On the heritage trail

FROM NST TRAVEL 30 Oct 2014

A walking tour offers Sharon Ng Kooi Kin insight into the various places of worship in Penang

WE are advised to wear comfortable walking shoes and bring hats, umbrellas and drinking water on the 120-minute walk in the hot tropical sun.

We are at the Penang Teochew Association in Chulia Street to register for the 7.30am slot of Heritage Walk And Talk organised by the Penang Heritage Trust. There are some 300 participants at the registration tables. Our group of 11 from Taiping Heritage Society will join the Bukit Brown members from Singapore.

Before we start, chief organiser and project consultant Lim Gaik Siang, who is also the chairperson of the association’s Han Jiang Ancestral Temple restoration committee, gives an entertaining orientation talk on Folk Beliefs In George Town World Heritage Site.

She speaks about customs, legends and the beliefs of 200 religious houses and clan associations which celebrate about 500 festivals a year. In George Town, there are many houses of worship of all religions and Chinese temples are steeped in Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism.

She goes into detail about some of the more popular deities, how to recognise them in the temples we will be visiting that morning, the significance of offerings, the practices and staunch beliefs of the devotees and many other interesting tidbits to whet our appetite for the actual tour.

WALK THE TALK

A petite and sprightly girl named Joann Khaw is assigned to be our guide. Joann, a licenced tour guide with 20 years’ experience, is very knowledgeable about local beliefs and history. Her commentaries are engrossing, especially when she throws in her own experiences.

We start walking through a street bazaar where Indian delicacies are on sale. This is Little India, with Hindu shrines and stalls of colourful flowers and garlands lining the pavements.

Stalls of colourful flowers and garlands

We couldn’t enter the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple but Joann gives us a brief background, telling us how and why Lord Ganesha has an elephant head! The walk continues to temples and shrines like the Chi Sian Shrine on Lebuh Queen and the Wu Di Temple on Lebuh King.

The Tua Peh Kong Temple is the most impressive. We are introduced to the Jade Emperor (T’nee Kong) and the Duke of Heaven (T’nee Kua). Not to be missed is a little shrine hidden behind the main altar housing a female deity. Women pray to her for a good husband or boyfriend. The most common offerings are bottles of rose water, compact face powder and lipstick!

The biggest and seemingly most popular temple is the Kong Hock Keong or Guan Im (Goddess of Mercy) Temple on Lebuh Pitt.

A worker is seen on a ladder adding oil to a large vessel containing oil. Tiam yew (adding oil) is a common gesture by worshipers to bring blessings to their families.

SHRINES AND DEITIES

Another interesting aspect of the walking tour is the visit to shrines dedicated to specific deities.

We are shown two shrines of the Tujuh Beradik (Seven Brothers) Datuk Kong where devotees come to ask for, among other requests, lottery numbers !

At these shrines, seven skull caps and seven urns for joss sticks are common features. Offerings include cigarettes, coconut, betelnut leaves and other halal food, usually brought by Chinese devotees.

It is more like a folk belief with a touch of animism, rather than mainstream religions yet such shrines still maintain a following till this day.

In a street corner at Lebuh Pitt is the Ganesha Shrine. Hindu devotees pray here, swirling incense and breaking coconuts in front of the shrine.

Asked if other races pray here too, Joann says that many Chinese do. As if on cue, two young Chinese girls in shorts show up to pay homage.

The statue of Ganesha is usually garlanded but the garlands are cleared daily at 5pm, the shrine swept clean and broken coconut shells removed.

The last two worship houses we visit are Yap Temple in Lebuh Armenian and Kapitan Keling Mosque in Pitt Street.

The latter, an imposing building of Moorish architecture, was built in 1801. It is the oldest mosque in George Town. It was called Masjid Kapitan Keling Pitt Street.

In the front compound of the mosque, there used to be a police station (tua balai), a market and auctioneer’s junction. In fact, along Pitt Street (now renamed Lebuh Masjid Kapitan Keling) are houses of worship of the four main religions in the country: Christianity (St. George’s Church), Buddhism/Taoism (Guan Im Temple), Hindusim (Maha Mariamman Temple) and Islam (Masjid Kapitan Keling).

All these houses of worship are more than a century old and play a big part in promoting George Town as a world heritage site.

A Hindu street procession at the Little India

The preservation of this multi-religious and multi-racial feature of George Town is rarely found anywhere else in the world. The best part is that they can all be visited within a two-hour walk!

PUPPET AND OPERA MUSEUM

The last stop is the Teochew Puppet & Opera Museum in Mor Hun Club, Lebuh Armenian. For me, this is the most interesting of all the sites on the walk.

The Teochew clan, a Chinese dialect group, has a strong presence in traditional performing arts and their skills and activities have been listed as Intangible Cultural Heritage in Penang.

The last Teochew puppet owner, Toh Ai Wah, now 64, was the winner of the Living Heritage Treasure of Penang Award in 2008.

Although we do not get to meet her, we are introduced to Ling Goh, her daughter and the present director. Ling, also a puppeteer, represents the sixth generation of the Goh family Teochew opera troupe.

For our visit, she demonstrates how to apply stage make-up and shares with us the work they’re presently doing. The troupe is usually invited to perform at Chinese religious festivals all over Penang and even in other States.

The operas are not only for the viewing pleasure of temple gods but also for entertaining present day audiences.

For instance, a few months ago, her troupe was invited to perform at a cafe lounge in Kuala Lumpur, with a puppet show as introduction and life-sized actors continuing the story.

Puppet shows and operas are also regularly held at the museum.

THS nembers with Ling Goh (in red) and Joanne (in white)

This unique museum has a wonderful display of performing arts paraphernalia, made even more fascinating by the presence of puppet-sized costumes, miniature furniture and stage props.

Richly embroidered human-sized Chinese opera costumes hang in one corner while other counters show off cloth shoes and high boots, long beards, bejewelled head dresses, elaborate masks and wooden weapons used in traditional Chinese dramas.

The puppet dolls, dressed in lavishly decorated costumes, are a delight to see. Also on display are the wind and string musical instruments used by the stage musicians, scripts and musical scores featured in Chinese operas.

What a fitting end to one of the most interesting and engrossing heritage walks I have ever embarked upon.

George Town in Penang was awarded Unesco World Heritage Site status on July 7, 2008. This year is the sixth anniversary of its Heritage Day celebrations, which spans over two days with some 40 events and activities to choose from, including talks, city walks, traditional handicraft classes, Ramadan bazaar, Penang food, open houses, multicultural performances and temple opera shows.

Fast Facts

Penang Heritage Trust, 26 Lebuh Gereja, George Town, Penang.

Tel: 04-264 2631. Email: info@pht.org.my

Teochew Puppet and Opera Museum

Tel: 04-262 0377

By Sharon Ng Kooi Kin