My Diary

Pasir Panjang Laut is a traditional fishing Malay village which situated at Sitiawan district in Perak Sate of Malaysia. Pian Sian Chee Tua Pek Kong Beo 品仙祠大伯公廟 is currently housed the tallest stone consecrated statues of Tua Pek Kong, God of Mercy & God of Sea in Malaysia. The statues are standing upright and facing directly the Straits of Malacca are not limiting its blessing to the safety of the villagers but fishermen as well. The temple annual thanksgivings celebration is fall on the 29 days of the seventh lunar calender month. A ponder to note that these temple is allowing vegetarian foods for prayers only due to the respect of its ethnic group. I was told that during the year of 1993, through meditation, a senior member of the temple told the temple keeper that a God of Mercy statue was arriving from the sea. They found the said statue floating on the sea and eventually the statue is placed next to the Tua Pek Kong Temple. Subsequently, there are many instances happening t

As a Chinese saying, Xi'an is a symbol of Chinese culture. It is an ancient Chang'an, the ancient capital from old imperial palace of the Han and Tang Dynasty. The ancient capital of Xi'an which now located at Shaan’xi Province gave birth to a rich religious culture includes Taoism, Buddhism as well as Islam. Chong Yang Gong Temple in Xi’an is dedicated to the founder of Quanzhen Taoism, Master Wang Chong Yang. Also known as The Complete Perfection Tradition of The School of Taoism, Quanzhen Sect emphasized that Taoist cultivation should properly begin with the self. Specifically, the self must be emptied of selfish desires. Chong Yang Gong Temple has a historical establishment for more than 800 years, and land covers about six acres. The palace was renovated two years ago and I was fascinated with a nice gallery of Taoist exhibits such as the sacred tower that consist of those remains of Master Wang Chong Yang still visible at such close proximity. It was my honour to st

A group of film images students from Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore was doing a documentary on paranormal encounters and this is the summary report of their enquries. In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calender is called Zhong Yuan Festival, in which ghosts and wandering spirits including those of the deceased ancestors revisit a cosmopolitan world from the lower realm. Intrinsic to the festival is ancestor worship where traditional activities during that month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning a papier-mache form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the 'visiting spirits' of the ancestors. On the other hand, ancestral veneration is another way to pay respect to the deceased. It seeks to honour the good deeds and memories of the deceased. This is an extension of filial piety for the ancestors, and the ultimate homage to the deceased as if they are alive. Instead of setting up an ancestr

Mun San Fook Tuck Chee 萬山福德祠 is one of the few Cantonese temples left and could well be one of the oldest in Singapore. Bro Yik Han, our tour leader had been researching into this temple and written a book on this temple together with his friend. Many thanks to Takako-san who brought along the book, members of the group today were able to view the pictures, especially of the statues that were a little too difficult to view inside the temple under the dim lighting condition. Members were brought to the time some hundred years ago when this was a swamp with small cottage industries like sago productions. This place was known to the residence here as Sar Kong 沙崗. According to Bro Yik Han, he traced the origin of the temple and its movement from its original site to what is present today. There were some renovations to the temple, more to make for easy maintenance but alas, could have covered some beautiful and important aspects of the temple design. Master Wong and I shared with the gro

Feng Tien Gong Temple 松山奉天宫 is located within the vicinity of Songshan, a very crowded housing estate in Taipei City of Taiwan. The temple is established about half a decade ago and the main deity of the temple is dedicated to The Jade Emperor aka Tian Gong. A cultural exchange programme between Fujian Province of China and Taiwan is mooted by both leaders of their country. It is held towards the end of 2010 in Taiwan, entitled 八音花鼓闹厅堂. Beside our taoist group, other performing troupes are selected from Quanzhou, Xiamen, Shishi, Nan Ann and Yong Chun. Our taoist group has been assigned to perform a blessing ceremony at Feng Tien Gong Temple. During the cultural exchange performance held in a public theater of Taipei City Government Building, the organizers have arranged for our taoist group together with Yong Chun Senior Folks Nanyim Association to stage a joint performance of Yongchun Traditional Music, entitled 永春闹厅 as an opening event. It has a unique artistic style, rich in l