THE STORY OF DATOK KONG

Source : Urban Explorer of Singapore

Some locals in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are still not always able to identify keramats accurately. On a recent visit to Pulau Karimun Besar, we were informed that a Chinese temple there contained an “Islamic” keramat. However, we found no such thing. Instead, there was a “Datok Gunung Kawi” shrine there, which is not at all Islamic (urbex.asia/uFjBTn). As far as we can tell, most Indonesians Muslims are not too concerned with such trivial matters of religion (especially at the less-educated folk and local levels). However, the atmosphere is quite different in Malaysia.

In Malaysia, the construction of a Chinese shrine at Bandar Bukit Raja provoked a public outcry among the local Muslim community because it included an onion-shaped dome and a crescent moon symbol, thereby resembling a mosque. According to Harian Metro, Malaysia authorities soon notified the owner on 24 January 2017 that the structure was on State Land and in violation of the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974. Instructions were given to have the shrine relocated or removed. The shrine was then demolished on the morning of 31 January 2017. In December 2018, some local Muslims also felt discomfited by the presence of a small Chinese shrine at Mount Ophir and wanted the Tangkak District Council to have it removed.

In the same vein, in Singapore, there was an attempt in a discussion on Facebook in 2014 to call for the removal of Keramat Datok Loyang from the Loyang Tua Pek Kong temple. The topic starter erroneously identified Keramat Datok Loyang was a Muslim keramat, based on the presence of minaret-like architecture at the shrine, and said that it should have no place in a Chinese temple. This attempt faded out very quickly because Keramat Datok Loyang is not a Muslim keramat at all.

Oversimplification has given rise to the notion that all Malays are Muslims and that all onion-shaped domes represent Islam, whereas there are non-Muslim Malays and Christian churches with onion domes such as the world-famous St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. While we always remember to be sensitive when discussing matters of religious faith, we should also never forget that keramats (loosely meaning “shrines”) are not Islamic when the word “datok” is present. Such keramats are dedicated to a wholly different deity from the Muslim God.

Datok Kong (variously spelt Na Tu Gong in Mandarin or Natok Kong in Hokkien) is a Sino-Malay folk deity worshipped by some Chinese, Malays and Indians in Malaysia, Singapore and some parts of Indonesia. The common name used in Malaysia is “Datuk Gong”’. The word “gong” (公) refers to the Chinese earth deity, Tu Di Gong (土地公), the god of the soil. Meanwhile, the word “datok” means “grandfather” in Malay, which is aligned with the Chinese tradition of ancestor veneration.

The 2012 paper “Settling Down Spiritually: Chinese Malaysian’s Worship of Datuk Gong” by Chin-Yee Mun and Lee Yok Fee explains that the Chinese understanding of Datuk Kong arose from the Malay Datuk Keramat concept. In a video interview, Lee Yok Fee says that the Malays worshipped guardian spirits (or “penunggu”) before the arrival of Islam. When the Chinese migrated to Malaya en masse during the 19th century, they brought with them their own religious beliefs, including a belief in Tu Di Gong. The Chinese in Malaya came to identify the locally-worshipped Datuk Keramat as a form of their own Tu Di Gong, leading to the evolution of the syncretic worship of Datuk Kong.

This is supported by a 2016 article by Hafiz Rashid. He explains that the Malay version of the Polynesian concept of mana is “semangat”, which can be loosely translated as life essence, life force, or spirit. Semangat was a force which permeated the everyday lives of the ancient Malays. As a result, Datuk Kong did not initially have a human form but instead was conceived of as manifesting in the form of trees, rocks, tablets, and other objects. This tells us that the root of the Datuk Kong belief is Animism, one of the world's oldest religions and one which is still practised all over the globe.

How then did the worship of Datuk Kong come to take on a human form? According to local historian Victor Yue, there is a traditional Chinese belief that spirits exist in nature, such as in trees or stones. However, the Chinese frequently personify such spirits so that they can be better understood by laypeople. In this manner, Chinese devotees in Malaya also eventually humanised Datuk Kong to make worship more accessible, praying to a “who” instead of to a “what”.

In the course of our explorations, we have come across various versions of Datok Kong, from an altar containing a piece of wood embossed with the word “Datok” to a tree version wearing an Ihram belt. During our collaboration with Channel 8, we discovered yet another unique Datok Kong shrine. This shrine was just an altar containing a Jurong brick when we first saw it on 2 July 2019. However, by 24 July the brick had been given a face and was wearing a “tengkolok”.

Note: “The Story of Datok Kong” is an original work by Urban Explorers of Singapore. Please cite/mention “Urban Explorers of Singapore” as the source if any of this material is used.

In addition, we would like to give special thanks to Victor Yue for his input on Chinese culture and folk belief.

C&P

Zulheimy Maamor

Lembah Keramat, K.L

21 June 2026: 5.28 p.m