The famous Kwan Inn Thong Hood Cho Temple at Waterloo street will allow devotees to continue the tradition of ‘borrowing’ Ang Bao from the Goddess of Mercy come 16 February 2022.
This comes after a hiatus of two years due to the ongoing pandemic.
Event will end when ang baos finish
According to Lianhe Zaobao, the event will end after all available ang baos have been distributed out.
As part of the safe management measures employed by the temple, devotees who wish to visit the temple to pray will be admitted only based on the odd and even numbers of each individual’s NRIC numbers.
Do take note that the temple has stopped accepting fresh offerings such as fruits and flowers.
Tradition of ang bao borrowing
According to Chinese beliefs, the Goddess of Mercy who is known to devotees as Guan Yin Ma, will open her ‘treasury’ to give assistance to those who need them on the 26th day of the first lunar month.
Devotees believe that if they borrow an ang bao from Guan Yin Ma, they will be blessed for the remainder of the year.
What lies inside the ang bao is typically a coin.
After borrowing the ang bao, devotees will usually keep the ang bao inside their wallet so that the good luck will follow them and bless their pockets.
Devotees who borrowed an ang bao from Guan Yin Ma will have to return the ang bao by the end of the lunar year.
Here is what an ang bao from the temple looks like
Advisory for those intending to go down
For those who are intending to take part in the ang bao borrowing event or those wanting to go down just to offer their prayers, do take note of the safe management measures in place and abide by them so that we can prevent the virus from spreading and infecting more people.
What we all want in the end is to get the blessings and not to get ill.
Image source: Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple/Facebook