Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

82 Gordon

Wain

inthelocal

media.

Arkell

is

quoted

as

saying.

‘thecentre

wouldattractworldwide

interest and

many

visitors'

(Illnwnrm

Mercury

198%:

l4),

His viewswere

substantiated

by

Ian

King.

thethenttcisurcCoast

TouristAssociation

manager.

whois

reported

to

have

simply

said

‘[l]t[the

temple]

willbea

greatthing

for

this

city'

(Illawarra

Mercury

l989c:

2).

Comparisons

weredrawntoasimilar

temple

inLos

Angeles

thatdrewover

200,000visitorsa

year.

Theconstruction

ol‘the

temple

would

enrich

Wollongong

culturally. artistically

and economi-

cally.

Wollongong

Council

finally

resolvedto

sellthelandfortheconstruction

ofNan Tien

Temple

on cultural

capital

grounds,describing

the

temple

as a

significant

cultural

andtourist

development

tothebenefitofthe

‘community‘

of

Wollongong.

Asa tourist

attractionthe

temple

reliedon

beingsocially

constructedas

an

exotic

destination.

an

objectrepresenting

the

orient. ratherthan

primarily

as

a

sacred , ln

portraying

the

temple

asanexotic

attraction.underthe

guise

of

discourse

ofmulticulturalism.

Wollongong

Council

reliedonandreiteratedorien-

talismandthebasic

distin onbetweencastandwest.

Ratherthan

challenging

understanding

offaithin

Wollongong.

Buddhismwas

simply

addedasan

exotic

extra.

Consequently.

as

Stratton

(1998)argues.

oneofthe

problems

ofdiscourses

of

multiculturalismisthat

whileitasserts

positives

from

diversity.

itlocatesand

confirmsthe

imagined

differenceswithinbinariesof‘us'and‘them‘.

Stereotypes

ot’cthnic

minoritiesare

redeployed

ratherthanconfronted.Inthiscase.Said

1 l978)

has

dcmonstmtedhowthe

European

discourseot'orientalismwas

underpinnedby

anumber

ofnaturalizedbinaries

(thatis.

as‘civilized'.

‘ordered',‘Christian'.etc).

These

always

set

otT

Europe(thewest)

favourablyagainst

theorient

(the

east).

Hence.

the

belonginggeneratedthrough

a

capitalistimperative

wasbasedon

the

western

assumption

thatthereisan‘us‘and 3

‘them‘,

each

quiteseparate.

clear.

and

unequivocally

selfievident.Asanexotictourist

attraction,

the'alicn‘attributes

ot’thc

templecomplex

in

westerntermsbecamethe

reasonforsocialinclusion

in

Wollongong,

The

'alien'.understoodasabrandtobe

marketed,

in

commodity

ratherthana

livingreligion.

perhapshelped

madethe

temple

less

confronting

for

some

Wollongong

residents.

A

Buddhist

templeportrayed

asa

tourist attraction

provided

a

unique

site

of

spectacle

thatin the I990s

helped

re-image Wollongongaway

frommedia

stereotypesofpollutio unemployment.

crime

and

heavyindustry.

Asabrand.

the

temple

offered

possib

tiesof

pitchingWollongong

tomeetthemarketdemands

ofthosetourists

seeking

the

‘exotic‘orculturaldifference.

For

city

marketers,

the

temple

offeredameans

by

whichto

express

a

new.

unique.

vitality.

and

cultural

diversity

In

short.

Buddhism

provided

asocial

group

to

helpglamorize

the

city

(see

Zukin

1988;l998).

As

elsewhere.

culturaldifferentiation

played

a

key

rolein

the

process

of

re-imaging

(Lovatt

and

O‘Connor1995:

127;

Montgomery

1995:

MS).

As

a

symbol

ofdifferenceand

‘Asian-ness‘.Nan Tien

Temple‘s

social

construction

issimilarto

thatof

Sydney

andMelboumc‘s

Chinatowns

(Anderson

1990:

I37).

NanTien

Temple

asabrandortouristattraction

becomesa

product

and
symbol

ofsome

single.pure

andmonolithic

‘east‘.

a

comparative

setting

against

mainstreamAustralia.

Locating

aBuddhist

temple

in

Wollongong

83

Conclusion

Theaim

ofthis

chapter

wasto

explorewhy

the

southern

hemisphcrc'slargest

Buddhist

temple

complex

waslocatedin

Wollongong.

Oncedubbedthe‘Sheffield

oftheSouth‘.

Wollongong

ismorenotoriousinlhc

settlerand

migrant

Australian

geographicalimaginations

forcoalandsteel

production

ratherthan

spirituality,

This

required

examining

thedifferentsetsofideasor

discoursesdrawnon

bykey

politicians

andleaders

ofdifferent

religiousgroups

that

helpedgivemeaning

to

the

proposed

site.

Drawing

ondiscourse

of

geomancy.

theF0

Kuang

Shah‘s

fengshuiinlerpret~

ation

ofthe

locality

earmarked

FlagstafTHill

asan

auspicious

sacredsite.

Equally.

whenframedwithindiscourse

ofmulticulturalism.bothChristian

ministriesand

political

leaders

agreed

the

templecomplexbelonged

in

Berkeley.

Further.

when

framed

by

the discourse

of

oricntalism.

the

templc

oll'cred

Wollongong City

Councilwitha

unique

tourist

attractionwithwhichtobrandthe

city.

litthe

[9805.

these

social conditions

were

exceptional.

Atthis time local

council

planning

decisionselsewhereinNew

SouthWalesofiencontinuedto

portray

Buddhistand

Islamic

places

of

worship

as‘outof

place‘

inAustraliansuburbs.

Yet.thedifi‘erent

ways

inwhich

religious

and

political

authorities

spoke

of

the

templecomplexbelonging

withinthesuburbof

Berkeley

alsohas

important

implications

forthe

roleofBuddhistsascitizens.TheChristian

clergy

ollenheld

an

ambivalent

position.

TheChristianministries

envisaged

the

temple

as

only

materiallybelonging

in

Wollongong

as

part

ol'amulticultural

society.

but

spirit-

ually

‘outof

place'.

Hence,

Christianministriesconceived

ofBuddhistmonksand

nunsas

havingonly

alimitedrole.As

part

ot‘multiculturalism,

themonksandnuns

provided

spiritualguidance

forBuddhists

already

resident

inAustralia.

However.

any

attempt

to

spread

theirfaith

beyond

theconfinesofthe

temple's

boundaries

was

interpreted

as

contrary

tothe

identity

ofAustraliaasa

Christiannationand

damaging

to

the

self-identity

nt'AustralianChristians.Buddhists

werewelcomed.

buttheirfaithhadtohe

spatially

containedwithinthe

temple,

Local

politicians

also

employed

multiculturalismintheir

arguments.

However.

in

theircase

they

tendedto

empltasin:

Buddhismintermsol'a

taxonomic

object,

basedon awestern invented

understanding

ofthe

orient.

rather

than a

living

reltgion.

Suchromanticizednotionsallowedthe

promotion

ofNan

Tien

Temple

as

anitemof

curiosity.

a

camivalesque

leisure

space

ofritual

inversionfromthe

dominantauthorizedculture.Local

politicians‘

discourse

surrounding

Buddhism

was

entrenched in

positive

exoticassociations.

Ponrayed

in

this

way.

NanTien

Temple

belonged

in

Wollongong

asamechanismto

culturally

enrich

the

city.

although

the

temple

is

socially

constmctcd asan

object

from

elsewhere. from

a

culture

portrayed

asstatic and traditional.Culturaldifference

undcrstood in

this

way

framedthe

temple

as

part

ofAustralia‘smulticultural

selectionhosof

costumes.

dancesandfoods.

Consequently,

thelocal

citizenship

role

forBuddhists

wasone

inwhich

they

couldbeeither

displayed

andmarketedasasite

of

spectacle

to

potential

touristsor

paradedthrough

thestreetsof

Wollongong

duringspecial

multicultural

events.

suchas‘Vivttla

Gong‘.

Inthis

role.

while

communicating

a