Gates are important
Entrance to the Temple which is run by the Hainanese Association
Glorious
On a weekend evening, the Chinese Temple cum Community centre was space time travel to the Hong Kong movies I grew up on Star Movies while growing up, the imaginary of a China which survives in the diaspora. This was a remarkable experience after I watched the Teochew Opera a few weeks back at Dataran Merdeka.
This temple in the Bangsar area up on a hill such as the Mount Mary Church in Bandra in Mumbai was brimming with western tourists as well as the faithful. The young kids playing in the courtyard of the shrine was a remainder that faith and culture is a medium across generations, and that identities in the Nusantara for the Chinese community is a serious matter.
The community space serves as a marriage registration centre, and has a Kopitiam as well as a gift store. There is a complete Chinese Zodiac Garden where the author is smiling with the Tiger, having been born in the tiger year.
The notion of the Nanyang lives in these cultural places well in the current Nusantara.
Change Thinker 