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Temple Talk At Hong San See, Singapore

Despite the rain, there was a great turn up from members of Singapore Heritage Yahoogroup. Representatives from Lam Ann Clan Association and Hong San See Temple were present to welcome us. Bro Lim Liong Kee who manages the temple gave us a history of the temple. He showed the picture of an old postage stamp of Hong San See. In the case of the 174-year-old Hong San See temple in Mohamed Sultan Road, along River Valley Road, its Cinderella-like transformation began in early 2006 with a termite infestation in its roof. The attack was so bad that a corner of the roof collapsed, prompting the Singapore Lam Ann Clan Association to initiate a full-scale restoration that year. Works were completed last year and the restored temple clinched the Award of Excellence at this year's Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation earlier this month, a first for Singaporean architecture.

Bro Yik Han who also traced the history of the temple showed the location of the first temple within the vicinity of Tanjong Pagar Road through his research of the archives. Like Singapore in the early days, the history of any of these old temples will lead us to the activities of the Chinese community in Singapore and its leaders. I took the last segment of the presentation sharing the taoist protocols in a temple premise and shared a brief outline of the life of Kong Teck Choon Ong aka Guang Ze Zun Wang, how filial he was to his parents and how he ascended to the heaven at the age of 16. It is saying that the villagers would bring their boys to his temple and to give due respects when they reach 16, the age of going into adulthood. I also explained to the participants that Kong Teck Choon Ong has an interesting sitting position with right leg hanging in the air.

Participants were then followed our guest speakers for a temple tour. At the entrance of Hong San See Temple, the granite columns were carved with entwined dragons for a 3-D effect. Other columns in the temple feature flowers and birds. Bro Yik Han pointed out that the two lanterns on either side of the signboard were created by two groups of craftsmen in 1905, when it was common for temples to hire competing groups wanting to outdo one another. I have pointed out that in the temple, there is a centre opening view exposed to the sky or so-called temple pavilion. This is where the Gods descend from Heaven. I said that there is a slight slope in this open air courtyard that will drift away the unclean water outside the temple. Inside the inner court or prayers room, there is a slide slope into the hall where the clean water flows in and devotees would be blessed.

Within the short time, it was not possible to discover the many minutes and beautiful structures of Hong San See Temple. To understand more about this temple or perhaps one has to read more about the legends of Sheng Ong Gong as he is known to the people of Lam Ann in Fujian Province, China and to whom he is their patron saint.

25th Edition Journal of Lam Ann Clan Association Singapore
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Location: Mohamed Sultan Road, Singapore

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