and their families dominated the early Singapore scene from its early days in the 1820s and 1830s, new evidence has surfaced showing the forgotten birth and rise of new Peranakan unions in Singapore starting from 1834. These unions were formal marriages, and mostly (but not exclusively) between China-born males and local or regionally born females. Within a generation, many of their descendants identified as Teochew Peranakans.