A New Temple has arisen in Chinatown

On the night of 30th May 2007, a new temple opened its door to devotees and visitors. In a very grand way, filled with pillars of dragons that lit the entire South Bridge Road (it was even grander than during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations!) lines of floats, dragon and lion dances paraded down the road to an audience seated near to the Tooth Relic Temple that was at the corner of South Bridge Road and Sago St.

Long queues of devotees and probably curious visitors (local and foreign) waited patiently to get into the temple. I was told that they were treated to four floors of wonder (I have yet to visit the temple, although I passed by at 5.30am on 31 May 07). Each visitor was also given a 1-kg pack of rice. And there was also a big tentage to serve free vegetarian food through out Vesak Day.

Visitors to the Temple were urged to be appropriately dressed. For those who came dressed more casually in shorts or spaghetti-strap tops, they were politely offered something to add on, so I was told by my wife who visited the Temple.

The new Tooth Relic Temple promises to add more buzz to Chinatown as tourists - local and foreign - will have one more destination to visit. For Buddhists, it would be another temple in which to meditate and to remind them of trying to achieve what Buddha has done. (^^)

This Temple has also added another dimension to the architectural landscape of Chinatown. Chinatown will never be the same again. (^^)