Workers’ Party (WP) leaders Pritam Singh and Sylvia Lim accompanied the Sengkang GRC MPs to yet another place of worship in the ward, a week after they were honoured at the Arulmigu Velmurugan Gnanamuneeswarar Temple (AVGMT).
This time it was Chong Ghee temple at Rivervale Crescent that invited the MPs to its premises. The Taoist place of worship houses two temples – the eponymous Chong Ghee
Temple which has roots at Jalan Kayu and the Kampong Tengah Thian Hou Keng. The temple gives back to the community by offering tuition classes to children and also runs a traditional Chinese medicine clinic.
Recounting his experience at Chong Ghee temple in a social media post published on Sunday (6 Sept), Pritam Singh said that he was delighted to visit the temple with his colleagues earlier that day. He wrote:
“We were brought around the Chong Ghee temple premises by the management team. And we were all very grateful for the temple committee’s time this morning and the frank sharing later (the red date tea that was prepared for all of us including our volunteers hit the spot for me!).”
Revealing that he brought his family along to the temple and that the visit was memorable to him as well as his two-year-old daughter, the WP chief added: “I found the pragmatic, open-minded attitude of the temple managers and committee to community matters, very magnetic.
“I don’t think I was alone in feeling that way. I had brought my family along and my youngest daughter – a two-year old – was found happily in the arms of a senior committee member by the end of the visit. She had a memorable time too!”
https://www.facebook.com/pritam.eunos/posts/3452842461404709?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCNa5d3nwqs3mkeIFFc2Sux8mVgMBLK6nFnuB4o9Dlr-N0jN5WEkjr6TSCY3oyuQAnHdFzx4L_bwZ3b92I0V6J9rpdcgN7mO-2IyI3fiwDw_uTIz06vp4ovUFGr0kYGaModlpkrhSTs8HH1SPJrhGq88GqTnkf_hsrLQEHNnLOZ58AYmb2YEOrcDFw4F2AX6RORxLsqBulCmeM39WgsdBSV6WKZkwjaRNWs_I–lVLPSIuuhitwa62Nr0hFuoVjv04A7U6az_ERF048j3vgfGff-TZA-hNJdyPAmL-afm7aGySHkVypDY6iAduc8-NTCiJfcHP2VcvtkUgJdX-oU6avIw&__tn__=-R
The Sengkang GRC Facebook page shared more photos from the visit on social media and revealed just how integral Chong Ghee Temple is to the Sengkang community: “First established before World War II in a kampong in the present-day Sengkang area, the temple relocated to Pulau Ubin and back to mainland Singapore over the 1980s and 1990s.
“Today, the temple continues to function as a focal point for the Taoist community in Sengkang, also providing highly subsidised Traditional Chinese Medicine consultation and tuition classes to residents.”
The WP-run page added: “We would like to thank the temple committee for their kind invitation and hospitality, and for their generosity in serving the Sengkang community!”
https://www.facebook.com/WPSengkang/posts/3392952130762918?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAt31mjutZ4Cm3t4tfir9PFgZW04d0Bcm-3mRjjGVfQISVtHr1NkVUvzgpxlVnDiMa0g2qleHJBq7-EG_W0M4gLyX3Tl21BMCL9Jc3PfZhuozY75v0vDgxzDfbPN1hB9ny3rwbBWUqrPwcqxXQ7aCbYfGR0aaQ40lz01-7lMUngZ6Xc3XeoDY0KV_b6N4FaAwZrisw9NXYdyi8imHU90ZdeaLaY_-9m6ApnrKswZNEaSrE-bGGnFDKUsv9iYiXAnl2kV-ISq6HoHfgm_g7eJ6ITe2JUyx7ioeFuwgsPpr4tU2bme2TbS9wBNHJ-I-r6dUfMNvdyy1yvPvgBbojJyTxPmg&__tn__=-R
Just a week prior to their visit to Chong Ghee Temple, the WP MPs were invited to visit AVGMT – the first Hindu temple in Singapore to have brought three religious abodes under one roof. The MPs, along with ex-MP Lee Li Lian who serves as a Sengkang town councillor, were honoured with jasmine flower garlands, silk shawls and a hearty meal with the temple management.
WP politicians honoured at innovative Hindu temple in Sengkang GRC