华人皈依天主教 以及天主教徒和私会党之间的冲突
新加坡天主教会始于1833年，当时首批的华人天主教徒在这里成立了一个传教中心。虽然它的成长不快，经过了十年才达到约800位信徒，但是它的发展在新加坡大部分华人移民社会中却造成了极大的紧张关系。这是因为华人天主教徒不但成立了教会，还同时创造了一个拥有自己的领袖和习俗的社群。由于早期的华人移民社会是受帮会（华人私会党）的控制，因此华人天主教会的成立不但意味着不再受他们的控制，也注定了无可避免的冲突。一场公开的暴力事件终于在1846年爆发，并逐年不断升级至1851年那场血流成河的事件。
新加坡华人天主教社群的起源
早在1820年代，欧亚和葡萄牙人是首批抵达岛上的天主教徒。在新加坡成为英国殖民地之前，他们已经在这里居住了。虽然当时有位葡萄牙传教士从马六甲来此为这些信徒服务，但是他只是执行了天主教神父的基本牧灵工作，而极少传播信仰。福传的任务就落在1832年年底抵达的法国巴黎外方传教会的传教士身上。他们到达后的几个月，就收购了一块位于勿拉士峇沙路的土地。法国巴黎外方传教会就在这块处于市区中心的土地建了一间小教堂，并为华人设立了一个传教中心。
第一位居住在这里的法国巴黎外方传教会的传教士是 Etienne Albrand神父。他在一位华人要理教导员的协助下学习了潮语，并努力向华人传教。在短短的几年内，从1838年的450名教友增加到1846年的800名教友。从1840年到1846年之间，法国传教士就为443名皈依者授洗，其中有333名是华人。
福传与冲突，1833-1846
当首批华人皈依天主教时，Albrand神父要他们离开他们所属的私会党。帮会就立即反击，辱骂和威胁华人天主教徒，认为他们抛弃中华民族的传统。华人皈依天主教后会常常听到要剪掉他们的辫子、撕破他们的衣服，甚至在中国破坏他们名声的种种恐吓。
当Albrand神父和他的要理教导员出外福传时，帮会就派人跟踪他们，并且威胁那些有意皈依天主教徒们的妻子，希望能够阻止她们的丈夫皈依天主教。显然，帮会的观点，整个华人社群也或许有同感，华人天主教徒已经放弃了他们的文化根源。1834年1月，三名罪犯被公开处决时，尽管遭到反对，Albrand神父仍然为他们授洗。这进一步激怒了帮会，因为他们认为传教士的行为冒犯了他们。对他们而言，传教士已介入他们影响力的范围内，这足以引起他们的愤怒和敌意。
持续不断的骚乱并没有成为公开的暴力事件直到1840年代。那时，华人天主教社群人数已经增加到可观的数目。帮会发现他们面对的不再是个人，而是数以百人的整个社群。他们已无法控制整个局面。
作为一个社群，华人天主教会的运作也和华人的宗乡会馆相同，扮演着举足轻重的社会角色，例如主持仲裁、公证婚礼、殡葬及诞生，和为社群提供宗教、教育、医疗及福利的需要。因此，华人天主教团体在岛上的华人社群中享有一定的声誉。然而，对帮会而言，天主教并不只是另外的一个宗教团体，而是一个与他们竞争的帮会。到了1840年代，华人天主教的蓬勃发展已经非常显著了。在1846年4月12日，500多名华人天主教徒，不包括妇女和儿童，聚集在传教中心庭园共进传统的华人餐，以庆祝复活节。他们环绕着老教堂席地而坐。一个星期后，Anatole Mauduit神父则带领了由300位华人天主教徒组成的送葬队，从教堂游行到墓地。
扩展和逐步升级，1846-1850
到了1846年，传教不再局限于市区，而是扩大到北部的克兰芝，并在那里设立了传教中心。在那里有很多华人天主教徒从事槟榔叶和胡椒的种植及在园内当苦力。
帮会在新加坡殖民地时代掌握大权是因为他们能够躲避当局，而在不受监视下秘密召开会议。当法国传教士在他们藏身的丛林出现，设立了一个丛林站，召集华人天主教徒，也使更多华人皈依天主教时，就结束了帮会在丛林里所享有的绝对安全。
1840年代末，一个蓬勃发展的天主教会已在新加坡丛林中心扎根。华人天主教在克兰芝茁壮成长，使得报界在1849年称它为“天主教村”。帮会一直非常警惕华人天主教社群的发展，尤其是在丛林中。许多皈依天主教徒曾是帮会的人，也肯定知道帮会的秘密。帮会领袖因此害怕他们会向有关当局告密。
1849年7月，一名华人天主教徒在通往实里达的路上被谋杀了。几个星期前，另一名华人园主不只被帮会的人杀死，他的种植园也遭掠夺和焚烧。有记者指出他被谋害纯粹是因为他是基督徒，而非其他原因。这引发了丛林中华人天主教徒的恐慌。瞬间，300名华人天主教徒逃离丛林到市区投靠天主教友。
华人天主教徒和帮会之间的紧张关系在这些事件之前已经酝酿多年。英国警察总监杰克逊觉得没有必要采取特别措施压制帮会，也不需要在全岛设立警察或军事哨所以维持秩序。他对冲突的态度反映了英国在这期间的不干涉政策，让当地社区领袖管理自己的人。因此，1849年的骚动最后拉开了1851年血腥事件的序幕。
1851的大屠杀
19世纪初的新加坡，每一位华人移民都属于一个帮会、宗乡会馆或其他的协会，不同成员之间不时发生争执，往往导致帮会或会馆的介入。1851年的骚乱就是这样发生的。1851年2月初，“天地会”开始四处攻击、谋杀和绑架所有他们能抓得到的华人天主教徒。属于华人天主教徒的种植园也被抢劫和纵火。在丛林中的华人天主教徒再次逃离家园到市区避难。
四、五名华人天主教徒和几名华人在Ellenbourough Market(俗称新巴刹)争吵，导致一名非天主教徒受伤。当他们各自向自己的“兄弟”求助时，争吵就升级了。一群20至30名帮会成员随后突袭华人天主教徒的一间商店，引发了全面攻击岛上华人天主教徒的开始。
英国当局花了一个星期才回应，即使回应，也只是派一艘炮舰到柔佛海峡拦截可能试图携赃逃离的土匪。当局过后以25元奖励任何协助逮捕暴徒者。到了2月28日，内部的情况比较平静，但仍有一些地方还有骚乱。当局派了一支警察部队驻守在武吉知马（克兰芝）的天主教村。那些逃至市区的天主教园主则敦促政府对那些破坏他们种植园的罪魁祸首发出逮捕令。
当局随即派了一支警察部队从武吉知马到克兰芝上段，并逮捕了几名男子。然而，在他们返回武吉知马的路途上，被来自不同村庄的华人村民阻扰。他们人数分别从20到50人，由8到10位领袖带领，全部挥舞刀剑、长矛和叉刀。警察部队跋涉了三英里，在回到武吉知马警岗途中一直与他们驳火。骚乱者只在他们的三名领袖被射毙后才散开。从这件事可看出，除了帮会，还有一部分的广大华人社群也对华人天主教徒怀有怨恨。在警方最初突击克兰芝向骚乱的首领发出拘捕令时，村里的华人已经预先向帮会通风报信。
虽然是华人，皈依天主教的华人并没有参与平时的华人社团活动，例如捐献给庙宇或参加华人的宗教仪式。华人天主教徒被视为外籍，而被称为“第二洋鬼子”（欧洲人被称为“第一洋鬼子”）。华人天主教徒也被俗称为“奉教人”以此来区分基督徒与非基督徒。因此，在1851年，当帮会发动向华人天主教徒攻击时，广大的华人社群也不再抑制他们的不满，而参加了骚乱、抢劫和绑架。
到了3月初，骚乱突然停止。法国传教士随即催促警方更果断地对付帮会。当警方要发出逮捕令时，市区的“头家”出面游说传教士不要再追究此事，因为他们想要恢复正常的局面，使他们的业务不会再受到影响。因此，当市区的“头家”（华籍商人、老板）代表帮会成员说情，撤消逮捕令时，他们也支付了1500元作为赔偿天主教徒的园主。最后，只有16名帮会成员遭逮捕，其中有11人被判处遣送到孟买监禁介于7至14年。
华人天主教徒的确切伤亡人数并未公开，但是，根据1850年代末的监狱总监JAF McNair，他在1897年写道，近500位华人天主教徒在骚乱中死亡。如果这个数字属实，这意味着华人天主教社群几乎全被歼灭。当局面恢复和平时，华人天主教社群继续成长。
华人天主教会的后续发展
1853年，在丛林中的华人传教团体从克兰芝迁移到武吉知马，成立了现今的圣若瑟堂。同一年，许多华人天主教徒前往港脚（实龙岗路上段）那一带福传，法国传教士就在那里建立了圣母圣诞堂。虽然帮会的问题一直持续到1860年代，但是这并没有阻止华人教会的成长。从1869至1870年，市区的华人教友人数增长迅速，足以建设自己的教堂，即圣伯多禄圣保禄堂。新加坡的教会应该记住，华人天主教教会在新加坡的建立是付出了重大的代价。因为这是建立在一些先驱基督徒以及他们的传教士——法国巴黎外方传教会的神父，所作出的牺牲和流血。
作者：Clement Liew / 译者：杨奕基
The Cost of Faith: Conversion and Conflict
Between the Chinese Catholics and the Chinese Secret Societies
1833-1851
Clement Liew Wei Chiang
All rights reserved : No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means Electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner．
The beginning of the present-day Catholic Church of Singapore was marked by the establishment of a mission station for Singapore’s first Chinese Catholics in 1833. Although its growth was modest, taking a decade to reach about 800 members, its development created great tension within the larger immigrant Chinese society in Singapore. This was because the Chinese Catholics had not only formed a Church; they created a community with its own leadership and practices. As the immigrant Chinese society during these early days had been dominated by the hoeys (Chinese secret societies), the emergence of this Chinese Catholic community outside of their control only meant that a clash would eventually become inevitable. Overt violence broke out in 1846, and escalated in the following years till 1851, when a great bloodletting occurred.
The Beginnings of the Singapore Chinese Catholic Community
The first Catholics to arrive on the island were Eurasians and Portuguese who came in the early 1820s. They were already in the region prior to the establishment of British in Singapore. Although a Portuguese missionary from Malacca ministered to these Christians, he had merely performed the basic pastoral functions of a Catholic priest, and did little to spread the faith. The task of evangelism was left to the French missionaries of the Societe des Missions Etrangeres de Paris (MEP) who arrived on the island at the end of 1832. Several months after their arrival, they acquired a piece of ground at Bras Basah Road, at the heart of town, where a chapel (French Mission) and a mission for the Chinese were established.
The first resident MEP missionary here, Fr Etienne Albrand, learnt the Teochew dialect with the help of a Chinese catechist who arrived in June 1833 to aid him. Centred at the Mission Ground, the Chinese Catholic Mission initially only comprised of a handful of Chinese Christians who were already here and a small but growing number of converts who Fr Albrand and his catechist added yearly. Their strategy was to evangelize along the streets in the day, and to instruct by night. In this fashion, the Mission grew to a 100 Chinese converts and catechumens by September 1833. Most of those who converted were Teochews, and they were joined by a small pool of Christian arrivals coming from China (mainly Kwangtung – Teochews, Hakkas and Cantonese) and the surrounding regions in the Nanyang. The growth of the Chinese Catholic Mission gathered momentum from then, and this greatly enlarged the Catholic Church in the settlement in just a few short years. From 450 adherents in 1838, the Church had grown to 800 by 1846. There were 443 baptisms in the French Mission from 1840 to 1846, and 333 were of Chinese converts. The Chinese Mission founded in 1833 had clearly become a small but thriving community by the mid-1840s.
Evangelism and Conflict, 1833-1846
When Fr Albrand converted his first Chinese Christians, an act that required them to leave their secret societies, the hoeys to which they had belonged responded instantly. They threw slurs and threats against the Chinese Christians whom they considered to have abandoned their Chinese heritage. It was common for the Chinese converts to hear threats to have their pigtails and clothing cut off, and even to have their reputations back in China tarnished. The hoeys would shadow Fr Albrand and his catechist during their evangelizing rounds and threaten the wives of the converts in the hope of deterring potential converts. Clearly, there existed a perception among hoey members, and perhaps even the larger Chinese community, that Chinese Christians had given up their cultural roots. Of course, there were also other issues. In January 1834, during the public execution of three convicted criminals, Fr Albrand baptized the condemned men despite their objections. This further infuriated the hoeys who considered the missionary’s actions an offensive. To them, the Catholic missionaries had intruded into their “realm” of influence, and this was reason enough to incur their wrath and hostility. But incessant harassment did not materialize into overt violence till the 1840s. By then, the Chinese Catholic community had grown in size, and the hoeys found themselves no longer dealing with individuals, but with a whole community that numbered in the hundreds and were completely outside of their control.
As a community, the Chinese Catholics also functioned like Chinese clans with social roles that included communal leadership which presided over arbitrations, registered marriages, burials and births, and providing for religious, educational, health care and welfare needs. As such, the Chinese Catholic community became highly visible amongst the Chinese communities of the island. However, to the hoeys, the Catholic Church was not just another religious organization or community but a rival hoey. By the 1840s, the growing Chinese Catholic community in Town had already become extremely distinct. On 12 April 1846, more than 500 Chinese Christians, excluding women and children, congregated at the Mission Ground to celebrate the Feast of Easter with a traditional Chinese meal, all sitting on mats around the old chapel. A week later, Fr Anatole Mauduit led a funeral procession of 300 Chinese Christians that traveled from the chapel to the burial ground.
Extension and Escalation, 1846-1850
At the same time, by 1846, the Mission had extended beyond the town limits with the establishment of an outpost at Kranji in the northern part of the island where many Chinese Catholic planters and coolies were engaged in the cultivation of gambier and pepper. The French missionaries followed quickly, establishing a jungle station where they gathered the Chinese Christians and converted numerous more. By the late 1840s, an established and thriving Catholic enclave had taken root in the heart of the Singapore jungles where the hoeys considered their sanctuary on the island. The Chinese Catholic community at Kranji was so established that in 1849 the Press called it a “Christian village”. The hoeys had been extremely wary of the continued development of the Chinese Catholic community, particularly of the Mission in the jungle. Many of the Christian converts were once from their own ranks, and were certainly in the know of their secrets. The hoey leaders were thus fearful that the European-led Chinese Christians would one day betray them to the authorities. The hoeys wielded great power in colonial Singapore because they were able to remain elusive and could hold covert meetings free from surveillance. When the Chinese Catholic community emerged within their jungle hideout, it also ended the absolute security the hoeys enjoyed there.
Church growth, unfortunately, came with a heavy cost. In July 1849, the murder of a Chinese Christian along a road leading to Seletar sparked a panic among the Chinese Christians in the jungles. The Tian Ti Hoey then threatened to attack. Instantly, 300 Chinese Christians took flight to seek refuge with their fellow Catholics in town. A couple of weeks before this exodus, a Chinese planter was killed by members of a hoey who went on to pillage and burn his plantation. The Press had noted that the planter was targeted simply because he was a Christian, and the fact that the victim and attackers were all Teochews had made no difference.
“…on the night of the 19th instant. The house of a Chinese Christian was attacked about 10 o’clock by a large gang of Chinese, armed with spears, shields, knives, sticks and etc. They stabbed and cut the unfortunate owner of the house in a most ferocious manner, inflicting 25 wounds in all. The poor man begged them to spare his life saying that he was of the same tribe, but they replied, ‘you are a Christian – if you had not been so, we would not have attacked you and etc’. One of the coolies, a Christian also, was wounded but escaped. Another coolie, not a Christian, was not assaulted, [and] neither were the persons living next door who were pagans. A considerable quantity of property was carried away. The wounded man was taken to the Hospital the next day and died shortly afterwards. He was able to name several of the parties who were concerned in the attack, and who are well known as daring and practiced criminals, and noted members of one of the hoes or secret societies…. It would appear that the fact that the deceased being a Christian was one cause of his house being attacked and himself so severely treated. For some time past much ill feeling has been manifested towards the Chinese Christians by their pagan countrymen, especially those connected with the secret societies, and affrays are constantly taking place. This arising, no doubt, from the Christians withdrawing from the societies, and the fear of those connected with these societies that their secrets will be betrayed by the seceding members.”
Tension between the Chinese Catholics and the hoeys had been brewing for years prior to this incident. It also did not help that both the Chinese Christians and the Chinese linked to the hoeys were engaged in cultivating gambier and pepper in the interior of Singapore. Life became difficult when prices for these produce fell by 75% from the 1830s to the 1840s. The economic competition between the Christian planters and the other plantations across the decade further increased the ill feelings that the hoeys were already harbouring against the Chinese Christians. Hence, when the occasion presented itself in 1849, the hoeys went on the warpath.
At this point, the British authorities believed that the Chinese Christians were equally responsible for the outbreak of violence and that the whole matter was utterly exaggerated. Hence, LS Jackson, the Superintendent of Police, did not feel that special measures were necessary to suppress the hoeys, nor was he convinced of the necessity for police or military posts to be established in the interior of the island to maintain order as the force would be too small to be effective. Jackson’s attitude towards the conflict was perhaps reflective of the British’s policy of non-interference during this period, when local community leaders were left to govern their own people. Consequently, the 1849 disturbance was to become the prelude to a bloodier episode in 1851.
Fr JM Beurel, the head of Catholic Mission at Singapore, believed that the town towkays were behind the riot and should ultimately have been made responsible for situation and made to pay for the establishment of police stations in the interior. He insisted that the Chinese merchants were either the heads or patrons of the hoeys, and pointed out that even if the towkays had not “taken part in the pillaging, they had protected the guilty parties”. Besides, it was well known that the towkays were the main financiers of most of the plantations in the interior of the island where the hoeys were dominant. As a case in point, when a Chinese Catholic plantation owner, Teo Oh Kah, was robbed of his gambier stock by a gang of six Chinese men, the town towkays interceded for the men when they were apprehended and had them released. It did not take long for truth to surface. Three of the six released men were quickly re-arrested when they repeated their robbery of Teo Oh Kah’s gambier. This time, they were caught in possession of the loot. Again, the towkays’ appealed but the British did not accede this time round. Following this, Teo Oh Kah paid the ultimate price. On his way back to his plantation at Bukit Timah, Teo was kidnapped and never heard of again.
The 1851 Massacre
The situation finally exploded in early February 1851 when the hoeys launched a coordinated island-wide attack on all Chinese Christians. The Tian Ti Hoey started a general attack, murdering and kidnapping all the Christians they could lay their hands on. Plantations belonging to the Chinese Christians were also pillaged and set ablaze. Once again, the Chinese Christians in the jungle found themselves fleeing their homes and seeking refuge in town, where the outrage was supposedly sparked. A quarrel between four or five Chinese Christians and several Chinese men outside Ellenborough Market resulted in one of the non-Christians being hurt. Subsequently, a group of twenty to thirty hoey members stormed the shop of one of the Chinese Christians. This signaled the start of a general attack on all Chinese Catholics on the island.
The British authorities took a week to respond, and even then, it was simply to send a gunboat (steam) to the Straits of Johore to intercept any bandits who might attempt to flee with their loot across the Straits. A reward of twenty-five dollars was subsequently offered for the capture of any of the rioters. By 28 February, the interior was considerably quieter, though there was still some residue rioting at places. A contingent of policemen was then stationed at the “Catholic village” at Bukit Timah (Kranji). The Christian planters who managed to flee to town had urged the government to issue warrants of arrest for culprits who were responsible for the destruction of their plantations. A police force then proceeded from Bukit Timah to Bookoo Kangkar (further up Kranji) where they apprehended a few men. However, on their way back to their Bukit Timah post, the contingent was obstructed by different groups of Chinese villagers, most numbering between twenty to fifty, and they were led by eight to ten leaders each, all brandishing swords, lances and fork knives. The police contingent, trekking over a length of three miles, had to shoot their way back to Bukit Timah, firing their last remaining rounds only when they reached their post. The rioters dispersed only after three of their leaders were shot.
Judging from the level of resistance the police faced, it would appear that besides the hoeys, a segment of the larger Chinese society had also harboured some measure of resentment of the Chinese Christians. During the initial police foray into the Kranji district to execute the warrants of arrest for the leaders of the riot, the hoeys were given advance warning of the approaching police contingent by the Chinese villagers all around. Though ethnically Chinese, Christian converts did not participate in the usual social activities of the larger Chinese society, like contributing to temple dues or joining in Chinese religious ceremonies, all of which were as much cultural as they were religious. The Chinese Christians were considered foreign, and were denounced as “number two foreign devil(s)”. Europeans were considered “number one” foreign “devils”. Chinese Catholics were also referred to as hong kahs, a label that distinguished them from the non-Christians. Hence, when the hoeys launched their attack on the Chinese Christians in 1851, the pent-up social tension between the wider Chinese society and the Christians was also released. Many non-Christian Chinese therefore joined in the fray, pillaging and kidnapping.
By early March, the riot had come to an abrupt end. The French missionaries then pushed for more decisive police action against the hoeys. When it became apparent that further arrest warrants were to be executed, the town towkays persuaded the missionaries not to pursue the matter any further as they had wanted the situation to return to normal so that business would not be affected. Hence, while the town towkays interceded on behalf of the hoeys members for the withdrawal of warrants of arrest, they also paid $1,500 in compensation to the Christian planters. In all, only sixteen hoey members had been arrested, with eleven sentenced to seven to fourteen years’ imprisonment at Bombay. There was no mention of the exact number of casualties among the Chinese Christians in any official records for that year, but JAF McNair, the Superintendent of Convicts in the late 1850s, wrote in 1897 that almost 500 Chinese Christians had perished in the riot. Certainly, if this figure was accurate, it would mean that the Chinese Catholic community would have been near wiped out. The episode ended with peace restored, and the Chinese Catholic community continued to grow, although at a slower pace. The Chinese Mission in the jungle shifted from Kranji to its present site at Bukit Timah in 1853 and became the parish of St Joseph’s. In the same year, a number of Chinese Christians ventured towards the end of Serangoon Road where the French missionaries established the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
In the context of early nineteenth century immigrant Singapore, when every Chinese belonged to a bang, hoey, clan or some other association, personal conflicts between members of different associations often led to the involvement of their respective associations. This was exactly how the 1851 riot occurred, sparked by a quarrel at the Ellenborough Market between a handful of Chinese Christians and several Chinese men resulted in both parties escalating the incident when they called upon their “brothers” for help. The difficulties with the hoeys would continue into the 1860s, but this did not prevent the Chinese Church from growing. In 1869-70, the Chinese Mission in town grew large enough to finally erect their own church, the parish of Sts. Peter and Paul. The Church of Singapore should remember that the foundation of the Chinese church in Singapore came at a heavy cost. It was built upon the sacrifices and blood of the pioneering Christians and their missionaries, the MEP priests.
