Places of Worship & Devotion

From a distance, Fuk Teck Gong temple is floating on water, like a floating lotus. Going to Beliong is a step back in time. Visitors are ferried across the Samarahan River by boatmen in sampans after a leisurely and refreshing drive through the Asajaya countryside. Alighting from the boats, they are greeted by farmers who peddle an array of fresh produce from their farms – sweet corn, pineapples, bananas and coconuts. A cluster of Malay houses emerges from among coconut palms as you walk towards the Kampung. There is no road in Beliong. People walk or cycle. At mid-day, or anytime of the day, the place is quiet. There is no sound of traffic except for the sputtering of the outboard engine from the sampan ferrying visitors to the village or that of the occasional motorbike. This is a place which seems out of this world, spared the trappings of modern development. Meaning of Beliong Beliong in Chinese is Wen Loong. Literally, it means kissing the dragon. But there ar...

Extracts from The New Straits Times... KUCHING: It may not have the grandeur of Batu Caves Temple complex in Selangor, but Mount Matang Sri Mahamariamman Temple complex can lay claim to be the first Hindu temple built in Sarawak. Located at the foothills of Mount Matang, the temple complex is also fascinating as it is made entirely of wood. Although it is only about 45km from here, one needs to spend about 45 minutes hiking up the hill. The temple was originally built by Indian workers who were brought here to work on the coffee plantation run by the state government back in 1867, and later with Rajah Charles Brooke, who took over and switched to tea in 1897. "The Indian workers brought a bronze deity when they arrived here but it was transferred to a temple in Batu Lintang when the tea estate was closed in 1912 due to poor harvest. "The temple was abandoned for 55 years until it was rediscovered by a local villager who was hunting nearby,"said penghul...

The Debak Lung San Temple was said to be initiated before 1930, the earlier temple was a simple hut about 2 kilometers from the current location. The history of this small town, Debak, is more than 130 years. Earlier on Lord Tua Pek Kong was the only host deity; Xuan Tian Shang Ti (玄天上帝) was later hosted in by devotees’ request. Guan Gong (關公) joined in recently, forming the current 3 main host deities in this temple. Earlier, it was said that Guan Gong or similar character was seen many times near the temple doorstep. It was later learnt that Lord Guan Gong wanted to be hosted in this temple; that was the legend how Guan Gong became the host deity of Lung San Temple in Debak.

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...

This is a forgotten sad story of a Chinese leader Liu Shan Bang, the Twelve Kongsi operating in the Mau San gold mine, and the once prosperous self governed mining town of Bau Lama or Mau San. The Mau San Tian Tsze Lung Kung is more than a century old. It was founded around the time when gold & antimony were discovered in Mau San, about 1820 – 1830. The host deity is Lau Chu Tian Tsze, a deity of Hakka origin since most of the miners were Hakka, originally mostly from Sambas, Kalimantan. This temple provided the pioneer miners spiritual supports and also served as a centre for cultural activities & other administrative matters of the Twelve Kongsi. Before the arrival of Sir James Brooke, Sarawak was under the rule of Brunei. Around that time, Sarawak, particularly the settlement around the gold mining areas were facing an uprising against the Brunei ruling from native Dayaks and the Malays. James Brooke assisted the Sultan of Brunei to settle the local civil war ...

Shen Ong Kong or Kong Teck Choon Ong (in Hokkien dialect) or Guang Ze Zun Wan (广泽尊王) is the host deity of Hong San Si Kuching & many other similar temples in Sarawak. Unlike many other host deities, Shen Ong Kong has a childlike face with teenage energetic appearance, after all, he was only 16 years old when he (or his human transformation) died, or departed. Accordingly, he was born in 923 AD on 22nd day of 2nd Lunar Month in Ann Che District in Southern Fujian Province of China, in a farming family. Like many other legendary heavenly beings born into this physical world, the sky was adorned with colorful holy light, and fragrance permeated the whole room during his birth. Kuo Chung Fook was his name. As a child, he was intelligent & very filial to his parents. He had a very special squared facial feature with big round eyes. However, his parents passed away earlier in his childhood, and he had to work as a shepherd for a landlord called Yang, away from his home...

The sacred places of worship & devotion here concentrate on religious places mostly of the Taoist & Buddhist origin; particularly of the local Chinese traditions. Some other interesting & holy places of worship of other faiths may also be included. More than two hundreds years ago, there was an influx of Chinese immigrants, seeking a better living environment, headed out to various parts of the world, including the South East Asia region, where many of them were from Southern China. They brought with them from their home land the culture, traditions and skills to the new settlement; and one of the first things they did when they settled down on the new land was to build a place of worship to thank for the long safe journey, and subsequently to continue the kind of devotion from home, and to provide spiritual supports and protection in the new challenging environment. The history of Chinese in Sarawak & in many parts of the world can be observed from the his...

Tua Pek Kong Temple is one of the oldest (or the earliest known) Chinese temple in Sarawak; it is also one of the most famous and mentioned tourist destination in Sarawak. The temple was believed to be built around the year 1800, more than two centuries; the earliest known official land title issued by Charles Brooke was 29 August 1871. Like many of the earlier Chinese temple in Sarawak, it was a small & simple hut; the first known renovation was done in the year 1856, and subsequently it was upgraded with ceramic roofing & partial brick walls in 1863. By the year 1880 when cement was introduced into Sarawak, major parts of the temple were then concreted as to existing look. The earlier management of the temple before the Japanese occupation was elected informally by yearly cast lots of getting one representative with two ‘taukey’ to assist the required periodic ceremonial & religious occasions. After the war, the temple was managed by five Chinese ...

The Kuching Tua Pek Kong Temple was once seated on the best Feng Shui location in Kuching; as according to the Feng Shui principle, a hill at the back, a small and smooth flowing river in front (the lost Sg Kuching), and the best front view of the highest peak in the area, Gunung Serapi. The temple was built more than two centuries ago, long before James Brooke, the first White Rajah of Sarawak, arrived in Kuching. Like most Chinese temples, the temple prosperity affected and associated highly to the businesses, emotion and activities of the local Chinese community in the early days where majority were followers of Taoist related faith. It was also one of the few buildings that survived the 1884 the Great Fire of Kuching, where most Chinese believed was due to good Feng Shui. It was said that after the 1857 Chinese Insurrection in Bau, a gold mine township nearby, the Brooke Administration was worried about the Tua Pek Kong dominance and its influence to the local Kuching...

The Chinese started settlement in Limbang area more than a century ago. Around the year 1887, the pioneer Chinese migrated from Kuching (now the Capital of Sarawak); it was said that one of the senior immigrants started the construction of a small hut, said to be on a nearby small hill, for the Hock Teck Tsyr, or Tua Pek Kong Temple. The Temple had provided them a means of spiritual support as well as encouragement especially during the earlier years of challenging & harsh environment. This early simple temple was maintained by a small group of devotees until around 1890. The 1st relocation of a better premise was initiated by a businessman, said to be from Singapore who came to Limbang around that year. The present premise is of the 2nd relocation as the earlier land was gazetted for Government purposes in 1964. The completion of the current Hock Teck Tsyr was August 1978. Like most places of worship in Sarawak, the temple here, or Hock Teck Tsyr and its affiliated ...