Places of Worship & Devotion

Hiang Thian Siang Ti or Xuan Tian Shang Ti is the host deity of Shang Ti Temple, Kuching and many other similar temples in Sarawak or Malaysia. Accordingly, the Sagely One was born in 581 A.D. in China. Before he got enlightened, he worked as a butcher for many years. As he turned old, he regretted much for the killings he had done as a butcher and decided to go to Wudan San (Mt Wudan in China) to practice the Taoist ways. As such, he threw his butcher knife to the river; later, he took back the butcher knife from the river fearing that the tool might hurt the river creatures. He later cut his own stomach & threw his organs to the river in order to purify himself for the sins he had done as a butcher. At that moment, holy light descended from the sky & escorted his soul to Wudan San for the Way. This is the legendary story of the Sagely One who was later became God from an ordinary butcher.

 Extracts from Commemorative Plaque of Lian Hua San San Chin Pantheon, Miri... "Historical brief of ‘Miri Lian Hua San San Ching Taoism Association’ Tao means literally the ‘path’ and is a universal principle that underlies everything from the creation of galaxies to the interaction of human being. Taoism is a philosophy and San Ching is the phenomenal belief of Taoism. ‘Miri Lian Hua San San Ching Tian’ is originated from ‘Miri San Ching Yuk Fang Tian’ that was formed since 1972. After the unfortunate demise of our first Chairman of the Association – Mr Chiew Choon Lim in the late 1998, a new committee was formed in 1999 under the guidance of Mr Hii Siew Ong to complete the visionary Pantheon of ‘San Ching’. The Pantheon of ‘Miri San Ching’ is located on a land sized 1.475 acres, with a total built-up area of approximately 2000 sq meters. The development plan was designed and constructed in accordance to approved plan by Miri Municipal Council and Land &

The Japanese Occupation started in 1941 in Sarawak and ended in 1945. Tze Yin Khor in Lubok Antu was partly founded due to the war. Lubok Antu is a small town of the Sri Aman division, about 4 hours from Kuching by road; from the Trans Borneo highway junction alone, it take more than 30 minutes to reach this small border town, one of the very few townships in Sarawak sits next to Kalimantan of Indonesia. In 1941, after Kuching was controlled by the Japanese force, small inland towns were like a domino, one by one fallen to the Japanese as their soldiers moved along the Batang Lupar to the interior. Lubok Antu was no exception. As the Japanese landed in Engkilili which was the nearest town to Lubok Antu, and about a day journey by river, the soldiers faced fierce resistance from the Iban warriors at the Batang Lupar upstream. As the Ibans slowly lost ground to modern gun power, anxiety permeated the Lubok Antu township residents where many of them were Chinese.

Tze Yin Khor is located in Sri Aman, the capital of 2nd Division of Sarawak; it is about 200 km by road from Kuching. There is only one traditional Chinese temple in this small town. 9 Batang (river) Lupar next to Tze Yin Khor The temple is located at the river bank of Batang Lupar, famous for the Tidal Wave called Benak locally. This is one of the few temples in Sarawak which is more than a century. The present glamorous architecture was completed in 1993. Around the year 1849 when James Brooke established its forces in the Skrang region near Sri Aman, the Chinese, particularly the Teoh Chew pioneers, started to do business in the area. As the Brooke Administration reinforced its presence in Batang Lupar with a fort, more Chinese especially Teoh Chew settled down in Sri Aman or around the Batang Lupar area. Before the turn of 20th Century, a small temple was thus built to cater for the growing Chinese population; this was the earlier Tze Yin Khor, with Tze Pei Goddess

About two centuries ago, Ching San Yen area was already a prosperous port for Kuching. It served as one of the two major ports of entry to Kuching or Sarawak at large at that time (the other one is the Santubong river mouth), for vessels from the South China Sea. The Brooke Administration at that time also had custom offices or the like established for purposes of taxation & other clearance. The temple was already established at that time for the Chinese immigrants. It also served as a first stop for the newly arriving Chinese immigrants to pay respect and to thank for the long safe journey, before moving on to the hinterland or other parts of Sarawak. Many adherents believe that Ching San Yen was built on a good Feng Shui; the prosperity of Kuching is associated with that since then. Accordingly, Ching San Yen is seated on a Golden Turtle in the North (the Muara Tebas hill), and facing a flowing river in front on the South. The location might have been chosen car

There are many Tua Pek Kong temples in Sarawak; the most famous one is Tua Pek Kong Temple in Kuching. The Tua Pek Kong temple in Limbang is called Hock Teck Tsyr, and in Serian it is called Tai Pak Kung. The generic name Tua Pek Kong temple here refers to temples with Lord Tua Pek Kong as the Host Deity. Many Tua Pek Kong temples in Sarawak were found at least fifty years ago. Many dialects differences, geographical barrier, communication hindrance and the like in the past, had given rise to the different names of the temples, with the same host deity. There is no surprise that Lord Tua Pek Kong also has 'many' birthdays, with more or less the same reasons. Eng Ann Teng, Sibu The Eng Ann Teng in Sibu celebrates the birthday on 29th day of 3rd month of the lunar calendar. Others state differently, such as a notice of a Shrine near Tian Hou Temple in Carpenter Street/ Wayang Street, Kuching, indicates 1st day of 2nd month as the birthday. As such, the com

Thian Chun Tien or Thian Chun Chamber is one of the few orthodox Taoist temple in Sarawak. The newly completed temple is now situated in Senadin, Miri. Thian Chun Tien was first started in 1975 by Lee who practiced Taoist divination & Chinese medication to help people, in a devotee’s house in Miri. The small temple was relocated to Krokop, Miri in 1982 in order to cope with the growing number of dedicated devotees. The year 1985 marked a new milestone when Thian Chun Tien was successfully registered with the Registrar of Society; a new temple was thus planned after that. The current location here in Senadin was thus later granted by local authority. In 1990, the temple in Krokop was forced to relocate to Lee’s house in Pujut as the Senadin location was not ready yet. Affected buildings, included illegal squatters & Thian Chun Tien in Krokop areas, were to relocate in order to make way for the Miri Resort City Project. The construction of the temple started i

Around 1856, a group of Chinese miners from Sambas, Kalimantan landed in Marup to exploit the gold mine opportunity. With the approval from the Brooke Administration, these pioneers formed the Fifteen Kongsi (believed to be 15 shareholders) to manage the mining activities in Marup, Engkilili. As gold deposits diminished after 1887, some started to move to nearby Engkilili & settled down; they were the pioneers of the early Engkilili Chinese immigrants. The office of the Fifteen Kongsi was left behind and later on, transformed to the present day Fifteen Kongsi Chinese Temple. In the early 20th Century, as more miners settled down in Engkilili, some Teochew Chinese from nearby Sri Aman started to move to the area, and Engkilili started to transform to township. The Tua Pek Kong Temple here is said to be found around that time, as no exact record of the history is available. The temple was shifted to the present location in late 1950s to make way for new roads etc.

Mount Hosanna Chapel is located at 157 KM of the Kuching/Sri Aman Highway. Its unique architecture & white paintings makes it very eye-catching as you passed by the site even on the very first time. The building signifies three large white candles. The steps of the staircase to the top is said to be 100 steps. The place is opened only on Sunday at 1000am.