PHT Site Visit: Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple
Newly restored columns and ceiling ornamentation of the Hock Teik Cheng Sin.
Hock Teik Cheng Sin, Armenian StreetPHT April Site VisitReport by Yong Check Yoon and Tan Yeow Wooi Finally the truth was revealed and it mercifully 'killed' the years of speculation: there is no evidence of any dumping of executed rival secret society members into the well located in the compound of the former notorious Kien Tek Society during the civil strife known as Penang Riots of 1867. The area around the well in the compound of Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple had been carefully excavated under the supervision of conservators to verify the persisting urban legend. The fact: the 'well' was just a cylindrical water container placed at ground level and it was placed there in 1984, 117 years after the Penang Riots. The 40 PHT members who attended 30 April site visit were completely enthralled by the briefing by the Restoration Committee chairman Mr Tan Lye Hock and Research Subcommittee chairman Mr Tan Lye Hoe, followed by a slideshow presentation by Principal Heritage Project Consultant Mr Tan Yeow Wooi on the conservation and restoration of the temple. Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple was the headquarters of the Kien Tek Society, a secret society located along Armenian Street in Penang. The land was granted by the British colonial government to Khoo Teeau Pang in 1850 and he then established the Hokkien-based Kien Teik Society which had Muslim-based Red Flag Society as its ally. These two secret societies were drawn into a feud with Cantonese-based Ghee Hin Society which had the Muslim-based White Flag Society on its side. The conflict developed into an intense 10-day civil unrest, catching the colonial government unprepared. Although the Riot was eventually suppressed, it resulted in the formulation of the Society Ordinance in 1890 to ban secret societies. After the dissolution of the Kien Tek Society, the Kien Tek Society's headquarters was acquired by Mr Khoo Thean Poh and two other persons. Later, on 4 Dec. 1890, the trustees of the Chinese Traders Society (Hock Teik Cheng Sin) bought up the place. It became a temple dedicated to Tua Pek Kong and was named "Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple". The present temple building appeared in a George Town survey building plan dated 1881-1893, showing it as a double-storey bungalow-type structure with a protruding porte cochére. The building together with nine shophouses surrounding it could have been built sometime during the mid-19th century but not later than 1867. Between 1908 and 1949, four organizations - Tong Kheng Seah, Poh Hock Seah, Cheng Hoe Seah and Hokkien Kongsi - moved and settled in Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple. Three of the former organizations worship different deities, namely Sin Long Siang Tay, Tua Pek Kong and Cheng Chooi Chor Soo. Hence, Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple was transformed into a multi-Seah, multi-deity temple. Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple is inevitably a spiritual focal point of the Hokkien community in Penang, particularly the Goh Tai Sneh (Five Big Clans). Goh Tai Seng comprises clans of five major surnames in Penang: Khoo, Cheah, Tan, Lim, and Yeoh. Incidentally, clanhouses of Goh Tai Seng are located within close proximity with each other in this Armenian Street enclave. In 2002, the idea of restoring the dilapidated Hock Teik Cheng Sin to its former glory was first mooted but there was no fund for the purpose. Tan Lye Hock was appointed as the project chairman, the temple, its trustees and their affiliated Seahs pledged about RM104,000. The first phase entailed a comprehensive research, documentation and planning. Phase Two delves into the actual restoration and conservation work. Phases One and Two are expected to be in the tune of RM1.3 million and is current about 80 percent complete. Phase Three will only start after the completion of Phase Two. It will involve the restoration of the temple's gate-way and gate-house. The project will conclude with landscaping of the temple's compound in its final phase, Phase Four. PHT members were taken on a tour of the temple upon completion of the briefing and the slideshow presentation. They were also shown the ancestral tablet of Khoo Teeu Pang and some of the relics of the Kien Tek Society. Yeow Wooi took the PHT group to view the secret doorways which had been bricked up until their discovery during restoration works. The visit ended with PHT members adjourning to "Edelweiss" across the street for scrumptious cakes served with hot tea flavoured with cinnamon. "Edelweiss" is an example of a successful adaptive re-use of a pre-war shophouse. |