Tua Pek Kong Temple, Miri Explained

Tua Pek Kong Temple
Native Name:Malay: Tokong Tua Pek Kong
Chinese: 美里大伯公廟
Location:Miri
Coordinates:4.3916°N 113.9851°W
Religious Affiliation:Taoism
District:Miri District
State:Sarawak
Country:Malaysia
Established:1913[1]
Architecture Type:Chinese temple

Tua Pek Kong Temple (Chinese: 美里大伯公廟)[2] is a Chinese temple situated right next to the Miri Fish Market in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia.[1] It is the oldest temple in the present-day Miri city.[3] [4] [5]

History

Since the oil boom of Miri in the early 1900s, the town population increased rapidly before an unknown epidemic began to struck the town which resulting to the deaths of many of the town population.[1] [3] The local Chinese residents believed the epidemic is caused by evil spirits roaming around the area with a Chinese man named Chan Chak began to calling a monk to appease the spirits with spirit-pacifying ritual being carried out near the Miri River with an altar being placed there.[3] With the epidemic began to subsided following the ritual, the local Chinese residents constructed a temple near the river to revere Tua Pek Kong as a gratitude to the latter in 1913.[1] The temple stays until this day where it survived the Japanese bombings on the town during World War II. It was renovated in 1977.[3] In 2017, a new paifang has been constructed for the temple.[4]

References

  1. Web site: Tua Pek Kong Temple, Miri. Sarawak Tourism. 19 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190219113936/https://sarawaktourism.com/attraction/tua-pek-kong-temple/. 19 February 2019. dead.
  2. Web site: 美里大伯公廟Tua Pek Kong Temple. etawau.com. 4 June 2016. 19 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190219123246/http://www.etawau.com/Geography/Sarawak/04_Miri/MiriCity.htm. 19 February 2019. dead.
  3. Web site: Tua Pek Kong always remembered and revered by Miri folk. Cindy Lai. The Star. 5 May 2010. 19 February 2019.
  4. Web site: Tua Pek Kong temple gets new RM500,000 arch. The Borneo Post. 6 October 2017. 19 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190219121053/http://www.theborneopost.com/2017/10/06/tua-pek-kong-temple-gets-new-rm500000-arch/. 19 February 2019. dead.
  5. Web site: Grand Tua Pek Kong birthday procession. Cindy Lai. The Borneo Post. 20 May 2018. 19 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190219120102/http://www.theborneopost.com/2018/05/20/grand-tua-pek-kong-birthday-procession/. 19 February 2019. dead.