Thian Hock Keng Temple — Local services in Singapore

Thian Hock Keng (literally "Palace of Heavenly Happiness"), also known as the Tianfu Temple, is a temple built for the worship of Mazu ("Ma Cho Po"), a Chinese sea goddess, located in Singapore. It is the oldest and most important temple of the Hokkien(Hoklo) people in the country. Another shrine at the back is Buddhist dedicated to Guanyin, the Mahayana Buddhist bodhisattva of mercy.

The temple originated as a small joss housefirst built around 1821–1822 at the waterfront serving the local Hokkien community, where seafarers and immigrants may give thanks to the sea goddess Mazu for a safe sea passage on their arrival to Singapore. The temple is located on Telok Ayer Street that originally ran along the coastline before land reclamation work began in the 1880s. Starting in 1839, the temple was rebuilt with funds collected over the years and donations from the community, the largest of which was from Tan Tock Seng, a Hokkien businessman. The building materials of the temple and a statue of Mazu was brought over from China, with the statue enshrined in the main hall of the temple in 1840. Some of the building materials, such as stone for the columns, timber as well as tiles were recycled from ballasts in ships. The local Indian community of Chulia Street also helped build the temple, and a statue of a man who appears to be an Indian holding a beam up at the ceiling was placed in the right wing as a reminder and gesture for their contribution. The temple was completed in 1842 at a cost of 30,000 Spanish dollars.

The main deity worshiped in the temple is Mazu ("Ma Cho Po"), a 10th century Fujianeseshamaness deified as a Chinese sea goddess. Early immigrants to Singapore offered incense to the goddess to give thanks for a safe passage across the sea from China. Today's worshippers come to the temple to pray for peace, protection and good health.[9]

A smaller shrine to Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy, is located at the back. Other deities worshiped in the temple include Baosheng Dadi (God of Medicine and Health), Guansheng Dijun (關聖帝君, worshipped for spiritual protection), Kai Zhang Seng Wang (開漳聖王, the Sacred Governor Kai Zhang), Qie Lan Pu Sa (伽藍聖王, Boddhisattva Sangharama) and Cheng Huang Ye (城隍爺, the City God). Confucius is also venerated...

The Pai Tien Kong Festival and relevance to Sugarcane! On the 9th day of the Chinese New Year, the Hokkien people celebrate the Phai Thien Kong (praying the Heaven God) festival which is dedicated to the Jade Emperor. The Hokkiens are a clan from the Southern China Fujian coastal province. (Opposite Taiwan) The 9th day they believe it is the birthday of the Jade Emperor (Thien Kong) who protected their ancestors from a ruthless army in ancient China. During the 12the century Song Dynasty (also named Mongol dynasty) most of the clans in Southern China (Fujian, Henan, Zhejiang) were heavily repressed and lived under great fear of the North China Mongols. Hokkiens were constantly at the mercy of the Mongols who attacked and hunted them, as they are seen a threat to the empire. They then fled to the Henan province where sugarcane plantations were in abundance. Though many were killed by the pursuing Mongols, a group of Hokkiens managed to hide themselves among the sugarcane plants and the pursuing Mongols never located them. Eventually they gave up and returned to their base. On the ninth day of the Chinese Lunar calendar, the Hokkiens emerged from their hideout praising the celestial deities for saving them and believed that the Heavenly God (Jade Emperor) had protected them. Thus, from there on, in all Hokkien celebrations, the sugarcane plant is given special meaning. Note: Above story has to be read as a legend as there are different variations known! It however ends all with the Sugarcane fields and prayers to the Jade God for their survival. This day is still remembered and celebrations starting with prayer at 11pm. Offering tables are prepared in Temples as well as at homes and a pair of sugarcane plants is usually placed, one on each side of the offering table. The pair symbolises unity, cooperation and strength. Sugarcane symbolises harmony, which brings all good outcome. The straightness of the sugarcane stems ensure that the Hokkiens become a clan of honest and...

Thian Hock Keng Temple (天福宮) is Singapore’s oldest Hokkien temple. Located at 158 Telok Ayer Street, it is recognised as the most majestic Chinese temple in Singapore.

It was designed and built in 1842 by skilled craftsmen from China according to traditional Chinese temple architectural style. The temple is managed by the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan. It was gazetted as a national monument on 28 June 1973.

In 1907, Emperor Guang Xu (光緒帝) of the Qing Dynasty presented a plaque, together with a silk scroll, to the temple. The wooden plaque is inscribed with the Chinese characters 波靖南溟 (bo jing nan ming), which mean “gentle waves over the South Seas”, The same four Chinese characters are also found on the yellow scroll.

The plaque and scroll had hung over the temple’s main altar signboard until 1999, when they were taken down before restoration work began. A replica of the original scroll and the original wooden plaque were returned to the same spot upon the completion of restoration work. The original scroll was subsequently donated to the National Museum of Singapore.

A new eight-storey Hokkien Huay Kuan Building was built on Telok Ayer Street in 2003, with the clan association occupying the top floor.

On 16 April 2005, a ceremony to commemorate the completion of the temple restoration, the clan association’s 165th anniversary and the opening of the new building was officiated by then Senior Minister...