马六甲 地方府 二零一七年七月十三日 Tua Yah Pek & Di Yah Pek Ti Fang Fu Melaka

Ti Fang Fu Temple Melaka [Facebook]

This temple is located beside the Jelutong Chinese cemetary, a place people don't like to go except during the All Souls Day or QingMing Festival.

Ti Fang Fu Temple, Melaka
Sun 3 Sept 2017 6:21 pm
Photograph of About Blog url http://generalabout.blogspot.my

The sky was covered by dark clouds when I started to drive to this temple after 5:00 pm from Melaka town. I recalled the first time when I visited this temple, the deities were in a small shelter when a friend nicknamed as "Katak" introduced this place in 1996. Weeks ago, my friend who is a maintenance guy with a factory in Bukit Rambai, informed me the date Tua Yah Pek and Di Yah Pek making inspection of the cemetery for 2017. He showed me media coverage by the China Press on this heritage event.


Tiny sprinkles of rain cohesive on the windscreen scantily as I was passing the Tzu-Chi-Infineon stretch on Jalan Batu Berendam and I ponder whether rain would start to pour when I reach Jalan Solok Jelutong. Luckily, it didn't rain and I have the chance to record a YouTube video for sharing. I think if the sky was to be bright then, the brightness, the contrast and the color of the sky would deprive this video of the traditional-values and would not be as custom-symbolic as the Black and White deities.

The grand arch gate has two staircase on both sides of a stage where the Chinese opera would play ancient stories as part of the temple devotion to the deities; the Black Impermanence and the White Impermanence.

Ti Fang Fu Temple, Melaka
Sun 3 Sept 2017 5:59 pm
Photograph of About Blog url http://generalabout.blogspot.my

The construction of this temple is based on the instruction of the deities. Length wise, width and height was decided by the deities. I was standing on this location, before making a few steps forward to the black stone-lion where the handheld Sony 4K HandyCam glided 9-inches from left to right. On seeing the horizon of the thick black cloud touching the tips of a row of burning incense sticks with the white sky below the spilling sparking fires caused by the blowing wind, the 30x Zeiss image clear zoomed for you to entice the beauty of black and white.

Ti Fang Fu Temple, Melaka
Sun 3 Sept 2017 6:00 pm
Photograph of About Blog url http://generalabout.blogspot.my

The paper-costumes of the underworld is displayed on the walls inside the main hall. I see several large-size framed photographs of YB Tan Sri Mohd Ali bin Mohd Rustam still being displayed proudly on the walls of the main hall and this is not the first time I see it but many times over many places within the Chinese communities. I wonder; everyone knows he has been friendly and is still a friendly guy but why he lost in the GE13. Probably, he lost many votes from other communities while the Chinese is still faithful to him; even today, as people on the streets talk.

Ti Fang Fu Temple, Melaka
Sun 3 Sept 2017 6:00 pm
Photograph of About Blog url http://generalabout.blogspot.my

The seventh lunar Chinese calendar month is the ghost-month and offerings for the dead is made to please the wandering souls. 

Ti Fang Fu Temple, Melaka
Sun 3 Sept 2017 6:009pm
Photograph of About Blog url http://generalabout.blogspot.my

This temple is the largest in term of size and space in Melaka.

Ti Fang Fu Temple, Melaka
Sun 3 Sept 2017 6:10 pm
Photograph of About Blog url http://generalabout.blogspot.my

A view from the circumference of Jelutong hill, make you imagine the many devotees gathering at this temple when night fall to follow the procession by bare feet enduring the contours and the roughness of the cemetery which usually ends about 4 a.m.

Ti Fang Fu Temple, Melaka
Sun 3 Sept 2017 6:18 pm
Photograph of About Blog url http://generalabout.blogspot.my

Incense sticks height of man lined the road to this temple producing wavy smoke dancing perfectly with the swaying prayer flags.

Ti Fang Fu Temple, Melaka
Sun 3 Sept 2017 6:18 pm
Photograph of About Blog url http://generalabout.blogspot.my

Building materials were shipped from China on specific parts for the construction to preserve the customs and traditions.

Ti Fang Fu Temple, Melaka
Sun 3 Sept 2017 6:21 pm
Photograph of About Blog url http://generalabout.blogspot.my

In an hour or two from now, a procession through the cemetery will take place.

A procession would begin about midnight, watch the 2011 procession here.

There is an old story about these deities. Once upon a time in China, there was a rich businessman. His wife gave birth to a child whose appearance wasn't beautiful and as a result the despaired mother committed suicide. The businessman's servant married his daughter but later she found out of his bad motive. Instead of taking care of his wife and two child, he squandered his father-in-law wealth.

One of her husband creditors, came to collect money from her and tried to molest her but she shoved him away. His wife was very sad, and locked her room's door and decided to hang herself but before she could take her own life, the White Guard came to stop her from dying. The White Guard is Tua Yah Pek. The White Guard told her, death has not come near to her yet and so she couldn't die as yet but to continue to take care of her two child. You see ! Tua Yah Pek and Di Yah Pek know who should die and should not die.

Both the Tua Yah Pek and Di Yah Pek are the ones who would guide the dead to the next world, and judgement would be done by their superior to decide whether the dead has to go to the Diyu and into which level of the 18 levels of Hell for bad-hearted while they were living.

The Tua Yah Pek wishes people who meet him, "Become lucky upon meeting me" while the Di Yah Pek to bad-hearted people, "Arresting you right now"

Both Tua Yah Pek and Di Yah Pek were living in the the era of the opium war in China and they were addicted to opium too but picked to die to save more Chinese from dying. Starting in 1700s, the British sold opium to China to buy silver and when China shut down its drug trafficking racket and arrested its dope, England went to war with China in 1839.

I heard scantily haunting/hounding sound, something like that of the dogs and of the departed and a mixed of both coming with the blowing wind from the open space of the cemetery so naturally and take much attention so that one would never to sway other thoughts, even like pulling my cellphone from the pocket to record the rare phenomena. I see no dogs around. Dog eyes can detect very little movements; dog can smell up to 10,000 times stronger than human and dog can hear high frequency 4 times further in distance than man.

This month is "Ghost-Month" !