Places of Worship & Devotion

Tann Hua Foo Sibu is situated in the town center of Sibu, among the various churches of this Christian town. The monastery is said to be initiated long before the Eng Ang Teng (Tua Pek Kong Sibu). The current new monastery was named Guan Yin Chamber temporary during the construction, as the old temple was still operating, since there could not be two 'Tann Hua Foo' in one place. The name, 'Guan Yin Chamber', remains after that. There are few similar places of Tann Hua Foo in the outskirts of Sibu, such as Tann Hua Foo Sarikei; many of those were said to be (branch off) from here, Sibu. Tann Hua Foo Sarikei Tann Hua Foo or similar places of worship are found only in Central Sarawak where most of the Hockchew live, as the host deity is originated from China Hockchew (Fuzhou) province.

Eng Ann Teng Tua Pek Kong Temple, Sibu was found more than a century ago, around the year 1870. In the 1871 Sarawak Gazette, the temple was recorded as a small wooden Chinese temple. The temple was then rebuilt into a typical Taoist Chinese Architecture in 1897. Most of the critical building materials were imported from China, including the statue of the host deity, Lord Tua Pek Kong. The details of the contributors & expenditure of the 1897 rebuilding was curved in two pieces of stones, which are still in the temple. Like many of the histories of Tua Pek Kong temples in Sarawak, the Eng Ang Teng Tua Pek Kong temple had gone through major fire disaster, and was unharmed; the March 8, 1928 fire was a tragedy, as most of Sibu business shoplots were destroyed after the incident. Towards the end of the Japanese occupation, the temple was severely destroyed due to Allied Forces’ air strikes on Sibu town; the statue of Tua Pek Kong, again, was unharmed. In 1957, the temple wa...

“ Over a hundred years ago, a small Catholic Chapel was built among the Bidayuh on the slope of Mt. Singai, Bau, Sarawak in 1885. Today this majestic ancestral home of the Bidayuh of Singai is no longer inhabited following the migration of the people to the surrounding lowlands. The site of the first chapel at Mt. Singai however has been turned into a Memorial and Pilgrimage Centre with the building, completion and blessing of the Centre in November 1999. The Centre has attracted a lot of Catholics and other Christian Pilgrims and has become very popular with the local Catholics and other Christian denominations and those from other places, so much so that the existing living quarters, especially the washrooms and toilet facilities could no longer cope with the increase in the number of visitors there.” Above extracts was from a memo (dated 30 July 2007) posted at the CMPC at Mt. Singai, Bau, Sarawak. Mt. Singai, situated between Bau & Batu Kawa, about 550m hi...