With a name that mean ”Shield of Our Fathers”, this oldest Jewish synagogue in Southeast Asia remains a house of worship for the Singapore Jewish community.
Watch Chinese opera come alive in this monument that is one of Singapore’s oldest Chinese Taoist temples. Explore and marvel at elaborately detailed three-dimensional sculptural reliefs of scenes from Chinese operas on the interior walls.
The temple was built in 1881 by Ong Choo Kee. It caters to the Teochew community, and was one of two remaining temples in Singapore with a permanent wayang (Chinese opera) stage until 1998. For eight decades, Chinese opera was performed there during religious and other festivals. The temple was gazetted as a national monument, which was deemed to be of special historic and traditional value, on 14 January 2005.
Builders and artisans were specially employed from China to build Singapore’s most majestic Chinese temple. In 2001, the temple received an honourable mention from UNESCO in recognition of its excellent restoration work.
This ancestral temple was built during the late 19th century by Singapore’s populous Tan clan. It served as their ancestral temple and assembly hall. Visitors can gaze in admiration at exquisite decorative ornaments found everywhere.
