The shops outside selling worship-related materials and instruments are also doing brisk business. For those who are not sure about the proper etiquette, the shop keepers offer instructions patiently.
It is very crowded inside. Many people complain on the way out. Today I just wish to watch the people coming to worship at the temple. So I stay outside.
Some carry hugh sticks of incense.
Some take incense outside to offer to the spirits in the open.
Some take home pinwheels, hoping for a better spin of their fortune.
For some, it is important to seek their fortune from the oracle (kau chim, 求籤). Some seem not to be satisfied with just one chim.
As people exit from the temple, they are offered a piece of red paper on which is written “nobleman (貴人)”, accompanied by auspicious wishes. People who receive them are expected to give the offerer lai see (利是) for good fortune.
I was struck by how young the worshippers are. There are a few elderlies. But mostly they seem to be people in their 20s or 30s. Some teenagers come on their own.
The faithful at the temples seem to be getting younger and younger over the years that I have been watching. Religious fervour does not seem to be dying down. Rather, it may even be strengthening. Perhaps it is a consequence of the anxiety due to the pandemic? Social unrest? Worsening political situation? Reaction to the increasingly materialistic and even dehumanising culture? All of the above?
Is worshipping at the temple the answer? Isn’t the answer actually the true God and Creator of the universe?
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