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Templing at Jiutiaoqiao Xinba Natohtua, Singapore

There is a suburban taoist temple known as Jiutiaoqiao Xinba Natohgong Temple 九条桥新芭拿督公庙. This is a temple that worships three deities, each representing a deity of the three major ethnic groups, ie, Chinese, Malays and Indians in Singapore. During the early fifteen century, our Chinese immigrants first arrived in Southeast Asian countries, and they brought along their taoist gods and deities to these lands. They have realized that to ensure security and prosperity in this foreign land of strange religious practice, they have to enlist the help of the local gods. The Chinese immigrants began to worship local pre-Islamic holy men, commonly called Datuk or Dato, meaning “chief” or “lord” in the Malay language, which soon became known as “Natoh”. The suffix “gong” which means “lord” in Chinese was added to “Natoh”, and hence “Natohgong”, the amazing Chinese-Malay deity which is found only in Singapore, Malaysia and several parts of Indonesia.

This temple, with a history of not less than 70 years, where Tua Pek Kong, a local taoist deity and Natohgong were worshipped. To celebrate racial harmony, Ganesha, the Hindu Elephant God was included as one of the three main deities to be worshipped in this temple. I was invited by the temple management to conduct a blessing ceremony during the birthday of Jade Emperor. On the nineth day of the first lunar calendar month, this is also known as the birthday of the Jade Emperor among the Chinese community in Southern China Fujian. It is generally believed that during the Jade Emperor’s birthday, there are various gods descend from the heaven to the earth for inspections. Therefore, people will be petition or pray for peace and prosperity.

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