There are three temples in the old quarter of Kuching. The famous Tua Pek Kong Temple at the junction of Main Bazaar and Temple Street, the Hong San Si Temple at the end of Wayang Street and the Hiang Thian Siang Ti Temple in Carpenter Street. This trinity of temples is the oldest and grandest and a must-visit if only to peer what goes on behind the pall of incense smokes and the facade of garish images of prancing dragons and fierce looking warriors/gods in robes.

If antiquity is the yardstick of seniority, then the grandaddy of all temples in Kuching is probably the Tua Pek Kong Temple, believed to have been built in 1843. Dedicated to “Tua Pek Kong” (literally means “eldest grand uncle” in local Hokkien dialect) a minor god in the Chinese pantheon of divinities, the temple was built for the spiritual well being and social gathering points of hundreds of early Chinese immigrants workers during the 1800s.

Despite his lack of seniority in the rank and file of Chinese gods, the office of the Tua Pek Kong is not one to trifle with. For in him is vested the power of divine protection to all and sundry, especially the destitute new arrivals who escaped the despotic reign of feudal China to find a new life in the “Southern Seas”, a reference to lands in South East Asia. Ignorance and disrespect to him would render the unbelievers untold misfortune and even early death in this strange land.

The Tua Pek Kong temple has all the attributes of a good fung shui. With itsback to a hill (since leveled for development) and fronting the Sarawak River, it also has one of the most busy downtown traffic passing by on its very doorstep. Indeed, smacked right at the centre of the tourist enclave, the Tua Pek Kong enjoys a visibility no other house of worships can rival.

Built on a small hillock and surrounded by brightly coloured ramparts, this building cuts an imposing sight for many tourists staying within walking distance of the cluster of star-rated hotels nearby as they walk to the old quarter of Main Bazaar, Carpenter Street and the contrasting modernity of the Kuching Waterfront.

Stepping up the stairs to enter the temple, Visitors are assaulted by the wafts of incense smokes emanating from the joss stick on huge urns. Once on the outside courtyard of the temple, one can see paintings of a legion of Chinese gods adorning door ways, walls, columns and furniture, and employed in a style so bold that they make western paintings look genteel and effeminate. Chinese temple artists and painters have yet to know the meanings of pastels, soft hues and subtlety.

At the threshold of the entrance to the covered inner court, a huge brass urn is place at the centre for worshippers to stick their used joss sticks into the soft earth-like filling in it. As smokes billow, many worshippers are on their knees facing and praying towards the inner court where a large ornate altar is placed with the benevolent and sagely Tua Pek Kong, with luxuriat  beard, sitting on his throne facing them.

Depending on the type of temple and what deities they are dedicated to, most Chinese temple worship days fall on the 1st and 15th of the Chinese lunar month. True to the Chinese sense of being practical, temples practise flexi-time for worshipping. Besides dispensing the need for large assembly halls, this staggered timetable also means fewer traffic jams and thus no excuses for the harried believers not to turn up twice a month for their prayers and offerings. Even this is not strictly enforced, as guilt, if any, can easily be atoned by dropping by any hour of the day and any day of the month, as opposed to the Christian and Muslim.

Finally there is always the donation box and you can make the caretaker eyes curve to slits from smiling if you make him see that you drop some donation into the kitty. All Chinese temples run on charity from its believers, and the extra bonus from visitors will go a long way to repair its leaking roof and pipes and perhaps a new set of karaoke for its members for the deity’s birthday celebration.