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Da Bo Gong
November 3, 2004
Discovering cultures, customs and conventions around the world.
I’m Valarie Tan. Welcome to a World of our own.
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| Built atop a lake, the Hock San Temple is popular amongst devotees in Singapore. |
If you were to take a ferry and travel about 6 kilometres south from Singapore, you’ll reach Kusu Island.
Kusu means Tortoise Island in Chinese.
Some people actually say the original shape of the island was a tortoise. Before reclamation, the island is made up of 2 ridges on a reef.
“Before reclamation, it was sea everywhere. What you’re standing on now is the tortoise head. The hilltop you see over there is the tortoise back. So our ancestors called this the tortoise island” says Mdm Sin Choy Yeng, the caretaker of the island’s popular Hock San Temple.
But you won’t notice the ridges when you visit Kusu these days. The island has since been transformed into an 8.5 hectare holiday resort.
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| Devotees release tortoises into tanks and ponds like these all over Kusu island to fulfill promises to the deities. |
And live tortoises can be found all over the island in ponds and tanks.
“These were brought here by people to be released. Some of them have dreams of the Merchant God, who asked them to come here and release tortoises. Doing it will bless the people and ensure them peace and safety like those who work on the sea. Tortoises are symbolic of longevity as well” explains Mdm Sin who’s in her mid-seventies.
Kusu is also regarded by many Chinese devotees as sacred ground, home to the popular Da Bo Gong or the Temple of the Merchant God.
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| Devotees place joss sticks into incense pots like this when praying to the deities. |
Devotees go on an annual pilgrimage to worship the deities in the temple. At least 130 thousand of them make this trip to Kusu every year. They observe a diet of only vegetables before making the trip. Even on the island, meat is not allowed.
Built atop a lake, the temple is also home to another deity, the Guan Yin or the Goddess of Mercy. Hock San Temple is said to built in 1923 by a wealthy businessman. Little is known of this man. His name is Chia Cheng Ho and it was he who donated money to build the temple in honor of the Merchant God.
The temple is currently run by caretaker Mdm Sin.
“When my grandmother left, she asked me to take good care of the temple. So I made a promise to her to do so” says the small friendly old lady.
From health to prosperity, devotees pray for almost anything and everything at the temple.
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| Childless couples would tie rocks on this tree believed to have helped many conceive successfully. |
There’s also a famous wishing-tree outside the temple.
Explains Mdm Sim, “Couples married for a long time and have no children will pray for babies at that tree. They’ll tie a rock up on the tree, burn a joss stick and tell the tree their wishes. People of many races have come to pray there – Chinese, Indians, they’ve all been there. Wishes have been granted”
Sounds of shaking sticks in a wooden container and wood blocks being dropped on the floor is what you’ll hear as well at Hock San Temple.
The sticks are called ‘cue chiam’ or asking for a sign. Identical long thin wooden sticks marked with numbers are placed in a opened wooden container. The devotee will hold the container in a slanted direction and shake the sticks in the container till one and only one stick falls out onto the floor.
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| Shaking sticks in a container and throwing wood blocks on the ground, devotees pray for good fortune and prosperity from the Merchant God. |
Each stick is assigned to a unique message. The devotee will take the stick and give it to a man at a counter. In exchange the man will give the devotee a piece of paper which contains a message. This can be used to interpret the devotee’s fortune.
Then a prayer is said before two small red coloured blocks, called ‘sim puei’,each shaped like a crescent moon, are thrown onto the floor.
For an idea of what the blocks are for and the rest of the program, listen to A World of Our Own.
>>>>>>>>>>Valarie's trip to Kusu was made possible by Sentosa Development Corporation. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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