Location : Kota Singkawang, Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia.

While visiting the Hakka town of Singkawang during the Lunar New Year 2019, we bumped into Pak Norman, a very popular local photographer whom we acquainted many years ago in Sebujit.

culture, budaya, Kelenteng Chau Liu Nyian Shai, temple, Tourism, travel guide, Borneo, 印尼山口洋, 西加里曼丹,
Pak Norman Bong​ the Mr Ganteng of Singkawang

He kindly offered to show us around visiting a belian wood furniture factory, a Malay fishing village, venue of the Singkawang Imlek 2019 and the most surprising of all was when he suggested visiting a family of tatung or mediums in a temple in town.

Hakka, Tatung, medium, sifu, culture, wisata budaya, Dewa Dewi, Ethnic, Kalimantan Barat, temple, Tourist attraction, travel guide, Borneo, 印尼赵刘元帅庙, 山口洋华人文化, 西加里曼丹法師
Anniversary of this temple next Wednesday 23Oct 2019. Congratulations to all there.

Singkawang has always been popularly called Kota Amoi because of its many Hakka girls but recently it has been bestowed the title of ‘Kota Seribu Kelenteng’ or ‘City of a Thousand Temples’. Rightly so.

To see is to believe. Of the thousand or so temples here, Pak Norman suggested visiting the temple of the late Sifu Ajung, now managed by his 9 children. Pak Norman must have known this family for ages as he had some impressive tales to tell about Sifu Ajung. The so called temple was more like a big shrine in the middle of a row of shops. Tatung, medium, shaman, sifu, dukun, culture, wisata budaya, traditional, temple, Tourism, travel guide, Borneo, 西加里曼丹华人文化, 印尼法師乩童, 山口洋赵刘元帅庙,

Tatung, medium, trance, spiritual, culture, wisata budaya, Chinese New Year, traditional, Dewa Dewi, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, Trans Borneo, 婆罗洲西加里曼丹, 山口洋传统乩童, 印尼华人元宵节,
The late Sifu Ajung taken in 2015 when we visited Singkawang for the Chap Goh Meh celebration.
tionghoa, Tatung, medium, trance, spiritual, wisata budaya, Cap Go Meh, authentic, destination, Indonesia, Kalimantan Barat, tourist attraction, travel guide, cross border, Borneo, 传统华人文化,
When he was alive he was a regular tatung for the annual Chap Goh Meh parade.

Tatung, trance, shaman, sifu, culture, wisata budaya, Cap Go Meh, traditional, Dewa Dewi, Tourism, tourist attraction, travel guide, Trans Borneo, 穿越婆罗洲山口洋, 印尼传统华人文化, 赵刘元帅庙元宵节, tionghoa, Tatung, medium, shaman, dukun, spiritual, wisata budaya, Cap Go Meh, authentic, Indonesia, tourist attraction, travel guide, cross border, 探索婆罗洲游踪, 印尼山口洋乩童, 西加里曼丹元宵节,

Tionghoa, Hakka, medium, trance, sifu, spiritual, wisata budaya, Chinese New Year, Dewa Dewi, Indonesia, West Kalimantan, Tourism, Trans Borneo, 印尼赵刘元帅庙, 西加里曼丹法師乩童, 山口洋传统华人文化,
Could have been a General in his past life

As we were introduced to Hendry one of the 6 sons of Ajung, our inquisitivity had us quickly firing multiple questions. Hendry politely obliged and answered them pretty well, mostly in the Hakka dialect with a bit of Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesia thrown in. He and his 8 other siblings are all mediums by birth which means no training ever needed.

Tatung, medium, sifu, suhu,, culture, wisata budaya, Chinese New Year, Indonesia, West Kalimantan, Kelenteng Chau Liu Nyian Shai, temple, Tourism, cross border, 印尼传统华人文化, 西加里曼丹祭司乩童, 山口洋赵刘元帅庙
And the interview began…..

hakka, Tatung, medium, sifu, culture, budaya, traditional, Kelenteng Chau Liu Nyian Shai, temple, Tourism, travel guide, Borneo, 印尼西加里曼丹, 山口洋法師乩童, 传统华人文化,

tionghoa, Hakka, Tatung, medium, wisata budaya, Tahun Baru Imlek, Ethnic, Indonesia, Kelenteng Chau Liu Nyian Shai, temple, Tourism, tourist attraction, Trans Borneo, 探索婆罗洲游踪, 山口洋法師乩童, 印尼赵刘元帅庙

tionghoa, medium, sifu, budaya, suhu, culture, Chinese New Year, traditional, temple, Tourism, travel guide, Borneo, 婆罗洲乩童家族, 印尼西加里曼丹, 山口洋赵刘元帅庙,
A family of mediums.

Hakka, medium, shaman, sifu, spiritual, culture, Cap Go Meh, traditional, Dewa Dewi, West Kalimantan, tourist attraction, travel guide, Borneo, 印尼传统华人文化, 山口洋祭司乩童, 西加里曼丹华侨,

Hakka, Tatung, medium, shaman, sifu, culture, Tahun Baru Imlek, traditional, Dewa Dewi, Indonesia, West Kalimantan, Tourism, travel guide, Borneo, 山口洋传统华人文化
In armored gear for the battle

tionghoa, Tatung, medium, sifu, suhu, spiritual, wisata budaya, authentic, Dewa Dewi, Indonesia, Kalimantan Barat, Kelenteng Chau Liu Nyian Shai, temple, Tourism, Borneo, 赵刘元帅庙,

Although Hendry is a dentist by profession he has to work as a medium in the temple as well when locals drop by for consultation, healing or even provides divine intervention for their misfortune whenever the dewa he represents allows.

Hakka, Tatung, medium, trance, sifu, spiritual, wisata budaya, Indonesia, West Kalimantan, Kelenteng Chau Liu Nyian Shai, temple, Tourism, cross border, 探索婆罗洲游踪, 印尼西加里曼丹, 山口洋法師乩童,
Representing Dewa Pak Kung with a scholarly aura
Hakka, Tatung, medium, trance, spiritual, culture, budaya, Tahun Baru Imlek, authentic, Dewa Dewi, Kalimantan Barat, temple, travel guide, 穿越婆罗洲游踪, 山口洋华人乩童, 印尼西加里曼丹,
Representing Dewa Tai Zi

medium, shaman, sifu, dukun, spiritual, culture, Tahun Baru Imlek, authentic, Dewa Dewi, Indonesia, Kalimantan Barat, Tourist attraction, travel guide, 探索婆罗洲游踪, 印尼西加里曼丹, 山口洋法師乩童

tionghoa, Hakka, Tatung, medium, culture, Chinese New Year, traditional, Indonesia, Kalimantan Barat, Kelenteng Chau Liu Nyian Shai, temple, Tourism, travel guide, Trans Borneo, 西加里曼丹法師乩童,
Hendry and his brother Paulus in their tatung outfits.

We thanked him for sharing his personal insights as a medium. As a token of appreciation, we dropped some cash into the donation box.

Tatung, medium, shaman, sifu, culture, wisata budaya, Tahun Baru Imlek, authentic, Indonesia, Kelenteng Chau Liu Nyian Shai, Tourism, tourist attraction, Trans Border, 跨境婆罗洲游踪, 印尼传统祭司乩童, 山口洋赵刘元帅庙
One for remembrance with the brothers
Tionghoa, medium, sifu, dukun, culture, budaya,Tahun Baru Imlek, Indonesia, Kelenteng Chau Liu Nyian Shai, temple, Tourism, travel guide, 婆罗洲印尼华侨, 西加里曼丹乩童, 山口洋赵刘元帅庙,
Getting a ‘medical check up’ the tatung way

Although his answers were mostly in Hakka we have tried our best to include English subtitles and also Bahasa Indonesia/Malaysia with some help from our Indonesian friend Xiao Yan.

1 COMMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.