Thursday, February 25, 2010

200 Years Temple Damaged By Fire

A day ago a 200 years temple, Ho An Kiong Temple in Kampung Cina ( a Unesco Heritage site ) in the eastern state of Terengganu in Malaysia was razed by fire. Ho An Kiong Temple was built in 1801 by settlers from Fukien, China and is the oldest and the largest temple in the state. The fire started at 9.30pm and was reported by members of the public. They attempted to put off the fire but were hampered by the raging blaze and the locked temple. 15 firemen took 25 minutes to bring the fire under control. It was reported that the fire has damaged 60% of the temple. According to the report released by the police, the fire was likely caused by decorative candles in the middle of the temple. A gust of wind could have toppled the candles and caused the plastic table to catch fire. During that incident, no one was in the temple as the son of the temple's caretaker who was relieving his father had left the temple for a while.

Eventhough most of the temple's structures remain intact and strong, the damaged materials, most of them were brought in from China are priceless and irreplaceable. According to the temple's caretaker, Mr Tan, the damaged materials are hard to find or no longer available even in China today.

It is sad to see something historial like this temple got damaged because even if the temple is restored 100%, it would never be the same again. The caretaker's son should have known better not to leave lighted candles / joss sticks unattended, not even for a while. When we have something burning in our premise, the risk of the flame/fire getting out of control is always there. These days many homes are using those electrical candles. These candles are just as fire hazard as the convetional candles. If these electrical candles are left lighted for a long time, the candles will get overheated and burst into flames (sparks) and catch fire easily. People should exert extra cautious when lighting candles / joss sticks and never leave them unattended at all time.

Before the fire

After the fire