Ranjit Kaur, the Punjabi in KL’s oldest Taoist temple

Free Malaysia Today

Ranjit Kaur, who works as a caretaker at the Sin Sze Si Ya Temple in Kuala Lumpur, has been a familiar face there for close to two decades.  Read More: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2023/12/06/meet-ranjit-the-sikh-who-works-in-a-taoist-temple/  Story by: Toon Kit Yi Shot by: Afizi Ismail Presented by:Theevya Ragu Edited by: Vishna Laxmi Balasubramaniam  Read More:   Laporan Lanjut:   Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com Follow FMT on Facebook: http://bit.ly/2Rn6xEV Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM Follow FMT on Twitter: http://bit.ly/2OCwH8a  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/2OKJbc6 Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3cpbWKK Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/2VUfOrv Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/3B1e8lN Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/39dBDbe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download FMT News App: Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46 App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP  #FMTLifestyle #RanjitKaur #TaoistTemple #Caretaker #SinSzeSiYaTemple

Transcript

00:00 I think religion has nothing to do with religion. It depends on how your heart is.

00:04 Isn't it?

00:06 It's the norm in multicultural Malaysia for different races to live in harmony.

00:11 But what you seldom see is someone of a certain race or faith

00:15 being a mainstay in a place of worship that belongs to another religion.

00:19 [Music]

00:41 My name is Ranjit Kaur.

00:43 I'm born and brought up in this temple here.

00:48 I grew up here.

00:50 I grew up in Siak Mew.

00:52 I worked here.

00:54 19 years already.

00:57 Ranjit Kaur works as a caretaker in the oldest Taoist temple in Kuala Lumpur,

01:04 the Sin Tzu Siah Temple.

01:06 Her father worked as a watchman at the temple for decades

01:10 before he passed away in 1987 and relayed the position to her brother.

01:16 Ranjit grew up alongside the Chinese custodians here,

01:20 which is why she is fluent in Cantonese.

01:23 The sixth of ten children, the 61-year-old,

01:26 returned to the temple in 2006 after getting married in Surabban

01:30 and raising her daughter.

01:32 Close to 20 years later,

01:35 Ranjit is a steadfast presence at the Sin Tzu Siah Temple.

01:39 Her days start as early as 6 a.m.

01:42 when she replaces the cups of water offered to the gods

01:46 and boiled water to prepare tea for them.

01:48 During the day when the temple is open,

01:51 she assists and guides worshippers on how to pray to the different gods,

01:56 depending on what their desires are.

01:58 For example, here now we are sitting.

02:01 There at the back of you, there's a god there,

02:03 Kong Fa Fu Yen.

02:05 Kong Fa Fu Yen is for babies.

02:07 People who are 13 years, 10 years old, no baby also,

02:13 she will help you to get a baby.

02:16 And then this is for beauty.

02:19 For beauty, for people like some girls,

02:23 when sometimes they get red patches on the face or rashes,

02:28 so they come and pray to the Kong Fa Fu Yen.

02:33 After the temple closes, Ranjit sweeps or mops the floor

02:37 and clears the jaw sticks and ashes around the altar

02:40 to prepare the temple for the next day.

02:44 With her brother having passed away in 2021,

02:47 Ranjit is the only one of her siblings

02:50 who remains in the temple they grew up in.

02:52 And even though she is a Sikh,

02:55 she doesn't consider it a contradiction to her job.

02:58 I think religion has nothing to do with religion.

03:01 It depends on how your heart is.

03:03 Isn't it?

03:05 Tivya Ragu and Tun Khit Yee, FMT Lifestyle.

03:09 Tivya Ragu and Tun Khit Yee, FMT Lifestyle.

03:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]

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