Bukit Timah Seu Teck Sean Tong 修德善堂
The Bukit Timah Seu Teck Sean Tong temple is located at the junction of Jurong East Ave 1 and Jurong East Street 24. It shifted there in 1986 from its former location at Jalan Seh Chuan (Bukit Timah), which it had occupied for almost a quarter of a century.
This temple is dedicated to the Teochew "Chor Soo Kong" better known as Sung Da Feng Zu Shi (Saint Ta-Fung). This deity occupies the central position on the altar in the main prayer hall. To the deity's right is the Monkey God and on his left is Jigong. There are altogether three Sung Da Feng temples in Singapore - one in Toa Payoh and the other in Bedok. And there are four in Malaysia - Pontian (Johor), Muar (Johor), Melaka and Butterworth (Penang).
This Bukit Timah Seu Teck temple is an institutional member of the Blue Cross movement. The movement started in early 1942, during the Japanese Occupation, when five Chinese "Siang Tng" ("Sean Tong") (Centre of Charity) or worshippers' groups decided to pool their monetary and manpower resources for a common goal. The five groups are: (a) Seu Teck (2) Nam Ann (3) Phoh Kiu (4) Thong Hong and (5) Thong Teck.
The common body they established is called the the Blue Cross Movement. Its mission is to collectively serve the community, without expecting any monetary reward. Among the activities of the Blue Cross movement is the establishment of free feeding centres for the needy and provision of medical centres manned by volunteers.
To that end,the Bukit Timah Seu Teck Sean Tong offers free medical consultation, including acupuncture treatment and even has its in-house dispensary. Dates and times of the "clinic's" operational hours are: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 7 pm to 9 pm or thereabouts. This free clinic is currently housed in an annexe near to the main temple building. By April 2006, it will move to a new 3-storey building, next to the main temple building.
(Adapted from Bukit Timah Seu Teck Sean Thong – Internet version)
