A temple, some milk and a wrong turn

I couldn’t work out what it was, it just looked different from all the high-rise buildings jostling for space in the downtown district of Singapore. It was a low structure, and obviously much older. Completely out of place amongst the glass, steel and concrete skyscrapers around it. A relic from another time perhaps?

I was too far up to see any detail, so I did what all 21st century travellers do, reached for my phone and Google maps to try and work out what it was. But I couldn’t immediately spot it and my thoughts quickly turned to breakfast and the carefully crafted sightseeing itinerary I had planned for the day and my curiosity evaporated. Time was getting on and there was a whole city to explore in three days!

Sightseeing in Singapore can be overwhelming, what should you see if time is short? There are so many headliner attractions jostling for space on your ‘must see’ list and the heat and humidity, for Europeans built for a cooler climate, can be draining. However, we ploughed on and pushed through, ticking off places including Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay Sands, ArtScience Museum, the Botanic Gardens, Tekka Hawker Centre in Little India and (of course) Raffles for a cooling Singapore Sling!

Looking back, there’s something slightly ironic about that first day. As a self-confessed ‘planner and prepper’ I had spent a huge amount of time carefully planning what I wanted to see, determined not to waste a minute. And yet the thing I would remember most from my trip to Singapore wasn’t on my itinerary at all.

Waking early on the second morning, there was no milk for tea, a minor disaster! So, I was despatched to find some, my face in my phone and Google maps again, trying to locate the nearest grocery store. Mission accomplished, I set off back and promptly got lost! I could see where I wanted to be but the high-rise buildings, traffic and scores of people hurrying past on their way to work were disorientating.

I stopped and turned around, I was stood outside an open gate, ancient wooden doors framed by a spectacularly crenelated and decorated Chinese tiled roof. Curiosity took over, and the urgency of my milk acquisition was temporarily forgotten, I stepped over the lintel and into a wide courtyard in front of a low rise building with two doors and an equally elaborate and decorated roof. 

I suddenly realised that this was it, the place I’d spotted from my apartment window, a Chinese temple. Not so unusual, I thought (stupid!), a Chinese temple on the edge of Chinatown in Singapore!

But this wasn’t just any Chinese temple I had stumbled into, it was Yueh Hai Ching Temple, a Singapore National Monument and one of the oldest Taoist temples on the island with its origins stretching back nearly 200 years.

My eyes were immediately drawn to the colourful riot of activity on the roof, scenes of gods, goddesses, pavilions, flowers, boats and animals. All intricately crafted from porcelain. It was a sight to behold; in fact, I don’t think I have ever seen anything else quite like it in all the other places I have travelled to.

Looking down I quickly felt that I was intruding. While I had been studying the elaborate roof decorations, people wearing smart office clothes had been coming and going, obviously enroute to their workplaces, to worship and make offerings at small stone tables and a pagoda in the courtyard in front of the temple. I relaxed as a woman moved towards me across the courtyard, having completed her worship, her smile reassured me that I was not an unwelcome presence in the temple.

Fascinated, I discretely watched to try and work out what people were doing. Most lit and held three sticks of incense, which I later learned represent Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. Others faced outward toward the bit of open sky between the towering buildings which loomed over the courtyard. They were bowing to the Jade Emperor - the supreme ruler of Heaven, their lips moving silently to recant a prayer.

Researching Taoism after my visit, a religion and belief system I had absolutely no knowledge of previously, I understood that it is customary to state your full name, birthday, and current address to the sky god and other deities in the temple when making an offering, before then making a highly specific request such as asking for health, or success in a new venture.

At either end of the temple were what looked like large pizza ovens, painted red and white and shaped like pagodas. A man was burning handfuls of what looked like paper money! A little shocked I moved a bit closer to see if it really was handfuls of cash, he was carefully placing onto the flaming embers. In fact, this was another form of offering, joss paper also known as ghost money, spirit money, or underworld bank notes.

Again, I later learned that this practice of burning paper is a way to send material wealth and comfort to ancestors, spirits, or deities in the spiritual world. The element of fire acts as a bridge between the earthly world (Yang) and the spiritual world (Yin). And, as the paper turns to smoke and ash, it transforms into its spiritual essence, allowing the intended recipient to receive it on the other side.

This ‘currency’ can take several forms.

- Gold Joss Paper - Folded sheets of paper with gold foil for offering to deities and gods.

- Silver Joss Paper - Paper lined with silver foil used as currency for ancestors and wandering spirits.

- Hell Bank Notes - Modern paper money printed to look like real banknotes issued by the mythical ‘Bank of Heaven and Earth.’

- Paper Replicas of material goods. To ensure spirits and ancestors want for nothing, people burn paper replicas of things like houses, furniture, cars, clothes, food and even credit cards.

The growing noise of the traffic beyond the courtyard wall suddenly reminded me of my early morning shopping mission. I turned to leave, but as I reached the elaborate gate I glanced back at the temple and the worshippers and thought - I’ll probably remember this quiet moment surrounded by the frenetic hustle and bustle of Singapore long after I have left…….and I have.

Perhaps there’s a lesson in that.

There’s nothing wrong with having a carefully planned sightseeing itinerary. When you only have a few days in a place, it makes sense to think about what you want to see and make the most of your time. But sometimes, trying to fit everything in can mean leaving no room for the things you couldn’t possibly have planned for.

A wrong turn. A delay. A place that catches your eye. A few hours with nowhere you particularly need to be can really open up a place. These unplanned moments can sometimes tell you more about a destination than ticking another attraction off your list. You notice things you might otherwise have walked straight past. You follow your curiosity. You have time to stop and look rather than simply arrive, take the photograph and move on.

I hadn’t set out to see Yueh Hai Ching Temple. It took a shortage of milk, a slightly hopeless sense of direction and a bit of unplanned wandering to get me to its gates.

Yueh Hai Ching Temple can be found on the corner of Church Street and Philip Street in the downtown financial district of Singapore just north of the historic Telok Ayer Street and Chinatown.