As you drive from Singapore to Johor Bahru, the scenery improves. Small shops appear on the roadside, the traditional bastions of Chinese. Not far away are two high-rises. The one on the left is a swank hotel; the one on the right is a mixed-use high-rise. And Johor's old temple is squeezed right in between them, in an area filled with circling dust from nearby construction.

An Old Temple in the City: As you enter the Mountain Gate, you only see an old temple with a small layout, a little run down on the outside. Inside the temple it is dark, with straight crossbeams and columns, and carvings black with soot. Incense burning, statues of the deities in place, it seems the traces of the past have been obscured in the smoke, yet the presence of history for this very reason is even more evident. There are two wells in the main hall, one on each side. On the wells are carved the Green Dragon to the left and a White Tiger to the right, and only the head, but not the tail is visible, restlessly looking to strike out.

In 1986, the land all around the temple was taken over by the government for the "Urban Development Plan." The neighboring Foom-Yew primary school, the Fukien Association hall, and Chinese shops were all forced to move; only the temple, in a wave of protest from the Chinese community, has been able to remain, thus creating today's picture of "being flanked by guards on both sides."

In May of 1990, the Chinese Chunghwa Association, which has governing power over the temple, suddenly announced that they wanted to tear down Old Temple and build a new one, and had already sent the plan to the Johor Bahru city council for approval. The idea to build anew, promoted by the Maintenance Committee, generated a great debate. Should they tear down one and build another? Or should they just repair the old one? Or do nothing at all and leave it untouched? Or even move it to another location? Everybody put their two cents in, and the focus of the debate became: Which was higher--the temple's historical value or its religious value?

Reconstructionists vs. Restorationists: The Reconstructionists, led by Chunghwa Association President Kuo Ho-yao, argued that the old temple was just a place for making representations to the gods. Because the outside looked like a duck hut, and could collapse at any moment, it naturally served the convenience and safety of the men and women who prayed there to build a new temple--one of great beauty that could also attract travelers and become a tourist site.

The Restorationists, led by the Alumni Association of Taiwan Universities and Colleges, risked being labelled as "having a deviant opinion" by their elders, and felt that the temple should not be torn down. They argued that to build a new temple would only preserve the religious value, but the historic value of Old Temple would not be present, because the old temple is living testimony to the forging of Chinese society in Johor Bahru. When you think back to how their ancestors first pioneered Johor Bahru, the first thing they did was to build a temple to pray for tranquility, then to build an association hall to keep contact and build fellow-feeling, and lastly to sponsor a school to educate their children. Today, with the Malaysian government unwilling to provide financial assistance for preservation, if Chinese do not do something themselves, these testimonials to the history of the immigrants will tomorrow vanish.

Regardless of whether one favored new construction or refurbishment, for many people this was their first such experience. Without any precedents, they lacked specialized knowledge and skills, and it became urgent to seek outside help.

In July of 1990, there was a change in the stalemate situation. The Johor Bahru student association in Taiwan asked then-Tamsui University architecture professor Li Chen-lung to undertake an on-site investigation and mediation; Li determined that the temple's history was not merely 100 years, but that it could conceivably be even older than the Ching Yun temple, thought to be the earliest in Malaysia. He estimated that it wouldn't be difficult to restore the temple, and that the job could be completed within half a year. After these discoveries were reported in the media, there was great excitement in the Chinese community, and there was a shift in attitudes toward a consensus--repair the old temple.

The Software Value is Greater: Nevertheless, the hardware is a relatively minor matter, and it is the construction of "soft" historical information that is really important. "Don't assume just because the temple is small or run-down that it has no value. It is the only basic evidence, built with our ancestors' own hands, and it can often reflect the lives of our forebears even more accurately," says Li Chen-lung. He recalls that not only can one trace commonalities in the genealogy and culture of Chinese in Taiwan, mainland China, and southeast Asia through these, but the old temple in Johor can do even more to provide historical evidence to help in the establishment of the history of the pioneering of Johor Bahru. One historical clue known at this time is the large wooden tablet, inscribed "Together Upholding Heaven," engraved in the reign of the Tung Chih emperor in the Ch'ing dynasty 120 years ago. Inside the temple there is a bronze bell with 115 years of history behind it. And the founding of the old Johor dynasty which pioneered Johor Bahru was in 1855, so you can see the two are historically close.

Two Races in Prosperity, Five Factions in Harmony: Chen Yen-ming, secretary of the Old Temple Restoration Committee, describes the joy of the investigation. The first thing was that the temple name was really interesting, since "it was not common for Chinese temples to be named after Malaysian place names; most used the names of Chinese persons or places, like the Cheng Ho Temple (after a famous Chinese navigator who traveled often to southeast Asia) or the Kuangtung-Fukien Temple. Why would this Chinese society accept a Malay temple name? This is perhaps due to the fact that the Chinese helped establish the dynasty at that time, giving Chinese and Malays some common ground and harmony."

Another, even more unique feature is the "peaceful coexistence of the five factions" among temple deities. Originally, Chinese groups would each build their own temples, each sponsor their own schools, and each build their own hillside cemeteries. But here, the great Hong Hsien god of Fukien, the great Hua Kuang god of Kuangtung, the Yuan Tien god of Chaochow, the Kan Tien god of Hakkanese, and Hainan's deified Field Marshal Yueh are all gathered in one temple, peacefully coexisting. On the twentieth of the first month in every year, the various gods will be brought out for an "inspection tour" and will even visit remote Malay villages. In the past, students at the neighboring school would all be received regardless of their origin; "business expenses" for the temple would be shared among everyone, and Fukien and Chao-chow would alternate in handling the temple finances. And the nearby cemetery, now overgrown with grass and with simple, rough-hewn monuments, is where all five factions buried their dead. Nevertheless, there are many mysteries that remain to be explained. For example, the inscription "Together Upholding Heaven" on the wooden tablet in front of the temple has a hint of political unity about it; was the temple formerly a political center? And who was ruling whom? And why was the temple only named "Old Temple" when it was first founded? Was their some former identity deliberately covered over? These questions all await investigation by the "Johor Old Temple Restoration Research Commission," which will soon be set up.

The Dust Has Settled: While these questions are being investigated, other conflicts have not been completely resolved. Last July, it was rumored that the government authorities planned to tear down the mountain gate of the temple to build a road. Local Chinese society logically defended their position, and convinced the local government to cannel the proposal. Also at this time, Chunghua Association president Kuo Ho-yao of the recontructionists resigned saying he had lost his public support, leaving the association presidency vacant. But now that the dust has settled, the Chunghua Association has decided to donate 1.5 million Malaysian dollars (rounghly equivalent to 15 million NT dollars) to cover expenses for the maintenance of the old temple, and also asked architecture specialists from Singapore and mainland China to do a draft plan, after which bids will be tendered, in preparation for refurbishing cracked and broken tiles and beams; the layout itself will not be changed at all.

Looking back at the turbulent past year, the young combatants fighting to save this historical asset can sigh, "The whole situation, it seems, is how the younger generation can convince the older generation to work together to treasure the products of an even older generation."

Chiu Ju-hwa, executive director of the Yao Shan Culture Foundation, who has also gone to Malaysia from Taiwan to investigate, concludes that this whole situation can be seen as a precedent of the gradual rise in the cultural consciousness of Malaysian Chinese realized through concrete action, which even brought about the first case of cooperation between architectural specialists on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

[Picture Caption]

Incense smoke circling and the statues of the deities in place, the argument over Johor Old Temple has been a shock to the Chinese community in Johor Bahru, and has also become an opportunity for the first ever cooperation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait to maintain an historic site.

The original painting on this Fukienese style gable is already stripped away, and to save trouble, people in later ties simply used red paint. Although this door is narrow, you can have a panoramic view of the temple.

Pinned between tall buildings, the Johor Old Temple is an urban survivor.

On the left inside the temple is a dragon well. On the well there is a molded guardian dragon, whose head is visible but whose tail is not; it looks ready to strike.

This little place for burning spirit money is just a wall away from a construction site.

(Below) The gods of the Fukienese, Cantonese, Chaochow people, Hakka, and Hainan people are all squeezed together in one hall, making a rarely seen case of "the five factions peacefully coexisting in a Chinese temple.

The original painting on this Fukienese style gable is already stripped away, and to save trouble, people in later ties simply used red paint. Although this door is narrow, you can have a panoramic view of the temple.

Pinned between tall buildings, the Johor Old Temple is an urban survivor.

On the left inside the temple is a dragon well. On the well there is a molded guardian dragon, whose head is visible but whose tail is not; it looks ready to strike.

This little place for burning spirit money is just a wall away from a construction site.

（Below） The gods of the Fukienese, Cantonese, Chaochow people, Hakka, and Hainan people are all squeezed together in one hall, making a rarely seen case of "the five factions peacefully coexisting in a Chinese temple.