Jin Long Si Temple

Jin Long Si Temple (zh-stp|s=金龙寺|t=金龍寺|p=jīn lóng sì), which is located on a hilltop at Lorong How Sun (off Bartley Road), is a unique "san-jiao" (three religion) village temple in Singapore, with its teachings derived from the books of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Within its premises, lies a Bodhi tree ("Ficus religiosa") dating to the late 1880s, which is the oldest of its kind found in Singapore to date. The Bodhi tree shares a symbiotic relationship with the temple as its roots are deeply intertwined with the building's foundation. In 2003, the Singapore government announced that both the temple and the Bodhi tree will have to make way for redevelopment in early 2008. The temple began to actively organise events to generate public awareness and support of its plight, as well as making repeated appeals to the relevant authorities to review its decision to acquire the temple. The case generated much publicity and growing calls among Singaporeans and nature-lovers to preserve the old temple and its ancient Bodhi tree as a common heritage of Singapore.

History

Jin Long Si Temple, originally known as "Jin Long Miao", was constituted under a trust and established as a religious and charity mission in 1941, with funds and donations from philanthropic Chinese merchants. It was founded to provide public shelter and a place of worship for the Chinese community during the period of great uncertainty of an imminent war sweeping through South East Asia in the 1940s.

The temple started off as an attap hut on a land donated by a grateful devotee earlier. It was later rebuilt by Wan Guan Lin into a zinc-roof and wooden structure which has remained almost unchanged ever since. Displaying much resourcefulness and artistic talent, the devotees had constructed a huge statue of the Laughing Buddha out of saw dust, a pagoda and also a pavilion with the life-size figure of their patron deity, "Nan Wu Wu Ji Sheng Mu".

While the temple is basically a Chinese Mahayana Buddhist temple, its teachings is a fusion of the "san-jiao" (three religion) derived mainly from Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. The temple also has many unique Taoist deities like "Nan Wu Wu Ji Sheng Mu" and "Pan Gu" (盘古) which demonstrate a high level of religious tolerance and acceptance by the temple's community since its early days. The taped teachings of the temple's late master continue to be played especially to the elderly devotees in Hokkien dialect every Sunday afternoons.

Occupying an area of 1,840 square metres today, the temple has approximately 4,000 regular worshippers and more than 300 registered members. It continues to provide free vegetarian meals each day to more than 100 aged and impoverished devotees residing near the temple. The temple has also been active in contributing to the grassroots organisations in Braddell Heights with funds and manpower despite modest resources to this day. A notable example was featured in The Straits Times that the temple regularly sponsors functions for its next door neighbour, the Ramakrishna Mission Home for orphans and wayward boys. To reciprocate their kindness, the home opened its gates for the devotees to take a short cut through its premises for those walking uphill to the temple. [cite news | title = Homing in on harmony | date = 30 March 2007 | publisher = The Straits Times | page = Review section ]

Ancient Bodhi tree

The Bodhi tree is considered sacred to all Buddhists. Its significance can be traced to when it sheltered the Buddha from the elements during his quest for enlightenment, and it is under the Bodhi tree that the Buddha attained enlightenment subsequently. Thus the Bodhi tree has come to symbolise the Buddha's enlightenment, His wisdom and compassion.

The Bodhi tree at Jin Long Si Temple was one of the twelve seeds that were brought by monks from Sri Lanka in the nineteenth century. It has an age of approximately 120 years (as of 2007), is over 30 metres tall and has a girth of 8.5 metres, which is considered to be the most ancient and largest Bodhi tree in Singapore according to verifications made by the Nature Society Singapore (NSS) and National Parks Board (Nparks) separately.cite web | url = http://jinlongsi.blog.com/ | title = Archived news of Jin Long Si Temple | accessdate = 2007-05-01 | publisher = Jin Long Si Temple] Its roots are deeply embedded into the slope of the hill where the temple is located and even extended to the inner recesses of the temple premises; any land development at the tree's location has a high likelihood of causing soil movement and undue stress to the tree roots. Due to its ancient age and its symbiotic relationship with the temple, both the NSS and Nparks have recommended the Bodhi tree to be preserved as a 'Heritage Tree' after their findings. Trees that are classified as 'Heritage Tree' cannot be cut down and are protected with lightning conductors with money from the Heritage Trees Fund. A panel of officials and nature-loving volunteers decide if a tree should be placed on the register, based on its appearance, height and girth, as well as its social, historical and educational significance. [cite news | title = NParks starts register to track rising number of heritage trees | date = 23 April 2006 | publisher = The Straits Times | page = News section ]

Jin Long Si Temple today

On 20 January 2003, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) issued a compulsory land acquisition order to acquire the plot of land belonging to the temple as part of URA's redevelopment plan for a nearby Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) construction of the Circle Line Project (Phase III). The new rail-line stretches from Bartley Road to Marymount Road, and will have five stations along its 5.7 kilometres stretch. To be built in five stages, construction has started for the first two phases of the Circle Line, and the construction on this phase, which will cost S$1.2 billion, (US$800 million) will take five years to complete. [cite news | author= Karamjit Kaur, Ginnie Teo | title = Temple to go to make way for MRT Circle Line | date = 21 January 2003 | publisher = The Straits Times ] As a result, both the temple and the Bodhi tree will have to make way for redevelopment in early 2008. The URA said the temple grounds are being acquired to be joined with state land next to them so more homes can be built there. It said: "Given Singapore's limited land area, there is a need for a continuous effort to optimise the use of our land, especially at sites served by major public transport infrastructure such as the Circle Line and other MRT stations."

Public appeals

The temple has been offered an alternative site in Punggol as well as compensation, but its management still hopes it will be allowed to stay. Since then, the temple has actively organised events to generate public awareness and support of its plight as well and has made repeated appeals to the relevant authorities to review their decision to acquire the temple, urging them to preserve the rare and ancient Bodhi tree found within its compound. As a result, there was considerable public and media interest in the fate of the temple and its Bodhi tree, as well as other gradually disappearing natural heritage landmarks. Busloads of local visitors as well as tourists from countries like Japan, Thailand and China flock to the temple every weekend and some visitors have set up blogs and started an online petition to save the temple and the Bodhi tree.cite news | last = Tan | first = Hui Yee | title = Visitors flock to save revered Bodhi Tree | date = 19 August 2006 | publisher = The Straits Times] The online petition mentions how the Land Transport Authority spent S$200,000 in 2005 and changed the alignment of a stretch of Braddell Road to protect an 80-year-old angsana tree. It appeals to the authorities to show the same attitude to the Bodhi tree at Jin Long Si.

Since 2003, the temple's management has not received a positive reply. The most recent joint reply by the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of National Development dated 23 March 2006, says the NParks and the URA will "assess and consider the merit" of keeping the tree but the temple may have to go. [cite news | last = Mulchand | first = Arti | title = 100-year-old tree may save temple | date = 21 April 2006 | publisher = The Straits Times ]

Relocation

In January 2008, a legal suit was filed by three devotees to save the temple site from government acquisition, alleging that it was in violation of the Constitution. The case was dismissed by the High Court on 25 February 2008 on the grounds that "the devotees had no standing to make the application".cite news| last = Peh | first = Shing Huei | title = High Court dismisses bid to save temple site - Jin Long Si has two months to relocate to site offered by Govt; acquired land to be used for homes | date = 26 February 2008 | publisher = The Straits Times | page = H3 ]

The temple was given two months to relocate to a temporary site, and subsequently to a permanent home in Tai Seng Avenue. The temple's land is to be merged with state land next to it, for sale in the second half of 2008. The Government finally confirmed that the Bodhi tree will be retain by imposing for its preservation as part of the tender conditions for the redevelopment of the site.

ee also

*Old National Library Building
*The Buddhist Library
*Poh Ern Shih Temple

References

External links

* [http://saveourroots.googlepages.com/morepictures Picture gallery of Jin Long Si Temple and its Bodhi tree]