A
German Roman Catholic Angel Honoured as Singaporean Taoist Deity in
Pulau Ubin Island of Singapore
Haunted
Singapore and Pulau Ubin
Singapore
and the islands surroundings it has a reputation for being haunted
since pre colonial period till even today. Pulau Ubin is just one of
the islands surroundings Singapore.
It
is a very small island that is popular today for hikers, campers,
devotees as well as paranormal seekers. It used to be a village but
today it is a village without villagers.
German
Girl Shine ( 德国拿督姑娘庙)
In
a deserted part of Pulau Ubin Island lies a mysterious Taoist Shine.
It is known by a few names such as : Lady
Datok Shrine , German Girl Shine, Berlin
Heiligtum , 柏林苑，俗称拿督姑娘庙.
But most commonly known as German Girl Shine ( 德国拿督姑娘庙).
Location:
Pulau Ubin, Offshore island off Singapore. Take a bum boat from Changi Ferry Terminal at Changi Village.
Entrance:
Go
by Jalan Jelutung and Jalan Edaud Senin and will take you past a
chalet resort follow
the signs to the Ketam Mountain Bike Park. This park has gravel and
dirt trails labelled by difficulty similar to ski parks, but you won't
have to ride on any real trails to find the shrine.
On
your way there, you'll get to a fork in the road. At the fork you'll
see this sign on the left, in the shrubs Keep heading in the
direction of the park; by now you should be on a gravel trail. You'll
eventually see the back side of a yellow structure on the left. Turn
left towards it and you could see a small red hut. The door is open
always but
Do
Not Touch anything inside! You won't get lost because there are road
markers and at a junction there is a small yellow sign post showing
the direction to the site.
Directions
on how to get there
From the jetty, follow the blue trail it should give you a good guide on how to walk or cycle there.
For
those not good with maps, the starting point is from the jetty
archway, then turn left. You should be walking through the main town.
Go pass it. You should see a quarry (Pekan Quarry) on your right.
Your first decision point on where to turn should be also a signboard
with a map as well as a distance indicator signage.
You should turn left to Jalan Jelutong. Keep following this road for 3 km and you will be on right path to the shrine. Some landmarks, you will be passing through 2 bridges (Sungai jelutong and Sungai puaka) that overlooks beautiful mangrove swamps before seeing the only signboard that provides the direction to the German Girl Shrine.
You should turn left to Jalan Jelutong. Keep following this road for 3 km and you will be on right path to the shrine. Some landmarks, you will be passing through 2 bridges (Sungai jelutong and Sungai puaka) that overlooks beautiful mangrove swamps before seeing the only signboard that provides the direction to the German Girl Shrine.
Walk
for another 600-700 meters and keep a look out for a yellow building
on your left and that should be the shrine.It all fails, hire the van
taxi. The locals know this place very well.
Who
is this Deity Goddess ?
This
Taoist Shine itself honors a 18 year old German girl who died there
back during the 1910s. The identity of this girl is unknown. Nobody
knows her real name. The only thing known was that she was a Roman catholic. It was believed that she was born in year 1896 & died
in year 1914.
This
Shine itself is highly famous and popular particularly to gamblers
both in Singapore and Malaysia. Devotees reach as far as Thailand ,
Myanmar and even Europe. It is said that prayers and wishes and often
answered and delivered. Her faithful devotees believed that she had
became an Angel Goddess/Deity.
Devotees
pray to her for all sort of things. They asked for blessings, peace,
good luck, health & harmony. But the majorities pray to her for
winning lotteries and wealth. She is among one of highly must pray to
deities that is very well known and famous to most of the hard core
gamblers.
Many
people also go to her for spiritual interventions as well too !
Her
Origins
Nobody
Knows her real name. Back then during the colonial period of a
Singapore, 2 German
families, Daniel Brandt and Hermann Muhlinga
used to owned a coffee plantation at the
northeastern part of Pulau Ubin.
However during WW1
( 1914-1918) when German attack Europe, & UK declare war on
Germany on 4th
August 1914, the British decided to size all assets , properties and
belongings of Germans inside their colony and Singapore was no
exception.
Her biological
parents were said to have been captured & send to detention
barracks in mainland Singapore, however their frighten daughter
managed to escaped into the woods uncaptured.
No one really knew
what happened, but it was highly believed that she had slip and
felled off from the cliff and died when her head smashed against a
piece of rock.
The next day some
local Malays (Boyanese) plantation workers who for her father spotted
her body & there was ants all over her. They covered her corpse
with sand and offered prayers to her. They would throw flowers and
incense each time they pass by her death spot.
Eventually,
a group of Chinese factory workers of the island carted
her remains to the crest of the quarry's hill and gave her a proper
burial. It was believed that maybe what they did was as a gesture of
thanks to the kindness they had received from her parents.
It
was uncertain if it was because of ghost sightings that eventually
her remains was cremated into a urn and & moved into a Chinese
Taoist Shine erected for her whereby she was being honoured as the
local deity and since then the village received her blessings .
After
the war, her family came back in search of her tombstone but as they
could not locate their precious daughter remains, they bitterly left
Singapore and never returned. Till date, her family members cannot be
traced.
Her
Shine
Perhaps
after the shine was erected to ho nor her whereby she was worshipped
and given a status, This 18 year German Ghost gained her divinity as
a result ans became into a deity goddess or Angel and was able
received into realm of Lord Jesus with this Taoist Shine as her
crossover.
Inside
her Shine, both Catholic Biblical relics as well as Chinese Taoist
incenses , offerings etc...be found. This Roman Catholic Angel is
being honoured by the means of Chinese Taoism.
Her
remains were kept inside this Chinese Taoist Shine with an Iron or
Sliver crucifix cross and some coins.
In
year 1974 a granite company took over the hill for development and
hence this shine was shifted downhill to it's present day current
location known colloquially as the foot of 'Coffee Hill'. It is
painted in yellow (holy colour of Malay) but has features that remind
us of Chinese temple, such as a pair of lanterns, bronze censers for
Jade Emperor and main deity, moon blocks, joss stick, joss paper
burner, oil lamp, donation box, altars, medium's table and chair.
The
Granite Company Aik Hwa gave the Shine a Jiangsu Urn which was a very
expensive urn to store the remains of this girl. However, this urn
was later believed to have been stolen with her remains and her Iron
or sliver crucifix ( believed to be stolen for black magic or sorcery
purpose) and the urn today in this shine is just a replacement urn &
it is empty inside.
This
Shine as of this year 2014 is already 118 years old. About 7 or 8
years ago a barbie doll was placed inside the shine for the spirit to
reside inside. Previously in the past devotee just prayed to the urn.
On
the main altar is a barbie doll to represent the German Girl and a
host of things one would find on a girl's dressing table. This doll
is being adorned in bracelets, a garland and a necklace. She is being
surrounded by lipsticks, bottles of nail polish, perfume, powder,
hair spray, brush, face cream, flowers, fruits, and other cosmetics
which people have offered. Below the main altar is a stone that came
from the spot where her corpse was found, which has been kept to
remember her.
The
Paranormal of the Shine
There
are a couple of paranormal things about her shine and they are
- about 7 or 8 years ago (probably in year 2006) a Singaporean who migrated to Australia who was probably previously from this island of Pulau ubin island resident, dreamt of her 3 nights in a row and she instructed him the exact shop and doll she wanted him to send to her and it turn up to be true when he found the exact shop and doll as per her instructions. Hence , from Australia this man send over the doll to this shine
- There was no bloodstain on the stone of her shine which was believed she hit on before dying and found in front of the stone.
- Anyone who touched the urn behind the doll is said to be able to speak German
- Said that her spirits loiters around her Shine even till today, & there are Pocong or was it night angel spotted ?
Similar
versions of likewise deities just like her
Some
likewise local deities are like:
- Datuk Gong or Na Tu Kong (拿督公) Datuk Keramat / Keramat Datuk of Malaysia
- Mae Nak shrine in the Prakanong district of Bangkok Thailand
- Tua Pek Gong (大伯公)
they
are invisible but their powers is omnipresent
Videos
https://www.viddsee.com/video/german-girl-shrine/z1ho4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-2E1lEnlj8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw_dQmej8ts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQmM3ajebz4
Source
of Origins
