Sweets and puppet show

It was the second day of the second lunar month, also known as "Tou Ya" (头牙). The character "Ya" here refers to every second day and sixteenth day of the lunar month. "Tou Ya" literally means the beginning of the second day (hence second day of the second lunar month) where the Chinese will begin their praying and offering to the deities. For the Henghua (兴化人) in Southern China, "Tou Ya" is an important event to celebrate. This is also seen in the case of Singapore but the celebration is done only on a much smaller scale.

 Gathering of the Henghua community, consisting of the elderly, adults and young

I was told that there will be praying and offering made in the various Henghua temples in Singapore but chanting by the priest (道士) was only conducted at the Xing An Tian Hou Gong (兴安天后宫) which is likened to the "headquarters" of the Henghua community.

There was a puppet show by Sin Hoe Ping (新和平) and of course not forgetting, the famous delicacies like "beaten noodles" (打面 or 'pa mi' in Henghua) and glutinous rice balls prepared for the occasion.

Eating peanut & sesame coated glutinous rice balls and watching puppet show 

These photos may serve as a beautiful memory to those who had visited this temple before and for those who have not, this will be the last time you will see this temple as a new building will replace it soon.

For a brief history of the temple, you can read my earlier post: http://marionettetheatre.blogspot.com.au/2010/02/celebrations-with-marionette.html