Yueh Hai Ching Temple 粵海清廟, Singapore

Yueh Hai Ching Temple (11 September 2010)


Yueh Hai Ching Temple (GPS: 1.28462, 103.84924; Traditional Chinese: 粵海清廟; Simplified Chinese: 粤海清庙; Teochew: Wak Hai Cheng Beo) is a Chinese temple in the Financial District of Singapore. Located along Church Street, it is said to be the oldest Taoist temple in Singapore. It was built by the Teochew community, where they came to worship and give thanks to its deity for safe passage from China. The name of the temple means "Temple of the Calm Sea".

The Yueh Hai Ching Temple is believed to have been founded around 1826, and started off as just a humble attap shed. At that time, Philip Street was overlooking the sea. Successive reclamation has extended the shoreline, so that the temple appears surrounded by dry land today. The brick temple was constructed in the 1850's.

The temple was built in the Teochew style. It is in the form of a courtyard entered through an entrance gate, which faces the east (somewhat east, I say, because I find that it is not exactly aligned).In front of the temple building is a paved forecourt. From the foreyard, you can see the looming skyscrapers of Singapore towering all around the temple, an immediate reminder that Singapore has changed dramatically since the time Yueh Hai Ching was first built. The beauty of the temple is somewhat marred by the numerous strings tied across the courtyard to suspend coils of spiral incense. The roof is richly ornamentated with figurines and porcelain models depicting life in Teochew villages "back home".

There are two principal deities at Yueh Hai Ching Temple, each housed within its respective shrine. The shrine to the right houses the Xuan Tian Shang Di, the Heavenly Emperor, which I believe is akin to the Jade Emperor, the most important deity in the Taoist pantheon. The shrine to the left houses Mazu, also known differently as Tian Hou (Mother of Heavenly Sages), and variously written as Matsu, Ma Chor Po among the Hainanese in Penang and A Ma Temple in Macau. Mazu is the patron deity of seafarers, and is commonly worshipped in other Taoist temples in Singapore including the nearby Thian Hock Keng Temple. The Yueh Hai Ching Temple is open daily from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm.

Contact

Yueh Hai Ching Temple
30B Philip Street, Singapore 048696
Tel: 6533 8537

Getting there by public transport

Yueh Hai Ching Temple is 500m on foot to the Telok Ayer MRT Station and 550m on foot to the Raffles Place MRT Station (EW14|NS26).

Yueh Hai Ching Temple is on the Map of Chinese Temples in Singapore

Main gate of Yueh Hai Ching Temple (11 September 2010)


Yueh Hai Ching Temple (11 September 2010)


Front court of Yueh Hai Ching Temple, with the office skyscrapers of the Financial District in the background (11 September 2010)


The front façade of Yueh Hai Ching Temple (11 September 2010)

Yueh Hai Ching Temple on Google Street View (Nov 2019)

Yueh Hai Ching Temple is on the Map of Church Street, Singapore

List of the Chinese Temples in Singapore; Discover Singapore

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About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.