Visitors to the Khye-Sian-Ong-Tua-Pek-Kong Temple in Jelutong, Penang, are often intrigued by a memorial stone. The inscription has both English and Chinese parts. The English part reads:
“This ground was given to the Chinese community to erect a temple by Ichik Jemal, The late penghulu of this district on Nov 1820”
And the Chinese part (above, highlighted with water-soluble dyes), a mention of the year 1820 in multiple calendar forms:
嘉庆二十五年一八二０
庚辰1820年 龍年
In other words, this temple has a long history and in fact has just celebrated the 192nd anniversary of its founding.
Khye-Sian-Ong is the Hokkien pronunciation of 開山王, a title that refers specifically to Koxinga. And this is also where the story begins.
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