When Aric said, Let’s go to Klang and visit a temple there. It will be a surprise for you, I immediately accepted. One afternoon, we drove to Klang and used Waze to find the Tian Hock Keng temple (Temple of Heavenly Bliss). Here is the temple, when you look at the roof, you may already guess what makes it special. On Google Earth, you see its location. beside the Klang river, and next to a highway.
The temple is relatively new, built in the 1980s. In 2017, the Klang Third Bridge was opened, and the access road is dominating the temple. It is a typical Chinese temple, mainly Taoist, but with elements of Buddhism (an impressive shrine for Guan Yin) and folk religion (a Datuk Kong shrine).
You enter the main hall by crossing a bridge.
The entrance to the main hall makes clear why the temple is named the snake temple. No dragons here, but snakes. Everywhere, decorating the pillars, on the roof, apparently more than 60 sculptures.
The temple also has a few real snakes. In cages. The albino python is very impressive/
Entering the main hall, you will find several beautiful small wooden shrines. Maybe they are used to carry deities out during processions.
Should you still have any doubts, the octagonal window in the ceiling with the eight trigrams and the Yin Yang symbol proves that this is a Taoist temple.
We bought a set of 24(?) joss sticks, 6 candles, and a pack of “hell money”. A signboard showed where and in which order the sticks and candles had to be placed. Took quite some time 😉
This is the main altar. The temple is dedicated to Xiao Jun Er Fu, a Taoist deity. According to legend, he was one of three brothers who defeated an evil serpent during the Song dynasty (960-1279), and was later deified.
He is generally depicted with a green face (left picture, with a snake curled around him)
There were a few ornamental tables and chairs. Perhaps they are used when a medium enters a trance and can answer questions from devotees.
On the left side of the main hall, there is an entrance to the underworld!, guarded by Ox-Head and Horse-Face. Note that you can not enter the underworld, there is a modern sign Do Not Enter. But I could take a picture 😉
The Datuk Kong shrine is very beautiful and much more elaborate than the usual Datuk Kong shrines I have seen. All the figures are Datuk Kong, with a lot of symbolism. For example, the one in the center is dressed in yellow and represents balance and well-being. Their headgear looks like a tengkolok, worn by sultans and royals. The three in front are wearing songkoks. The walking stick is a common attribute and offerings can not contain pork.
Below the main shrine, there is a small shrine dedicated to Hu Ye, the Tiger god, also a protector deity.
At the end of our visit, Aric burned the josspapers.
A very interesting temple. Not much information is available on the Internet, but this FMT article is quite informative.
On 10/01/2025, the Ipoh Echo published an article Ng Boo Bee Fountain Restored, about the iconic fountain in the Taiping Lake Gardens. I visited the fountain a few times, last year.
A quote from the article:
Originally located in front of the Taiping Market, this iron fountain was made by Penang Foundry and was donated by Ng Boo Bee
When you Google for Ng Boo Bee Fountain, you will find many similar hits: Donated by Ng Boo Bee in the late 19th century, originally located in front of the Taiping market, removed to the Lake Gardens when the New Clocktower was constructed in the 1960s.
Unfortunately, this story is completely wrong.
I will split this post in three parts, about the fountain in the Lake Gardens, about Ng Boo Bee and- about the origins of the incorrect story.
The fountain in the Lake Gardens
It was an eyeopener for me that there has been a fountain in the Taiping Lake Gardens from the beginning. Presented by the Chinese community, see my blog, Taiping Lake Gardens. I searched the NewspaperSG archive and found another report about the opening of the Lake Gardens.
Source: Straits Times Weekly Issue, 28 November 1893. I have added a transcription.
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When Mr. and Mes. Swettenham arrive, they are met by the two leading members of the Chinese community, Chung Keng Quee (Ah Kwi), and Chin Ah Yam (Ah Yam). During the Larut Wars they were sworn enemies, as leaders of the Hai San and Ghee Hin, now they have become friends and both have been appointed Kapitan Cina. They hand over a silver key to Mrs. Swettenham and ask her to present the fountain on behalf of the Chinese to the Public Garden.
So that settles the question if Ng Boo Bee was related to the fountain. He was not and the name Ng Boo Bee fountain should not be used. Maybe name it Peace Fountain?
About Ng Boo Bee
Although Ng Boo Bee (1853-1921) has been very important for Taiping, not much information can be found on the Internet. There is no Wikipedia topic about him, like there is for Chung Keng Quee. In the Wikipedia article Malaysian Chinese there is only a picture of him with British officials, nothing about his life. Here is the picture, he is seated second from left, flanked by Sir John Anderson(incoming Governor of the Strait’s Settlements, and Sir Frank Swettenham (the outgoing Governor).
Ng Boo Bee was not only an important tycoon and a millionaire, but also a philanthropist . Here is a part of the obituary, published in the Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle after he passed away in 1921.
The Taiping people will remember him because of the handsome fountain he donated in 1908 to the fish market of Taiping. Not only decorative, but also functional because there were tanks around the fountain to keep the fish alive.
Two senior THS members remember the fountain, it was still there when they visited the fish market in the early1960s with their mothers. A few years ago they interviewed an old fishmonger, who told them how sad he was when the fountain was destroyed to make place for more stalls. So the fountain donated by Ng Boo Bee, doesn’t exist anymore. It would be wonderful to have a picture of that fountain.
It is not clear when it was destroyed. But this newspaper clipping might be a clue. Source: The Straits Times, 3 February 1965 A big freshen-up campaign by Taiping council. Here is a paragraph that might be interesting for this post:
The council is also considering sponsoring design competitions for a new $100,000 market, a clocktower $50,000 and a $30,000 water fountain.+
The clocktower and the fountain were built, although the fountain (and the roundabout where it was located), do not exist anymore. No new market has been built, could the money have been used to upgrade the Fish Market (resulting in the destruction of the fountain)?
The origins of the incorrect story.
I have spent much time the last few weeks searching for the source of the wrong story. The initial mistake is that the Ng Boo Bee Fountain was located at (outside) the fish market, instead of inside.
The earliest reference to a fountain AT the market that I have found, is this one: Ng Boo Bee Fountain, Taiping (4 February, 2006). It gives some information about Ng Boo Bee and then continues:
Ng Boo Bee’s fountain was made of cast iron at the Penang Foundry. It was originally installed at the Taiping Market, but was later moved to the lawn outside the Lake Gardens.
Another “old” reference is the Taiping Heritage Trail (~2015) which mentions the New Clocktower and writes about it:
Market Square used to feature an iron fountain (Ng Boo Bee Fountain) but this was relocated to the Lake Gardens and replaced by this extraordinary concrete clock tower
These two references are from popular, reliable websites and have percolated the Internet for many years. Even if they are corrected, it will take a long time before the Ng Boo Bee Fountain in the Lake Gardens has disappeared from cyberspace.
What might help, is an entry in Wikipedia about Ng Boo Bee, but to create it, would be a gigantic job.
A few weeks ago, I published a post about the KL Lake Gardens, now renamed Perdana Botanical Garden. The gardens were developed in the 1880s and opened on 13 May 1889. During this period Sir Frank Swettenham was Resident of Selangor, and his wife, Lady Sydney Swettenham, was a strong supporter of the project/ In her honor the lake was named Sydney Lake.
I knew that Lady Swettenham was also a supporter of the Taiping Lake Gardens, I searched for more information and found a Wikipedia article Taiping Lake Gardens, in which she is mentioned in the history section. But how? I was shocked. Here is a quote:
The Taiping Lake Gardens was originally a mining ground before it was established as a public garden in 1880. The idea of a public garden was the brainchild of Colonel Robert Sandilands Frowd Walker.[1] The garden was developed by Charles Compton Reade (1880–1933), who was also responsible for planning the Kuala Lumpur garden town, together with Lady Swettenham.
That the garden was developed by Reade is clearly nonsensical, as he was born in 1880., the year that Colonel Walker came with the idea.
I asked Marianne, a member of the Taiping Heritage Society and experienced in using the NewspaperSG online archive to search for information. She found a gem. Here it is
Source The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, 4 December 1893 As it is not easy to read, I have added a transcription.
The Public Gardens (the original name) were opened on+ 17 November 1893 by Sir Frank Swettenham, the Resident of Perak and his wife, Lady Swettenham. She performed the opening ceremony by turning on the fountain presented by the Chinese community. Frank Swettenham gave a speech in which he praised W.R Scott who had put his whole heart in the project.
Not only the reference to Raede is bizarre, also the opening date of the Garden is incorrect, and it is not the first public garden in what soon would become the Federated Malay States, because the Kuala Lumpur public garden had been opened in 1889, 4 years earlier.
What I often do, when I find discrepancies in Wikipedia, is to check the history of the article. Followers of my blog may remember the Amelia Earhart saga, where the author of the Tekah Aeodrome article , had wrongly assumed that she had landed there on 7 June 1937.
So I checked the history of the Taiping Lake Garden topic, and I was shocked to find that the creator of the Lake Gardens topic on 5 February 2009, was the same Andrew Kidman, who created the Tekah item on 12 June 2007. He has been quite active between 2007 abd 2012, creating 36 Wikipedia pages. No sign of life after that, I have tried to contact him in 2019, no response.
Does it matter, these two mistakes? Yes, because these errors have percolated the Internet during the more than 15 years that they went unnoticed. Google for the history of the Taiping Lake Gardens and you may find that they are the oldest public gardens in Malaya and designed by the New Zealand town planner Charles Compton Reade.
In my opinion, the Taiping Heritage Society has the best credentials to correct the errors. I am willing to assist them.
A humorous detail: Swettenham compares the two public gardens in Taiping and Kuala Lumpur. He can do that because, before becoming the Resident of Perak (1889-1896), he was the Resident of Selangor (1882-1889). This is his opinion about the Taiping Lake Gardens:
Of course they could never expect to have such a beautiful garden as in the adjoined State of Selangor when the grounds seemed to have been formed by Nature for the purpose
Would current visitors of both gardens still agree with him?
A final remark
Lady Swettenham opened the gardens by activating the fountain given by the Chinese community of Taiping. The beautiful fountain is still there and has been rejuvenated last year. It is commonly called the Ng Boo Bee Fountain. But that is incorrect. In my next post I will explain the confusion.
In2021 I wrote a post about the Gang of four, describing the friendship between four senior citizens. This year we will be all octogenarians, so our activities are getting more limited. After the COVID pandemic we have made three day trips, to Kampar(2022), Janda Baik(2022), and Jugra(2024). This time Khong suggested to have lunch at the WK restaurant in Ulu Yam, I suggested to combine it with a visit to a Buddhist sanctuary in Ulu Yam and Stephen proposed another restaurant in Ulu Yam, with the best prawn tom yam he had ever tasted.
We started with coffee in Serendah, a coffee shop where Khong was a regular.
Next, we continued to the “Buddhist Sanctuary”, which I had visited twice in the past, in 2007 and 2012. So long ago that I only remembered it was a nice, quiet place. It still is, but it is not a sanctuary. It is a monastery, following the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism. It is much more important than its remote location would suggest. I am interested in (Theravada) Buddhism, but not in the Tibetan variant so I had to Google for more information. The monastery serves as a major seat of the 7th Tharig Rinpoche, a spiritual leader of the Sakya sect. Here is the official website: Ulu Yam Sakya Tharig Monastery .I have found no info about a Thai background, although locals sometimes call it a Siamese temple. The monastery was officially opened in 1998.
This interesting statue at the entrance is not the Buddha, but a Bodhisattva. It is Avalokiteshvara, the male version of Guan Yin, the god of compassion.
The entrance to the main hall is flanked by the 18 Arhats.
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The impressive main hall.
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There are two huge prayer wheels. When you turn them three times (clockwise), it will bring you luck. Of course Khong and I did it.
The twelve Zodiac signs are also there. I am a monkey, Aric is a dragon, of course I had to take “our” pictures.
A small shrine and a statue of the 6th Tharig Rinpoche.
Nice atmosphere.
A photo of the Gang of Four.
Outside the monastery there is a cemetery and a columbary.
After this very interesting visit, it was time for lunch. We followed Stephen’s suggestion and went to the Hock Lay restaurant in Ulu Yam, where we had the “best Prawn Tom Yam ever””, fish, tofu and veggie for RM 139. Value for Money.
A nice outing. I hope that we don’t have to wait two years for the next one.
In my last blog post about the Chinese New Year, CNY 2025. I mentioned a few more CNY-reports. Interesting for me to read them again, as I forgot many details. They are basically all very similar, spending a few days with Aric in Parit Baru, meeting his extended family, and having lots of food.
This post is not different, but I have tried to change the format a bit and add some details.
Preparations
Compulsory preparations for CNY are buying new clothes and having a haircut.
Early Celebration
Ten days before CNY, there was an early reunion for Aric’s maternal family in Kepong.
Family members had prepared food for reunion dinner in buffet style.-
Of course ther was Yee Sang, tossing a salad.The higher you toss, the more luck it will bring you.
There was also a birthday celebration and of course the traditional group photo.
Two days before CNY
We arrived one day earlier than usual, because Aric needed time to prepare the CNY decorations. We reached Parit Baru in the evening and had dinner in the fishing village, a few km from the family house.
Not many people yet. We had dinner with Aric’s older brother Ah Peng, older sister Aei Ling, and her two kids, Teng Wei and Chun Yee. Of course, we had seafood.
CNY Eve
It is nice to join Aric at Parit Baru, after so many years, it feels like I am a family member. But it is also a challenge, because it is difficult to get some privacy. Fortunately, the family has a bungalow, a few minutes’ drive from the family house. We stayed overnight there, and Aric was my Grab driver when I needed some rest and privacy.
Next morning, we drove back to the family house, where an offering table had been prepared, prayers for the ancestors. That is a tradition on the last day of the year. At the back of the house, there was another, smaller offering table, which I had never noticed earlier. Apparently, it can be found in the countryside, also on the last day of the (lunar) year. Google gives various explanations (chicken, local deities, ancestors).
Aric was busy the whole day, preparing the CNY decorations with the help of nephews and nieces. It was a kind of three-dimensional construction kit, not easy.
I had nothing to do, so I decided to take some pictures of the house and its surroundings. The house is located in a Malay kampung. Many years ago, Aric’s father and two uncles started a hardware shop here. Three families lived in the house. The hardware shop is doing well.
In the past, the three families always had the reunion dinner on CNY eve together, but this time it was separate. Aric’s brother Raymond had arrived with his family. Of course, we had the traditional steamboat 😉 .
CNY day 1
Here, Aric is inspecting the result of what they had prepared the day before. He is a perfectionist, so he was not 100% happy. “It could have been better” But it was good enough to enable him to create his usual digital CNY card.
There was another offering table for the ancestors. The first day of the month, so vegetarian this time. Note that the table is set for nine ancestors. The Deity on the altar is Tua Pek Kong, the Taoist god of Prosperity.
It was a quiet morning, but a bit hot to stay inside the house.
In the afternoon, we drove to a small shrine, a few km from the house. It’s a Datok Shrine, dedicated to a local deity, you find them everywhere in Malaysia. This one is situated nicely beside a small stream. We visit it every year.
Back at the house, I took a few pictures of the shrines there. Left is the shrine for the sky god, right a small Datok Shrine.
During the day, many more cousins, often with their kids, had arrived. I know the names of Aric’s nephews and nieces, but not of his cousins. Here everybody is relaxing in the common living room, playing cards or watching their smartphones.
Scenic photo of the front door with Aric’s decorations.
CNY Day 2
This year (and also the next two years), CNY and Ramadan start in the same lunar month. Because the Islamic calendar requires the new moon to be sighted, the actual start of the fasting is one or two days later. Parit Baru has a Kedai Kopi with very good roti canai, we went there for breakfast on the last day that it was open.
More photos of the family house. The living room and the kitchen are shared by the three families, but meals are prepared separately. There are three fridges, dining tables, kitchen sinks, etc.
Left the part of the kitchen for Aric’s family, the other photo shows the tables for the families of the two uncles.
Left the toilet and shower section. Right the backyard, doing laundry is a daily chore.
After many days of Chinese food, I was in the mood for something different. We drove to Sungei Besar where they have a McDonald’s. I enjoyed a cheeseburger.
CNY day 3
The last part of my pictures of the family house. The house is partly wooden, especially the first floor, where each family has its private rooms. During CNY so many people come back that all available space is used to put mattresses. Good that I could escape to the bungalow 😉 .
Giving and/or receiving Ang Pow is part of the CNY celebration. The small red envelopes contain money and signify good luck and prosperity. They are usually given by older people to younger ones. I give Ang Pow, as Uncle Jan, but I also receive them, not sure why ;-). Giving Ang Pow to Aric’s nephews and nieces is always a nice ritual. Aric invites them to the family room, where he has prepared surprises for them.
A few of the young ladies had prepared two beautiful vegetarian Yee Sang plates. The three families did the tossing in the common living room.
Day 3 is always the party day for the Cheah family, with Aric as the organiser. It was a bit unfortunate that it started raining in the afternoon.
The family had decided to use a caterer for the buffet dinner. Indian food for a change.
For the young kids, a fire was prepared, so they could put marshmallows on a stick and fry them.
Later, the rain stopped. Aric always organises a kind of lottery game.
The traditional group photo. More than 50 people.
Of course, there were fireworks.
CNY day 4
In the morning, there was another offering table, set for one ancestor only. The first wife of the grandfather, who had passed away on day 4, many years ago. The family is very traditional in keeping the rituals alive. In the right photo, you see how everybody is folding “ghost money” to be burned later.
After lunch it was time to go home.
I had asked Aric to bring his drone and take some aerial views of the family house and the surroundings. At the horizon the Bernam river, with Perak at the other side.
Left Pekan Pari Baru, right a close-up of the Cheah “mansion”.
CNY day 5
I was quite exhausted after a 6D5N stay in Parit Baru. But on day 5, we were invited to another CNY reunion in Damansara Mutiara, near where we live. Another big crowd, I escaped to the garden. Aric’s extended maternal family this time.
Both kids and adults like to play cards.
And of course, another group photo, the third one for me 😉
Hokkien New Year Eve,dy 8
After recovering during the weekend, there was a nice, small-scale finale on day 8. Aric’s brother-in-law is Hokkien, and they celebrate the New Year on day 9. We visited them in Puchong on the evening of day 8.There was the usual offering table.
Although I am not a Taoist, I don’t mind joining them in prayers.
On Tuesday, 17 February 2026, the Chinese Year of the Fire Horse started. The next day, Wednesday 18 February, was Ash Wednesday, the start of the Christian Lenten fasting. And on 19 February, in Malaysia, the fasting month of Ramadan started. A remarkable coincidence? On 19 February, a Facebook article was posted. If you have FB, you can read the article by clicking on the screenshot.
The article states that this coincidence happened the first time since 1863 and will not happen again until 2189 It is rare because three calendars are involved: the Muslim calendar, the Chinese calendar and the Christian calendar.
I am interested in calendars and have written several times about it (here and here and here), so I was interested and decided to check the statement. First, some information about the various calendars.
The Gregorian calendar
Introduced by Pope Gregorius XIII in 1582, it is the globally accepted civil calendar. It is a solar calendar, 365 days with a leap day on 29 February if the year is divisible by 4 (except for century years not divisible by 400).
The Islamic calendar+
The Islamic calendar is lunar, a lunar year equals 12 lunar months of 29 or 30 days, and is 11-12 days shorter than a solar year. So the lunar year moves forward through the seasons. After 33 years, it has made a complete cycle. All Islamic celebrations, like Hari Raya, Muharram, etc/ are movable feasts.
In 2026 the first day of Ramadan fell on Thursday, 19 February. In the table, dates for a few more years are given. The first day of Ramadan moves forward 11-12 days each year, and in 2059, 33 years later, it falls again in February.
Year
Start of Ramadan
Commnet
2026
Thursday,19 February
2027
Monday, 8 February
11 days earler
2028
Friday 28 January
11 days earlier
2029
Tuesday, 16 January
12 days earlier
…..
2059
Friday, 14 February
33 years later
The Chinese calendar
This calendar is lunisolar, to avoid the drifting through the seasons, every few years an extra lunar month is added. As a result the Chinese New Year is still a movable feast but with a limited range (the earliest date is 21 January, the latest date is 20 February).
In 2026 the Chinese New Year started on 17 February. The table shows the same years as the Ramadan table. Note that in 2026, 2027 and 2028, CNY and the start of Ramadan use the same New Moon. The 2-day difference occurs because CNY uses the astronomical New Moon, whereas in Islam, a New Moon must be SIGHTED. More in the appendix. Also note that in 2059 the start of Ramadan and CNY “coincide” again!
Year
Chinese New Year
Comment
2026
Tuesday, 17 February
2027
Saturday, 6 February
11 days earlier
2028
Wednesday 26 Janaury
11 days earlier
2029
Tuesday, 13 February
2028 was a leap year
…..
2059
Wednesday, 12 February
The Christian Calendar
The Christian calendar is often identified with the solar Gregorian calendar, but that is a bit confusing. Yes, Christmas and related events like Advent and Epiphany are celebrated on fixed dates, but Easter and related events like Lent, Pentecost, are movable feasts related to the moon cycle in a complicated way. Easter falls on the Sundayafter the first full moon on or after the Spring equinox. This leads to a window for Easter (22March-25 April) and also for the beginning of Lent, 46 days earlier, Ash Wednesday (4 February-10 March). Comparing the windows for CNY and Ash Wednesday, note that there is a partial overlap,
Here is the table for Ash Wednesday. In 2026 it fell on 18 February and again a few more years are shown. Because of the complicated procedure to determine the date for Easter, date for Ash Wednesday looks quite irregular. But note that in 2059 it falls on the same day as CNY!
Year
Ash Wednesday
Comment
2026
Wednesday, 18 February
2027
Wednesday, 10 February
8 days earlier
2028
Wednesday, 1 March
12 days later
2029
Wednesday, 14 February
15 days earlier
……
2059
Wednesday, 14 February
Combining the three calendars, we see that indeed, 2026 is special, because CNY (17 February), Ash Wednesday (18 February) and the start of Ramadan (19 February) occur within two days. According to the FB article, this is extremely rare; the next time it will happen is, according to “calendar experts”, after 163 years, in 2189. The FB message was copied many times, for example, on Instagram.
But is it true? Look at the year 2059 in the three calendar tables. n 2059, after 33 years, CNY (12 February), Ash Wednesday (12 February), and the start of Ramadan (14 February) will occur within 2 days.
The claim that the next occurrence will be in 2189 is FALSE. It will happen again in 2059.
What about 2092, another cycle of 33 years later? I checked the data, and the answer is NO. CNY falls on Thursday, 7 February, and Ramadan starts on Saturday, 9 February. But Ash Wednesday is one week later, 13 February. The “calendar experts” may be right that there is another occurrence in 2189, but they have overlooked 2059.
Appendix
The Islamic and Chinese calendars can have celebrations at the Same New Moon, but never at the same date; there is always a difference of 1 or 2 days. The reason is that both calendars define the start of a lunar month in different ways.
The astronomical New Moon is not a day, but a specific time on that day. For example, the New Moon occurred on 17 February 20:01 Malaysia time.
The Chinese calendar uses this time. there fore, 17 February was the first day of the Year of the Horse.
The Islamic calendar states that a new day starts at sunset and that a new lunar month starts when the new moon is visually sighted. But on 17 February at sunset, the new moon has not yet occurred, so the first sighting can only take place at sunset on 18 February, and the first day of Ramadan will be 19 February, two days later
It takes about 10-15 hours after the new moon for an observer to spot the first sliver of the new moon
I will illustrate this using data for an occurrence of CNY and Hari Raya. As Hari Raya is a major celebration for Muslims, as CNY is for the Chinese, a coincidence of the two is so special that it got its own name, Kongi Raya. It will happen in 2029, 2030 and 2031
Here is the table, with the times of the new moon added.
Year
New Moon
Chinese New Year
Hari Rya
2029
18:31
13 February
15 February
2030
00:07
3 February
4 February
2031
12:31
23 January
25 January
In 2029, the new moon occurs on 13 February at 18:31. Impossible to sight the moon, Hari Raya start two days later. One year later the new moon occurs at 00:07. That same eveing the new moon can be sighted, so Hari Ray starts at 4 Fevruary. In 2032, the new moon occurs at 12:31. Not enough time to sight the new moon at susnet, Hari Raya 25 January
The Hindu calendar is also lunisolar, their main festival Deepavali can also occur together with Hari Raya. This is called DeepaRaya and will happen again in 2037-2039
In 2017, I published a detailed report about KL Heritage. In this report, I give more information about the impressive Sultan Abdul Samad building, the former Government Offices during the colonial era. After the independence of Malaysia, the building housed the superior courts of Malaysia until they were relocated to Putrajaya in 2003. Since then we could only admire the impressive building from the outside. But last year it was refurbished, and a few weeks ago it reopened to the public.
Free access during February, so we joined the crowd to have a look inside. We parked our car under Merdeka Square and walked to the building. The facade must have been cleaned; it looked fresh and wonderful. It was already late afternoon, as we wanted to take night pictures.
We didn’t even need to register; we could just walk in. The building is large, clear ground plans are helpful for your orientation. The group floor has two galleries. We started with the Royal Selangor gallery (number 1 in the plan).
It is mostly a sales gallery. Royal Selangor, world-renowned for its pewter, has its visitor center in Setapak, and has now opened a branch here.
Beautiful stuff, very expensive.
One part of the gallery is the School of Hard Knocks (5), where workshops will be held for people who want to craft their own pewter dish.
There is also a cafe (4) where we decided to have a coffee and cake
Next, we wanted to visit the Kuala Lumpur Gallery(2), but it closed at 6 pm. This gallery about the history of KL will be more interesting, so I have to come back another time. I understand that the exhibits are basically the same as the former KL City Gallery (See my KL Heritage blog), but it will be interesting to see them in this new location
So we walked up to the first floor. Of course we took numerous pictures.
There are more restaurants in the building, on the ground plan I counted six(!). This is a real restaurant,
We could not resist the temptation to take a picture of ourselves.
There were many visitors, both locals and tourists.
At around 7 pm, the lights came on. We went back to the ground floor. This is the backside of the building, a nice, quiet courtyard.
We left the building and crossed Merdeka Square to the Selangor Club. What a fantastic view of the whole building.
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A few more pictures.
The building deserves to become one of the top attractions of Kuala Lumpur.
Before driving back home, we took a few more night pictures of other interesting buildings in the region. Here is the Masjid Jamek, rather dwarfed by the modern background.
Old Railway Station and the National Mosque.
KL Tower and the Merdeka 118 skyscraper.
No idea if access will remain free after this month. For those living in Malaysia, use the opportunity. Open from 8 am until 10 pm, but galleries close at 6 pm.
When Aric suggested to go on an overnight trip to Kulai, I didn’t even know the location of that town. Actually, it is in Johore, near Johor Bharu, a 4-5 hour drive from where we live! He said that we would visit the Putuo Village, which features an interesting Chinese temple.
It is not really a village, located in a bamboo forest, quite far from Kulai town. There was a cafe where we had coffee and some snacks.
The temple is next to the cafe.
To enter the temple, we had to cross a bridge over a canal, decorated with lanterns in rainbow colors.
There are two guardians at the entrance, one male and one female. See if you can spot the difference.
A big surprise for me. A huge dragon made of bamboo hung from the ceiling in the entrance hall. No surprise for Aric, as this was why he wanted to visit the temple in the first place, his zodiac sign being a dragon.
Later, I read on the Internet that this work of art was only placed here during the CNY 2024, a Year of the Dragon. Made by an Indonesian craftsman who worked on it for six months. An amazing creation.
Entering the main hall, there were more surprises. The temple is dedicated to Guan Yin, the goddess of compassion in Mahayana Buddhism, but here she is shown as the female manifestation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. The other surprise was the bamboo architecture, which reminded me of Gothic cathedrals in Europe. Fascinating.
The beautiful statue, with eighteen arms, is the largest in Malaysia. At the back of the hall, there is another statue with even more arms.
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We bought a candle, and I offered it to the goddess. Out of respect, although I am not a Buddhist.
In the court, there was a wishing tree. You have to throw the red ribbon up and hope that it will get caught in one of the branches.
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We bought one, and Aric managed to get it stuck, after several tries.
It was a pleasure to walk around and enjoy the serene atmosphere. Everywhere colorful rainbow flags. There was also a gallery with prayer wheels.
We found a traditional statue of Guan- Yin. Aric is bathing the (baby) Buddha, a traditional ritual during Wesak, the Buddha’s birthday.
A separate shrine for the God of Wealth, -important for Chinese devotees. The dragon looks fierce and unfriendly.
After spending quite some time in the temple, we went to the second attraction of Putuo Village, the Purple Bamboo Valley. In a picturesque bamboo forest, several attractions have been constructed, often utilizing bamboo, making them perfect for taking pictures. We paid a small entrance fee,
Sun and Moon in the bamboo forest.
Very attractive and peaceful.
Concrete steps allow you to climb several attractions. The snake statue is probably a new addition, because this year is the Year of the Snake. We visited the valley on a weekday, and there were not many visitors. Of course, we took many pictures.
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The forest also has some shrines. The decoration is about the Mid-Autumn festival and may be temporary.
The temple is only a few hundred meters away and connected via a walkway, decorated with rainbow flags.
After spending many hours in the Putuo Village, we were a bit dehydrated. Before going to our hotel in Kulai, we went to a cafe for an ABD and a rojak
Our hotel was in a new part of the town, a very small room, but clean.
Using the WIFI in our hotel, I searched for more information about the Putuo Village. It began around 2005 as a small Buddhist site dedicated to Guan Yin. Around 2015, a major renovation started, using local bamboo. This renovation is continuing. The name Putuo comes from Mount Putuo, a sacred mountain in China, the “residence” of Guan Yin. Many temples there, and also a famous Purple Bamboo Forest.
We decided to visit the temple again the next morning, after breakfast in Kulai.
We were curious about the bamboo architecture and about how the dragon was made from bamboo.
Here are two details of the dragon. The whole creature has been “woven” from bamboo! Absolutely amazing.
About the architecture, it looks like the roof of the temple is supported by bamboo. But when you look carefully, you will see that behind the bamboo there is a metal structure. And the fanlike “pillars” may have been filled with cement, for strength.
We found a scale model of the temple in the entrance hall. Aric managed to take a picture inside this model.
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In a Chinese temple, you will often find divination tools to gain insight, guidance, or answers about the future. This Mahayana Buddhist temple is no exception. On a table, we found two examples, Poe blocks and Chinese Fortune sticks. The Poe blocks have a flat and a curved side. When you throw a pair on the floor, while making a wish, it matters how they fall, flat side up or curved side up. One flat, the other one curved, is positive. The fortune sticks are numbered, you shake the container until one stick falls out. Then you read the message.
Another interesting shrine is the Datok Kong shrine in the temple grounds.
We walked around the temple to admire the architecture. Notice the Datok Kong shrine, next to the temple. Those shrines, dedicated to a local deity, were built before the construction of the main temple started.
After this second visit, we left a bit reluctantly for the long drive back home. Altogether, we drove more than 700 km in two days, but it was worth the effort.
My fourth visit to Taping this year! The main reason was the 9 Emperor Gods Festival. But it so happened that my friend Lay Chun celebrated her birthday, and she invited me to her birthday dinner. On Monday, 27 October, I took the MRT and ETS to Taiping. The train was fully booked. And freezing cold.
From the station I took a Grab to Hotel Furama; I always have the same room; it feels like my second home.
I went out for my lunch and walked to the Peace Hotel, where I had my Char Kway Teow. After Lay Chun introduced me to this stall, I became a regular visitor.
A few days earlier, there had been heavy rain with flooding and evacuations in several regions around Taiping, but now the weather was splendid, so I decided to walk around a bit. One of the reasons I love Taiping is the mixture of beauty and decay. Here are two examples. The beautiful Peranakan house on Jalan Stesen and a ruin, which also has its charm..
I passed the former Perak Railway Headquarters (later the PWD department), which was recently destroyed by fire. The third fire in a heritage-related, abandoned building in the last three years. Very suspicious, in my opinion. More about the “Shame of Taiping” later in this post.
PWD building 2025Rest House 2023Majestic Cinema 2025
Before returning to my hotel, I relaxed for a while at the Lake Gardens.
One month ago, Siang Malam reopened after the rebuilding. I was interested to have a look and when I mentioned it to my friends, they liked to join. Pleasant atmosphere, quite a big crowd. I had Wantan Mee, not bed.
The 9 Emperor Gods Festival is held during the first 9 days of the ninth lunar month. The main procession is on day 8, and the firewalking is on the final night. In 2019, I watched the procession for the first time. Click here for a report. I found it so spectacular that I came back in 2023 (report here), so this was my third time. Again, I was the guest of Ng Teng Hin and Bok Kin, in the townhouse of Ng Boo Bee, Teng Hin’s ancestor..
The Ng family always prepares an offering table. When the procession passes the house, they stop for a while and perform rituals.
Here are two short videos about the procession..
A few more pictures. The piercings were less extreme than in 2019 and 2023 but still fascinating. Mostly tongue and cheek piercings
After the floats and devotees had passed the house, I walked slowly back, again encountering the procession. Here, a float is passing the clock tower. The other picture shows Kavadi carriers taking a rest. The Hindu Navaratri festival takes place in the same period as the 9 Emperor Gods festival, and the procession has devotees from both religions.
Devotees are always supported by helpers, who carry a stool if they need to rest.
The floats can be large and are often impressive.
Later that evening, I was picked up from Furama by my friend Goh for the birthday dinner. Lay Chun had invited 17 guests and booked two tables. A delicious mix of Chinese dishes, the picture shows six of the eight courses
At the end of the dinner, of course, there was the traditional birthday cake.
The next morning, I had breakfast with Yeap and his wife. Indian food/
I was interested to (re)visit the old New Club Swimming Pool and asked Yeap if he would like to join me. The last time I visited the pool was with my friend Halim in 2019. The path starts near the Indian temple, just before the bridge. It’s an easy path that, in a few hundred meters, brings you to the pool.
After a few more steps, we reached the swimming pool. It was built in the early 19th century exclusively for New Club members. After the New Club built a new swimming pool near the club building, the old swimming pool was abandoned, but Yeap told me that in the seventies, as a teenager, he. had still been swimming here, organised by his school/
The pool was heavily silted, and the buildings (changing rooms, a canteen, etc) were long gone, but as a memory from the past, the pool could become an interesting heritage attraction..
In 2019, my friend Halim posed as a diver, and I did the same this time. In 2019, the pool was not yet silted!
Small steps lead to an upper terrace. We did not explore further and walked back to the road.
The Indian temple and the romantic footbridge
Next, we had a look at the Kempe Club, visited by me in 2019 (report here) when it was still used by old-timers. Now locked, but still in good condition. Yeap, a Rotarian, told me that the Rotary Taiping had used this club for their weekly meetings.
In the afternoon, I went out for lunch at Ansari Cendol, taking a different route. Again the charm of Taiping, a mixture of beauty and decay.
I like this kind of mural better than the huge “official” ones.
On my way, I passed the replica of the Pasar. At the moment an empty shell. Will it ever become a market again?
At Ansari, this time I had not only a cendol, but also a pasembor.
I walked back along Jalan Stesen. Two years ago, an ambitious plan was launched to transform the Rest House and the adjoining buildings (Perak Railway building) into a boutique hotel. Click here for the Facebook page. But until now nothing happened; it seems that there is a permission issue, with possibly racial undertones.
Officially, both buildings have been fenced off, but access was still possible, as I have shown in several earlier blog posts. As a result, homeless people have been staying in both buildings. Since earlier this year, the Rest House has even a real entrance gate. I went inside and noticed that the resident had parked his motorbike inside the compound..
The complex next to the Rest House, the former Railway Headquarters, consists actually of two buildings. A two-story timber structure, dated to 1885, and a two-story brick building, added later. It is this brick building that has been damaged by fire. The timber structure, shown below, had its own resident, access via a small opening in the fence.
No sign of a resident this time. I sneaked in to have a look at the murals.
No fire in this building, but for many years it has been a ruin, the courtyard has become a jungle. At the back, you can see the facade of the brick building..
Here is the brick building, where the fire raged. Too dangerous to enter, but I could take some photos from the outside. Left the Cross Street facade, right the main facade at Jalan Stesen.
The brick structure is still solid, but the roof is destroyed. Inside, it was vandalized years ago, and the wooden flooring was stolen. That’s why I assumed that no resident would live in this building.
But there is one location, outside the building, near the counter, familiar to many Taiping folks, that shows traces of human presence. Notice that there is a suitcase, a mattress. and some clothes.
I walked back to my hotel. Again, the charm of Taiping, the mixture of beauty and decay.
The beautiful Larut, Matang & Selama Land and District Office, a design by Caulfield, completed in 1897. One of the few heritage buildings maintained by the authorities, most of the other heritage buildings are preserved by private initiative.
On the other side of the road, the Kwangtung Association building, with a huge mural on its side facade.
The FMS restaurant (on the site of the former Raja Rest House) and the Silver Jubilee Jetty. Walking around in Taiping is always a pleasure.
In the evening, I went with Yeap and his wife to the 9 Emperor Gods Temple in Tupai for the firewalking ceremony. Waiting for them, I walked to the nearby Peng Loong kampong. The kampong had a bad reputation, but it is now peaceful.
The Tupai Temple is the oldest 9 Emperor Gods temple in Taiping, and attracts a crowd of devotees and other visitors during the festival.
During the nine days of the festival, devotees eat vegetarian food. In and around the temple compound, there are many eateries. We had dinner there, the traditional fare, nee rebus, curry mee, all vegetarian..
I had a look at the firewalking place, where they were busy preparing the embers. It is a small stretch, between the two black flags, where the devotees will walk..
I also visited the temple.
There are many rituals in preparation for the actual firewalking. Here is a video.
Preparing for the actual firewalking. The guy with the yellow “apron” is the leader and the caretaker of the temple. Notice the red glowing of the embers!
A video shows better what firewalking is. Some devotees walk slowly, even carrying a kid. Others run as fast as they can.
Teap told me that many devotees stay in the temple during the nine days and showed me the dormitories, with people going home
After the firewalking. preparations are made to send off the Emperor Gods.
A fascinating ceremony! Before I went to sleep, I needed to relax a bit at the Lake Gardens.
The next morning, I had breakfast with my friend Foo, Chee Cheong Fun at the Circus Grounds, , one of our traditions.
Later, he picked me up from Furama and dropped me at the station. I am fortunate to have good friends in Taiping!
Recently, I was in Taiping with two Dutch friends. They loved the Lake Gardens and enjoyed the food. I also showed them the impressive mural of Amelia Earhart, the famous American aviator.
Here, I am standing in front of it.
I pointed out the text on the mural:
Amelia Mary Earhart, the first woman to fly solo around the world stopped to refuel at the Taiping Aerodrome in Tekah on 20th June 1937.
And I told him that Amelia Earhart actually never landed in Taiping.
Of course, Mathew was surprised. I gave him the link to my blog, Did Amelia Earhart land in Taiping?, written three years ago. In that blog I had demonstrated convincingly that she had never landed in Taiping and had not even the intention to do so. Although there was some publicity in the press, no action was taken by the relevant authorities to correct the mistake and I decided to let it go.
Mathew was intrigued and, back in the Netherlands, he searched in Delpher. a Dutch newspaper archive for more information about Amelia Earhart. He found many clippings, in Dutch language of course. I will describe them in the appendix.
Singapore also has a newspaper archive, NewspaperSG. I had used it often to find information about the history of Taiping. But I never searched for information about Amelia Earhart. Now I did! Here is a direct link to the June 1937 database.
Almost immediately I found what I was looking for. In the Pinang Gazette and Straits Chronicle of 21 June. Here it is
On 20June 1937 Amelia Earhart left Bangkok for her flight to to Singapore. The aerodromes of Penang and Alor Star made preparations in case she decided to land at either of them. At 2:35pm a message from Alor STar said that she had passed over. In Penang there was hope she might land there, but after about 45 minutes …
… a message was received from Taiping to say that Miss Earhart’s machine had passed over that State.
This should end the controversy. Will the relevant authorities take action this time and modify the text on the mural?
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APPENDIX
Amelia Earhart’s solo flight around the world was global news. Even more so in the Netherlands, for several reasons. In 1934, the KLM had won the prestigious handicap race, London-Melbourne. The flight of the “Uiver” caused a lot of enthusiasm. In those early decades of aviation, Fokker, a Dutch company, dominated the civil aircraft industry. And Amelia Earhart’s flight plan included Bandung in the Dutch East Indies. a Dutch colony (now Indonesia).
Here are a few newspaper clippings collected by Mathew. I have added the English translation (in blue italics) and some comments of my own
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Sumatra-bode, 19 June 1937
Amelia Earhart’s Flight Akyab, June 18 (Aneta). Amelia Earhart arrived from Calcutta and departed for Bangkok at 6:4 GMT, but after battling the monsoon for two hours and failing to establish radio contact with the bearing stations in Rangoon and Akyab, she returned. The return trip occurred during a heavy thunderstorm. Amelia Earhart encountered dense cloud cover, while visibility was poor over the desolate coastline, one of the most treacherous factors on long-distance flights. Earhart will continue her world flight on June 19.
The original plan was to fly from Calcutta to Bangkok with a refueling stop in Akyab. But she had to battle the monsoon weather and was forced to return to Akyab. The visibility was so bad that she didn’t dare to fly over land where suddenly a hill might appear. Instead, she followed the “desolate” coastline.
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Algemeen handelsblad voor Nederlandsch-Indie¨, 21 juni 1937
Amelia’s World Flight. Arrived in Rangoon. Rangoon, June 19 (Own service). —Amelia Earhart arrived in Rangoon on Saturday morning.She took off from Akyab three times. After the first takeoff, she turned back.After this, she tried again, but again, due to bad weather, she turned back. Finally, the third time, she succeeded. Upon her arrival in Rangoon, the round-the-world flyer declared that the Akyab-Rangoon leg was the worst of the entire trip.
The next day, the weather was even worse. No way of reaching Bangkok. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she managed to land in Rangoon and stay overnight there.
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Nieuwe Apeldoornsche courant, 21 juni 1937
Amelia Earhart to Bandung Won the Rangoon-Singapore route of the “Ibis” and an English plane. Amelia Earhart, coming from Rangoon, landed in Singapore. She arrived ten minutes ahead of the KLM plane, the “Ibis.” The two KLM and Imperial Airways airliners took off from Bangkok at the same time as Amelia Earhart. The brave pilot said she had made a bet with the airline pilots that she would cover the distance from Bangkok to Singapore the fastest. Laughing, she took a picture of the “Ibis” as the plane landed at the airport after her. To continue her flight around the world, Amelia Earhart left for Bandung, in the Dutch East Indies, last night.
On 20 June the weather improves and Amelia Earhart reaches Singapore, after a refueling stop in Bangkok. A bit earlier than the Ibis and the English plane, but the story about a bet is fake news and will be corrected later. Notice how this newspaper, based in the Netherlands, writes that she left for Bandung “last night”. Amelia avoided flying at night, she left Singapore early morning on 21 June, Different time zones… 😉
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Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indie¨, 21 juni 1937
WHERE WAS AMELIA EARHART…? Last Saturday, wild rumors circulated in a small circle in Bandung that the daring American ocean aviator Amelia Earhart, who was on a round-the-world flight over the British East Indies, would be honoring Bandung with a visit. The Royal Netherlands Air Force (KNIL) agency here had received word that Lady “Lindy” would most likely land in Andir on Sunday, or yesterday during the day. However, it was not to be. An Aneta report,distributed via the Nirom, informed the public yesterday morning that Lady “Lindy” had only arrived in Rangoon last Saturday afternoon, after having taken off from Akyab three times previously; however, the exceptionally bad weather forced her to return to Akyab an equal number of times. Last night we received a telephone message from the KNIL agent here, Mr. L. Mees, in Bandung, stating that Miss Amelia Earhart is expected in Andir Monday morning (today) between 8 and 10 a.m.
A nice article from a newspaper in the Dutch East Indies, where people are anxiously waiting in Bandung for her arrival on 20 June, until they are notified about the delay in Burma.
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Dagblad nieuwe Hoornsche courant, 21J une 1937
Amelia Earhart in Bandung. BANDUNG, JUNE 21 (Aneta—A.N.P.). Amelia Earhart arrived in Bandung at 1:56 p.m. local time. Further information. BANDUNG, June 21 (Aneta—A.N.P.). The aviator Amelia Earhart landed in Bandung this morning at 10:56 a.m. on her round-the-world flight. She circled above the airfield for fifteen minutes, presumably because the various signs on the ground were obscured by the low-hanging clouds. Then several aircraft from the aviation department took off and landed to show Amelia how to land. There was great interest at the airfield. The “Bandung Vooruit” association offered flowers. Miss Earhart will stay here for three days, as KLM has the only equipment in Bandung where it can have the instruments of its modern aircraft thoroughly overhauled. Miss Earhart will visit the Tangkoeban Pra-hoe this evening.
On 21 June, Amelia Earhart lands in Bandung. Notice that the arrival time is given twice, with a strange difference of three hours. The report contains one interesting detail, which I have not found elsewhere, that local aviators took off to help her land because low-hanging clouds obscured the landing signs on the runway. Amelia stayed three nights here, so the KLM workshop could thoroughly inspect her plane. Therefore, she had time to be a tourist and visit the Tangkoeban Pra-hoe , a famous volcano near Bandung.
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Dagblad nieuwe Hoornsche courant, 21J une 1937
No Bet BATAVIA, June 21 (Aneta—A.N.P.). The commander of the “Ibis,” Mr. Stork, reported that Amelia Earhart, after taking off from the airport in Singapore, returned there due to engine trouble. She was still there when the “Ibis” took off. Regarding reports of a so-called friendly competition between Amelia Earhart and the KLM “Ibis,” he stated that competitions are never held with KLM aircraft, and moreover, the Rangoon-Singapore route for the “Ibis” was completely different from that for the American aviator. The “Ibis” made stopovers in Bangkok, Penang, and Medan, where delays occurred for refueling, food, mail, and loading, while Amelia Earhart—except for a stopover in Bangkok—flew directly to Singapore. It should also be noted that the “Ibis” had a speed of 270 km/h, while Amelia Earhart, with her Wasp Junior engines, had a speed of 237 km/h. The entire betting story must therefore be considered completely false.
In the same newspaper, a correction of the “bet” story. The pilot of the “Ibis” explains that there has never been a bet. The Ibis was a commercial airliner; it had to make two intermediate landings, in Penang and Medan. In a direct competition, the Ibis would have won, because the machine was faster.
My blog post will end here. Amelia Earhart stayed in the Dutch East Indies longer than planned (repairs, sickness), then continued to Australia and New Guinea. On 2 July, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, started for the long flight (about 20 hours, more than 4000km) to Howland Island.
Where they never arrived. Most plausible explanation is that the plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. But there are other possibilities, including several conspiracy theories.
