On September 27, 2022, 12 members of MCG, Explorers’ Out and About joined a tour to the oldest Taoist temple in Kuala Lumpur which was hosted by Tajuddin Idrus and conducted by a licensed tour guide who happens to be a temple volunteer too. All members were enlightened by topics including the history of the temple, prayers and rituals and their meanings.
The Sin Sze Si Ya Temple was first founded by Yap ah Loy in 1864 to commemorate his boss, Kapitan Sheng Ming Li, also known as Sin Si Ya and Yap Ah Loy’s general Sze Si Ya, who helped him win many battles. Later Yap Ah Loy donated the land and with the support of local residents, built this temple at the present location in 1881. The public deified the two heroes as local deities guarding their areas Till today, this temple is significant as it represents the beliefs of the common people and bears witness to the hard work and contributions of the early Chinese immigrants in developing Malaysia.
The temple has a main hall housing Sin Si Ya and Sze Si Ya as well as other deities. There is also a left wing which is the Ancestral Hall of Righteousness and Courage and at the right wing the Guanyin Hall. At the Guanyin hall, devotees can pray with the divination sticks to obtain their requests from Guanyin. A MCG new member tried it. Wonder what was the reply she got? Replies will be in the divination slips that correspond to the number on the sticks.
Our guide also explained why people crawl under the table in front of the altar to get blessings for the New Year, the different joss sticks and paper money for the big and small deities and how the people worship the White Tiger God and perform the ‘villain hitting’ ceremony. As a Chinese person and having to follow my Taoist mother-in-law to this temple to do this ritual some 40 years ago, today I fully understand each part of the ritual and who are the good and bad guys. We definitely found this a very enlightening tour.
Christine Siew