Continuing my "down the memory lane" trip in KL which I described in my last blog, I have to narrate my visit to the Chan She Shu Yuen Clan Ancestral Hall. It was a trip I need to take to address my childhood fears when passing by this temple. About fifty more years ago before modification works, the statue of 2 young doormen guard the front of the temple. They appeared really spooky in the eyes of a small child dressed in 'eerie" garbs, quite like those paper servants which the taoist burn for the dead. This was especially so at night. My heart would beat faster and I would try to avoid looking at the temple when the taxi I was in passed by it in the evening. Perhaps it was after hearing rumours about a rickshaw driver dropping 2 young men at the temple and later discovered that the dollar notes were actually hell money.
Well I thought it was time for my adult self to see what these guards really look like. To my delight the very temple that I dreaded is now a tourist attraction and is actually an ancestral home cum temple for a Chinese clan with many famous ancestors. To my disappointment however there ain't any scary statues guarding the front of the temple. Also the shocking green façade which I once found gaudy is now replaced with a greyish green front. I couldn't have imagined things could I?
Indeed the temple holds loads of history and artwork almost like a boutique museum. Symbolically this once deemed spooky eerie temple is to my adult self a remarkable historical treasure. As if to size down my childhood fears, 2 paper man servants (about 18 inch tall) stand on each side of the altar in the inner hall of the temple.
I still dare not look at them intently but I know their function is to serve.
