Religious Ceremonies And Kim Eng Teochew Opera Troupe Performance At Tiong Bahru Qi Tian Gong Temple (Tape 1 of 10)
- National Archives of Singapore Fonds
Fonds/Collection
- 06/10/2006
Record Date
- 00:41:51
Recorded Duration
- English
Recording Language
-
2006003270
Accession No.
- Audiovisual
Type
- DVCAM
Format
-
Access permitted
Conditions Governing Access
-
Use and reproduction require written permission from depositing agency/donor. Processing of reproduction request may require 7 working days.
Conditions Governing Reproduction
-
Synopsis :0'00'':
General Secretary of Qi Tian Gong Temple Affair speaking- volunteering here/running his own business. The temple volunteers busy during a ceremony/procession. They had to observe strict temple laws - taking vegetarian food and abstaining from sex when they go for performance. If they fail to follow the temple laws, the god will punish them. He personally experienced it. Pray for God's forgiveness.
2'37'':
The man in trance got married and is now a grandfather. He comes on Sunday afternoon to answer devotees requests without affecting his job.
4'15'':
The temple volunteers and the man are happy to offer free service to save other people's lives.
4'55'':
He comes everyday for a few hours to manage the temple affairs. He finds that the devotees are pleased to pray here because they have received blessings from the God here.
5'15'':
He is a businessman but a volunteer in this temple. He even fork out his own money to sponsor the temple's activities. He has been here for many years because God has helped him to overcome many problems and help his wife to achieve her wishes (not winning big sweep/lottery). Since his childhood days, he is in close contact with the God (Qi Tian Gong) through his sixth sense.
8'32'':
He makes decision. Before he proceeds with the actions, he consults the God. He normally receives God's blessings for his action in business or personal matters.
8'42'':
He sells towel/handkerchief. He prays to God for blessing not superstition.
11'12'':
He said that if you believe,God will be there. God can go to ill-intended non-believer and bring bad luck to him/her. He has, personally, witness this kind of incident.
11'50'':
He cannot cure those who are very superstititous and are too wild. He has been to temples for 40 years and seen all sort of Gods. God will come when you do not believe or challenge it. You will suffer if your luck is bad. He has seen this happening.
13'52'':
He can see the real Qi tain Gong in the God-statue shop and taught the shop owner how to make a real Qi Tian Gong, although he is not an artist or craftsmen.
15'51'':
The God just come for a while and answer few important things. The Taoist laws must adjust accordingly like now, the year of 2000. The temple must be able to attract followers.
16'48'':
The temple must have attractions for prayers, ceremonies and other activities for devotees/followers. Just like the shopping malls.
18'07'':
Pray to God for luck not greed. Sometimes he buys lottery to follow the crowd. We must relax to live. His temple here follows the traditional way. Therefore, there is no special attraction. What they do is to make God look more pleasant and the temple clean and tidy. This is to enable devotees/followers to pray peacefully. They do not go around seeking for donations.
20'19'':
This temple does not offer 4D numbers. The devotee/follower pray to God for their own luck.
20'41'':
You do good, you will be lucky to strike a lottery. Besides being in close contact with God, he mixes with people and offer help.
22'12'':
Qi Tian Gong is the oldest. There are many similar Qi Tian Gong temples in Singapore.
22'45'':
He prefers the natural process of choosing a successor. We should not train a young man to take care of Qi Tian Gong temple. The successor will come naturally with God's blessing. Otherwise, just let the devotees/followers continue praying or seek for God's blessings here.
24'38'':
The temple volunteers are very old and is of retirement age. His daughter is 18 years old. She believes in Qi Tian Gong but does not come to this temple regularly.
26'35'':
He said the ''trance boy'' an old man would not want to be interviewed. He goes straight home after his performance and finishing his drink.
27'41'':
The ''trance boy'' (60 years old) cuts his tongue during performance twice a year like on Qi Tian Gong;s birthday. Our ''trance boy'' does only performance at our temple. Other ''trance boys'' may go to different temples and do performances commercially.
32'00'':
Nowadays, many ''trance boys'' including teenagers perform at temples, home and during procession. According to his past years experiences, Tiong Bahru/Redhill areas had hundreds of ''trance boys''. He said, ''There will be many ''trance boys'' performing at tomorrow's festival, with government licences issued slightly more frequently in recent years.''
32'18'':
the interviewer hoped to tap and preserve his many years of experience in Qi Tian Gong temple and ''trance boy'' performance. The interviewee said that he is very tired, otherwise he could tell many stories from his experiences.