Monkey God at Lavender Street

        Once upon a time, there was a stone on Huaguo Shan（Mountain of flowers and fruits）that, after thousands of years, absorbed the essence of the sun and moon and became a monkey in the ShuiLian cave (Water Curtain Cave). He took Bodhi as his teacher and learned immortal arts. He could travel 108,000 li in one somersault. The weapon he used, the Ruyi Jingu Bang (As-You-Wish Golden Cudgel), could change at will, becoming large or small, as small as an embroidery needle or as large as reaching the sky and standing on the earth. In his early years, Sun Wukong was mischievous and arrogant, stealing the elixir of immortality from Taishang Laojun (The Great Supreme Elderly Lord) and disrupting the Queen Mother's Peach Banquet, defeating the 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals of the Heavenly Palace. He occupied Huaguo Shan, declared himself king, and even called himself the Qitian Dasheng (As-great-as-the-heavens).

        Sun Wukong's lawlessness naturally brought trouble upon himself. He was firmly suppressed by the Buddha under the Five Finger Mountain for 500 years……

        During the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzang (600-664 AD), who was going to the Western Paradise to seek scriptures, passed by the WuZhi Mountain (Five Finger Mountain), released Sun Wukong's from his predicament, rescued him, and took him as a disciple to travel to the West together. Sun Wukong soared through the clouds and mist, possessed seventy-two transformations, and had a pair of fiery golden eyes that could see through the disguises of demons and monsters. He protected Tang Sanzang, fought the White Bone Demon three times, subdued the Red Boy, extinguished the Flaming Mountain, and along the way, he subdued demons and fought monsters, experiencing eighty-one difficulties before finally obtaining the true scriptures and achieving enlightenment. He hated evil like an enemy, was not afraid of difficulties, was tenacious and indomitable, and was brave and fearless. After obtaining the scriptures, he was named the Victorious Fighting Buddha.

        These two glorious periods of Sun Wukong's history are written in Wu Cheng'en's "Journey to the West."

        Since then, has Sun Wukong lived in comfort, retired from the world, and no longer cared about worldly affairs?

        No! In the 19th and 20th centuries, Sun Wukong once again showed his talents in the Lion City (Singapore) and established another great achievement. Have you noticed it?

A Temple at the Junction

        In Huocheng (Fire City) and the Kallang Basin, there once lived an old man who raised a monkey. They depended on each other for life. After the old man passed away, the monkey disappeared. Soon, passersby discovered a stone resembling a monkey in a nearby brick kiln, emitting strange light every night. Everyone believed that it was the transformation of the monkey, so they revered it as a deity. Some worshiped and sought divination, while others sought numbers to buy lottery tickets. The news of frequent lottery wins spread quickly, and the nearby residents became even more respectful of the spiritual stone, proposing to build a temple for its worship.

        At that time, there were many plank factories, brick kilns, and leather factories in this area. The merchants enthusiastically donated money and materials, so a small temple was built at the crossroads, named Kwong Fook Temple, and the spiritual stone was piously worshiped as the Qitian Dasheng. This happened in the sixth year of Tongzhi (1867 AD) in the Qing dynasty.

        Every year during the deity's birthday, Kwong Fook Temple would stage operas to thank the gods. In the beginning, a stage was set up before the opera, and the stage was dismantled after the opera was over. Later, in order to avoid trouble once and for all, a permanent stage was built, with a spacious platform.

        In the 27th year of Guangxu (1901 AD) in the Qing dynasty, a stone tablet was erected to celebrate the new construction of the Kwong Fook Ancient Temple Opera Stage. The inscription on the tablet reads: "A great event of the time, is it the fortune of the people? Is it the fortune of the land? Or is it that the land becomes spiritual after the emergence of outstanding people? I must say that it is the spirit of the Great Sage that has made it so."

Kwong Fook School Opens Classes on the Opera Stage

        In those years, Huocheng (Fire City) was full of factories, and the children of ordinary workers had no place to study. Mr Mei Yunqu, an intellectual from China, was delighted to see the opera stage and proposed to use the opera stage, which was usually not used for performances, to run a school. Coincidentally, Yangzheng School was replacing desks and chairs, so they transferred the old desks and chairs to Kwong Fook School. On October 5, 1916, Kwong Fook School classes began. In the early days, there were only twenty or thirty students.

        Later, in addition to daytime classes, civilian classes and free classes were also set up to allow children from economically disadvantaged families to enrol. After that, the school was expanded several times. In 1956, a new school building with 14 classrooms was completed. At its peak, the number of students was nearly 1,200.

        In 1966, Mr Chen Zhicheng, then Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Social Affairs, said in his speech at the school's 50th anniversary celebration:

        "The Huocheng area, apart from the Gas Department, is full of carpentry workshops, iron factories, and machine factories. The nearby residents are mostly laborers, and most of the students are children of workers. Therefore, Kwong Fook School has become an informal school for workers' children. The board of directors has been spending money and effort to run a school for workers' children, taking care of the working masses and solving the education problems of their children. This is truly commendable and admirable.

        In the colonial era, students only sought to have some skills to make a living after leaving school. Solving life's problems was the greatest purpose of education. The current purpose of education is very different……

        The safety and prosperity of a country depend on the success or failure of education. Educational work can only succeed and cannot fail!"

        Monkey. Stone. Deity. Temple. School. Independent observation of individual items, which are not related to each other, but the jumping space from item to item closely and vividly records the progress of society, reflecting people's spiritual outlook and their yearning and pursuit of the future.

        The support given by the Great Sage Equalling Heaven of Kwong Fook Temple to Kwong Fook School is not only reflected in the spiritual level. Kwong Fook Temple has a prosperous incense, and the money from devout men and women, in addition to paying for routine miscellaneous expenses, the board of directors also purchased properties to collect rent. From the beginning of the school's establishment, Kwong Fook Temple not only lent out the opera stage but also financially supported the school. In 1925, the board of directors decided that Kwong Fook Temple would donate $1,000 annually as school funding. The following year, it was decided that Kwong Fook Temple would bear all the school's expenses. In 1956, after the school received full government subsidies, Kwong Fook Temple continued to donate hundreds of dollars per month as school miscellaneous expenses.

Both People and Gods Have Moved!

        The crossroads are narrow and have heavy traffic, making it as dangerous as a tiger's mouth. In order to alleviate local traffic conditions, the government decided to widen the roads on Kallang Road and Lavender Street.

        On March 18, 1977, the government issued a gazette, announcing that the Kwong Fook Temple site (including part of the school area) would be acquired.

        The Kwong Fook Board of Directors appointed Mr  Lin Shichao to negotiate with the authorities. After some negotiations, Kwong Fook School was able to retain a larger area of the playground, and the Board of Directors also decided to donate the Kwong Fook Temple site to the government free of charge for road widening purposes.

        The temple can be demolished, but how to properly dispose of the God statues became a difficult problem for the directors.

        After the temple was demolished, the Qitian Dasheng temporarily resided in the Kwong Fook School Library. This was not a long-term solution.

        The Kwong Fook directors held a meeting and decided to move the statue to Bishan to temporarily reside in Fude Shrine of the Dabogong (The local earth deity) Temple. After that, they divined and consulted the Great Sage. The sacred divination denied this request. Why? Did the Great Sage think that everyone was not sincere enough?

        The Kwong Fook directors held another meeting and suggested inviting the Great Sage to the soon-to-be-built Bishan Temple. Similarly, they divined and consulted. The sacred divination still denied this request. Why? Did the Great Sage think that the time was not right?

        A year later, the Kwong Fook Board of Directors held a third meeting and suggested that the Great Sage reside permanently in the soon-to-be-built Bishan Temple, enshrined in the side hall next to the Guanyin Bodhisattva main hall. As a result of the divination, the Great Sage agreed.

        On the day of the transfer, Ms Liu Yuzhen, the director in charge, came to the library and was surprised to find that the Great Sage Equalling Heaven was much taller than she had imagined. Not daring to neglect, she returned. Another auspicious day was set, and Taoist priests were contacted to chant scriptures all the way, completing the task solemnly and appropriately. Since then, the Great Sage has settled in Bishan.

        On November 11, 1983, the Great Sage officially moved, first residing in the Fude Shrine. On October 18, 1997, Bishan Temple held a consecration ceremony for the Guanyin Bodhisattva in the main hall, and the Great Sage also ascended to the side hall at the same time.

        Mr Loh Weng Kee was responsible for coordinating the entire process of Sun Wukong settling in Bishan. Mr Loh Weng Kee was then the President of the Management and Supervisory Committee of the Kwong Wai Siew Peck San Theng and also a director of Kwong Fook, and was active in both organizations. Due to this special background, he played a key role in the relocation of the Great Sage. He represented the Kwong Fook Board of Directors in proposing the relocation to the Supervisory Committee of the Guanghui Zhao Bishan Pavilion, which was unanimously approved by the directors. Looking back on the past, he believes: This is an opportunity and a kind of perfection.

        Shortly after the demolition of Kwong Fook Temple, the number of students decreased due to the large-scale migration of surrounding residents. In 1983, Kwong Fook School decided to close.

        In those years, Kwong Fook School received desks and chairs from Yangzheng School. When Kwong Fook closed, it also transferred the school's desks, chairs, books, teaching equipment, etc. to friendly schools. In addition to Yangzheng School, which had helped in the past, Nan Hwa Girls' High School, Nanyang Primary School, Pei Chun Public School, Bin Kiang School and Kiau Nam School also benefited.

        The students of Kwong Fook mainly came from the children of the neighbouring working class. The harsh living environment directly affected the students' academic performance. In the early years, the passing rate of Kwong Fook School's examinations was usually around 50%. However, with the efforts of dedicated principals and teachers, the results of Kwong Fook School gradually improved in the last ten years. The passing rate of the last examination before its closure in 1982 was 100%. Was this the farewell blessing of the Great Sage Equalling Heaven? Or was it the best farewell gift that the school gave to the Great Sage?

Postscript

        Over time, the red, once-prosperous Kwong Fook Temple was demolished in October 1979. The gas storage depot, a landmark of Huocheng, which was located opposite to it, was officially decommissioned on March 23, 1998. The 160-foot-high building was then gradually razed to the ground and handed over to the Land Authority on February 24, 2000.

        The Kwong Fook School building was transferred to the Da Bei Buddhist Centre in 1987. After renovation, it was opened on May 4, 1994, by Dr Lee Boon Yang, then Minister of Labour and Second Minister of Defence.

        Later, the Da Bei Buddhist Centre demolished the building and rebuilt a new building on the original site, which was opened on June 22, 2003, by then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.

        In the 20th century, Sun Wukong completed an ordinary and beautiful educational journey in Huocheng. In the 21st century, what will be the movements of Sun Wukong, who has settled in Bishan? That day, I came to the Great Sage Equalling Heaven Hall of Bishan Temple. The spiritual monkey was covered in gold, and I inserted three incense sticks into the incense burner, lost in thought.

        Outside Bishan Temple, chaos was just beginning. Civil engineering was in full swing. The smoke of incense was lingering, both illusory and real.

        With my hands clasped together, I believe - the temple does not need to be big, sincerity is the key.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the organizations and enthusiastic people who provided relevant archival materials, especially:

Land Transport Authority (LTA), Singapore Gas Company (PowerGas), 

SP Group (Singapore Power), 

Housing & Development Board (HDB), 

Mr Lin Shichao, 

Mr Loh Weng Kee.