Rituals

Rituals

Mr Jave Wong, a Taoist monk, chants alone from early morning till noon to invite the Jade Emperor to the birthday celebration
of Guan Yu. PHOTO BY: Rachel Chan
Chanting, joss sticks and burning of offerings
- these are a few of the things that can be commonly
seen during Buddhist and Taoist celebrations.
Throughout the year, Buddhist and Taoist temples
will prepare to celebrate the birthdays of
different deities, be it an extravagant or a small
affair.
A stone’s throw away from Redhill MRT station
lies Seng Tiong Temple, nestled in the tranquil
Lengkok Bahru neighbourhood, a place known
for its highly populated medium presence.
I travelled up to the fourth level and was greeted
by light chanting and incense from joss sticks
wafting out of open windows and gates.
Mr Royce Tan, together with his mother and elder
brother, are proud inhabitants of this temple/3-room
home.
“All of this started 13 years ago, where it was passed
down from many generations, from my uncle to my
mother. He needed someone to take over for him,
as he had no children,” said Mr Tan.
Previously Google-ing on information as to what
it was all about, Mr Tan always wondered why his
mother decided to become a tang ki, but eventually
caught his interest and was convinced that becoming
that role and performing trances (tiao tang) was
in fact very meaningful and challenging.
Arrangements were on the way since the previous
night at 8pm to celebrate the birthday of Guan Yu,
a deity who used to be a general during the Eastern
Han dynasty.
Prepping for these celebrations is always a difficult
task as there is always a plethora of procedures before
and during the ceremony that need to be followed
correctly.
They would first pray to an “army”, embodied by
five paper horses, to protect the celebrations from

any evil and make sure that nothing goes wrong.
For tang kis who plan to go into a trance/possession,
it is mandatory for them to be “clean”,
where they will have to abstain from sin and be
on a vegetarian diet for 49 days prior to the ritual.
Mr Tan mentioned that tang kis from many years
ago had to trek up the mountains to stay and
“cleanse” themselves.
A variety of food from a full roasted pig to steamed
chickens was spread out end to end on a table in
front of the altar as offerings for the deities.
While devotees sat intently at the corridors folding
joss paper to be burned in a few hours, Mr
Jave Wong, a Taoist monk, led the prayers since
9am as he steadily chanted from a thick book till
noon.
This routine is to invite the Jade Emperor, or Yu
Huang Da Di, to the ceremony to enjoy the offerings
and for the devotees to pray and pay their
respects in the later hours of the day.
Mrs Tan then threw two red moon-shaped wooden
blocks (Jiao Bei) on the floor to ask Jade Emperor
on whether he was satisfied with ceremony,
Once the folding of more joss paper is done by the devotees, some of them help to bring them to a rented cage to be
stacked and burned in the afternoon. PHOTO BY: Rachel Chan
After a few tries, a smile befell on her face, and
the festivities continued.
I awaited the eye-watering billowing of incense
and vociferous ringing of a lone drum and gong
to hit me as Mrs Tan prepared for the tiao tang of
Guan Yu.
Mr Jeffrey Chwa, a devotee and helper for the celebration,
said that “it is very rare for a male deity
to possess a female tang ki during the ritual”, and
that the “louder and faster” the momentum
of the instruments, the quicker a tang ki can get
possessed.
A troop of devotees followed Mrs Tan, who was
still in a trance, around the neighbourhood
as they made their way to an opengrass
area to burn the offerings.
Everyone battled the scorching setting sun
beating on their backs and sweat trickling
down faces as the prayers went on.
Once it’s over, we all then ate food offered to the deities,
and was happy that everything was a success.

Devotees cover the offerings in the case that it rains or gets blown away before the burning in late afternoon.
PHOTO BY: Rachel Chan

Mr Wu starts the proper ritual
together with the devotees behind
him, from young to old,
to pray to the Jade Emperor
with many types of offerings
that signify different things.
PHOTO BY: Rachel Chan

A basket of fruits, which is one of the offerings, is being passed around the devotees for them to offer and pray to the Jade Emperor.
PHOTO BY: Rachel Chan
Once the prayers are finished and the Jade Emperor is satisfied with the celebration, Mr Wu heads out for one final prayer towards
the sky, with a devotee.
PHOTO BY: Rachel Chan

“ It’s very rare for
a male deity to
possess a female
tang ki during
the ritual”
- Mr Chwa

Mr Tan uses a whip to prepare
for his mother’s tiao tang, as
the piercing sound of the whip
when it hits the floor summons
the deity at a much faster rate.
PHOTO BY: Rachel Chan

Mr Tan’s elder brother helps his mother who is in the process of a trance, dress in a traditional Guan Yu costume, as it is highly
recommended in most rituals.
PHOTO BY: Rachel Chan

Mrs Tan, along with the devotees, walks to an empty grass area in the neighbourhood for a final round of
rituals and to burn the joss paper offerings.
PHOTO BY: Rachel Chan

Once the offerings are being
burned, Mrs Tan does another
round of rituals before
heading back to the temple.
PHOTO BY: Rachel Chan

A Monkey God unexpectedly
possessed Mrs Tan immediately
after the Guan Yu deity has
left her body to “inspect” the
celebration, which is very common
in other rituals, where different
deities tend to possess a
tang ki’s body one after another.
PHOTO BY: Rachel Chan

Mr Tan tries non-stop to wake his mother up, calling out “Mum”, as the after-effects of a possession can leave a tang ki feeling
very lethargic.
PHOTO BY: Rachel Chan

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