Spiritual education in Singapore and Hong Kong: Issues, challenges and prospects

Abstract

As Asian societies with a majority of ethnic Chinese people, Singapore and Hong Kong provide a useful comparative study of the governments’ conceptions and implementation of spiritual education for their students. Both Singapore and Hong Kong emphasise the need for their students to understand various religious systems, preserve religious harmony and acquire moral values through religious studies. This chapter compares spiritual education in schools in Singapore and Hong Kong in terms of the issues, challenges and prospects. The chapter is divided into three sections. First, we discuss the nature of the spiritual education programmes in Singapore and Hong Kong. Secondly, we examine some key similarities and common challenges in Singapore and Hong Kong. The fi nal section recommends some approaches and strategies to strengthen spiritual education in both societies.