2 Shrines and a Fun Night Out..
Marsiling Crescent, in old Woodlands, is the home of a roadside Hindu shrine side by side with a Chinese holy shrine. I went in search of these shrines with a few friends after one of them got excited after reading a newspaper article on it.We met up only at around 9pm and we had absolutely no idea where Marsiling Crescent was, though my friends stay in the Woodlands/Admiralty region.After dinner, we started our exploration trip on foot.
The trip started with a busride to the Old Woodlands interchange/ theater. I felt like I was back in the 80s. This place looks very different from all the modern housing estates and even the heartlands of Yishun and Ang Mo Kio. We went to the old Woodlands Theater, which is now an empty building, locked up with big grilled gates. Even a backdoor was nailed with plywood to prevent entry. A friend claimed that there were rumours that this building was an illegal red light district. But how I saw it, there was really no way into the building. We left the place wondering why the building was still dilapidated without any new occupants.
The next place worth mentioning was this street named something like "Admiralty West Street". This street was in the corner of a housing estate with apparently only 1 room units, the flats looked nothing like 1 room units from the outside; they were newly painted and looked just like a flat from Sengkang. When we were on this street, there was a long narrow road. Beside the road, on the right was dense vegetation and on the left was a waterbody. This water body which really didn look all that massive, was the only thing between us and Johor Bahru. We could see all the buildings in Johor and the causeway leading to Johor so clearly. There was a coast guard patrol though circling the waters, not that we were contemplating swimming across. We saw monkeys on the side of the vegetation and we were almost chased by wild dogs when we were exiting.
We asked a Taxi Driver where Marsiling Crescent was, and he told us he had no idea and when asked where the road we were on led to, he shrugged stating plainly that the road led to just some old factories. Just as we were exiting this road, we stumbled upon a signpost identifying the road we were on as Marsiling Crescent. The Taxi driver's answer about this road was thoroughly appalling. Fancy standing on Yishun Street 16 and swearing you dont know where Yishun Street 16 is!Not to mention being a Taxi Driver.
Finally we knew we had reached, when we smelled incense in the night air. The indians call it " sam bu ra ni". We crossed over to the other side of the road where the shrines were. We were greeted by this Indian man in probably his late 30s, who told us to remove our footwear and go closer to the shrine, which we did promptly at his compulsion.He went on to tell us about the deities.That they were very prompt in answering prayers. My friend seemed more in tune with the Chinese deities than Hindu ones even being Indian, offering josssticks to the Chinese deities. The Hindu Shrine had a great many statues, with Amman taking the centre. The were some pictures of Indian gods as well. I saw a rather big statue of Vinayagar, the elephant god, a size which we usually see in temples rather than roadside shrines. Beside the main Hindu Shrine, there were 2 other mini-shrines, one for Nagamma( snake goddess) and one for Muneeswaran. The Chinese Shrine had a even larger multitude of deities and there was soft buddist chanting being played.
The man who had greeted us, began to tell us that this temple was in Senoko for many years before it moved to its current location in Marsiling. He told us that he was the caretaker of the shrine and that he worked at the Shell company nearby during the day. He asked that we inform all our friends about the shrine and informed us that the Shrine was open to donations of any sort. I noticed a small plastic container, the kind which you would use to store biscuits on the alter, with some notes inside. Even saris and such offerings were welcome, he said.
I left the place wondering 2 things? 1. Why arent they playing Hindu worship songs in the background, would it not increase the religious fervour?2. The caretaker must be really pious, since he looked nothing like an Aiyar, an appointed priest. Frankly, he looked the sort who some Indians in Singapore would call a 'old timer' or gangster.This was suggested by my friend actually. So I guess we can never tell the religiousity of a person by looking at his appearance?
That was a fun night out though. If you want to pay this shrine a visit, you may take bus service 903 from woodlands interchange and get down somewhere in Marsiling, near a coffeeshop. You should recognise the place, it looks really old. Perhaps the bus driver could inform when you reach Marsiling Crescent. I can't, I reached there on foot.
Marsiling Crescent, in old Woodlands, is the home of a roadside Hindu shrine side by side with a Chinese holy shrine. I went in search of these shrines with a few friends after one of them got excited after reading a newspaper article on it.We met up only at around 9pm and we had absolutely no idea where Marsiling Crescent was, though my friends stay in the Woodlands/Admiralty region.After dinner, we started our exploration trip on foot.
The trip started with a busride to the Old Woodlands interchange/ theater. I felt like I was back in the 80s. This place looks very different from all the modern housing estates and even the heartlands of Yishun and Ang Mo Kio. We went to the old Woodlands Theater, which is now an empty building, locked up with big grilled gates. Even a backdoor was nailed with plywood to prevent entry. A friend claimed that there were rumours that this building was an illegal red light district. But how I saw it, there was really no way into the building. We left the place wondering why the building was still dilapidated without any new occupants.
The next place worth mentioning was this street named something like "Admiralty West Street". This street was in the corner of a housing estate with apparently only 1 room units, the flats looked nothing like 1 room units from the outside; they were newly painted and looked just like a flat from Sengkang. When we were on this street, there was a long narrow road. Beside the road, on the right was dense vegetation and on the left was a waterbody. This water body which really didn look all that massive, was the only thing between us and Johor Bahru. We could see all the buildings in Johor and the causeway leading to Johor so clearly. There was a coast guard patrol though circling the waters, not that we were contemplating swimming across. We saw monkeys on the side of the vegetation and we were almost chased by wild dogs when we were exiting.
We asked a Taxi Driver where Marsiling Crescent was, and he told us he had no idea and when asked where the road we were on led to, he shrugged stating plainly that the road led to just some old factories. Just as we were exiting this road, we stumbled upon a signpost identifying the road we were on as Marsiling Crescent. The Taxi driver's answer about this road was thoroughly appalling. Fancy standing on Yishun Street 16 and swearing you dont know where Yishun Street 16 is!Not to mention being a Taxi Driver.
Finally we knew we had reached, when we smelled incense in the night air. The indians call it " sam bu ra ni". We crossed over to the other side of the road where the shrines were. We were greeted by this Indian man in probably his late 30s, who told us to remove our footwear and go closer to the shrine, which we did promptly at his compulsion.He went on to tell us about the deities.That they were very prompt in answering prayers. My friend seemed more in tune with the Chinese deities than Hindu ones even being Indian, offering josssticks to the Chinese deities. The Hindu Shrine had a great many statues, with Amman taking the centre. The were some pictures of Indian gods as well. I saw a rather big statue of Vinayagar, the elephant god, a size which we usually see in temples rather than roadside shrines. Beside the main Hindu Shrine, there were 2 other mini-shrines, one for Nagamma( snake goddess) and one for Muneeswaran. The Chinese Shrine had a even larger multitude of deities and there was soft buddist chanting being played.
The man who had greeted us, began to tell us that this temple was in Senoko for many years before it moved to its current location in Marsiling. He told us that he was the caretaker of the shrine and that he worked at the Shell company nearby during the day. He asked that we inform all our friends about the shrine and informed us that the Shrine was open to donations of any sort. I noticed a small plastic container, the kind which you would use to store biscuits on the alter, with some notes inside. Even saris and such offerings were welcome, he said.
I left the place wondering 2 things? 1. Why arent they playing Hindu worship songs in the background, would it not increase the religious fervour?2. The caretaker must be really pious, since he looked nothing like an Aiyar, an appointed priest. Frankly, he looked the sort who some Indians in Singapore would call a 'old timer' or gangster.This was suggested by my friend actually. So I guess we can never tell the religiousity of a person by looking at his appearance?
That was a fun night out though. If you want to pay this shrine a visit, you may take bus service 903 from woodlands interchange and get down somewhere in Marsiling, near a coffeeshop. You should recognise the place, it looks really old. Perhaps the bus driver could inform when you reach Marsiling Crescent. I can't, I reached there on foot.
posted by The Sch O Hard Knockx at 3:53 PM
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