Nine Emperor Gods Wednesday 3 October 2007 This must be the first invitation for the Nine Emperor Gods Festival: Defu Lane Hong San Temple (鳳山宫) went to East Coast Park to do the invitation a full 8 days before the Festival begins! Most of the other temples observing the festival are doing their invitation early next week - a couple of days before the Fetival beginss on Thursday 11th (九月初一 aka 9M01). I understand that Defu Lane decides on the date by puaq puay (throwing the divination blocks) and puaqs the dates from the eve backwards until a positive answer is obtained. From past events, I found that the breakwater has the best view but was a bit too distant for my cameras. This year, I just bought a telephoto for my DSLR which proved perfect for my perch.

After necessary preparations by the priest, three devotees carrying the incense urn plunge into the waters and wade out to waist deep waters to invite the Kau Ong Ya (九皇爷) in.

The escorting dragon had eerie glowing eyes:

The sedan chairs were brought back to the temple on Defu Lane with much fanfare. Firecrackers may be illegal in Singapore, but they've come up with electronic versions which are probably louder than the real thing! With the gongs next to me and the firecrackers above me, my ears rang till the next morning. The wayang was already going on and the paper ship was already up. As I left, I noticed that people were already posting their concerns onto the boat. The boat will be lit and floated off on the last day of the Festival (Friday 19th or 九月初九 aka 9M09) as the Kau Ong Ya depart: