After reading Black Water Sister I did a little more research into the fascinating figure of the Datuk Gong (or Datuk Kong).

Cheu Hock Tong explains it all very well: The worship of keramat (or saints), centred around the graves of departed pious figures, is a legacy of early Sufi Islam. These keramat are identified by non-Muslim devotees as Datuk Kong: "The deceased Malay datuks are believed to manifest themselves in the form of invisible spirits in particular localities, whose duty it is to ensure the general well-being of the residents who worship them... The Chinese worship the keramats in the belief that the spirit beings have the power to preserve peace, harmony and safety, not only in residential areas but also in places of work such as farms, timber camps, sawmills, factories, and construction sites." In other words, the Datuk Kong is a guardian spirit, or "localized" deity, exerting power in a specific area. Because the keramats are Malay Muslim figures, the Datuk Kong carries an emblematic keris. Malay is the language used by spirit mediums to communicate with both the deity and the devotees; and offerings have to be halal.

It's a lovely bit of cultural fusion, and now I know more about it, I wonder how many of the Tudi Gong we knew over on the Peninsula were actually Datuk Gong...

The worship of Datuk Kong is less common in Sarawak than it is on the Peninsula, and is of relatively recent origin (the late 1980s). Opinion is divided as to whether the practice was brought over by West Malaysians working in Sarawak, or brought back by Sarawakian Chinese who had been working in Peninsular Malaysia. In Sarawak, there is also less emphasis on the idea that the worship of the Datuk Kong derives from a belief in keramat. Folding this figure into their worship, therefore, "is not so much about a sense of identity but has the practical motive of gaining extra protection and blessings from the deity, who is known for being gracious in giving 'lucky numbers'".

And indeed, this account of the origin of the Tanjung Datuk Kong complex near Kuching's Sejingkat bridge speaks of two men stumbling upon the derelict shrine, vowing to restore it (in response to a dream apparition), and striking it lucky on the lottery...

Anyway, having read all this, I felt we needed to pay a visit, and as we'd armed ourselves with a car to help us through our long list of pre-departure tasks, logistics proved no problem.

The whole expedition was more than slightly farcical. First off, the hire car overheated, and had to be replaced. But using Car No. 2, we finally rolled up to the temple, which is very picturesquely situated, looking out across the broad Sarawak River.







The complex is running in dogs, a circumstance that always puts me on edge. But the guardian shushed the ones that were barking at us, and most of the rest were asleep, so you mainly had to be careful not to fall over or tread on their prone bodies. As we entered, we looked to the right and to the left, and decided that the left looked more promising, especially as there was a nice little walkway leading out over the water.


It was all very interesting, and we duly found a figure wielding a keris. We took some photos, made a donation, and left.




But having got home, and consulted the information again (we couldn't access it while we were out there), we realized that we'd missed the star turn... The Datuk Kong depicted in the photos was not among the figures we'd seen...

So we went back again today.

I'm not sure what the guardian thought about the return of this strange couple, but we toughed it out, and headed to the right this time.






All up, a fascinating pair of outings. It definitely pays to persist...