Fight occurs at Pandan Gardens temple on 1st day of CNY when devotee tries to enter private ceremony

A fight broke out at a Taoist temple in Pandan Gardens on the morning of Jan. 29, after a devotee who tried to enter a private ceremony fell down and allegedly accused a temple volunteer of tripping him.

Surveillance footage showed the devotee, joined by two others, allegedly attacking the volunteer with fists and lit joss sticks.

After Yang Tao Yuan Sheng Hong Temple made the matter public, threatening to take legal action against the culprits, the devotee turned up to apologise.

Fell in temple, accused volunteer of tripping him

The temple manager, surnamed Su (transliteration) told Shin Min Daily News that on Jan. 29, 2025, the first day of Chinese New Year, the temple was conducting a religious ritual that was not open to the public.

Su said temple staff would first perform a ceremony in the temple before the public would be allowed to enter and offer incense.

Su added that there were about 1,000 devotees waiting at the entrance that morning.

According to Su, a man in his 30s tried to enter the temple and blew incense into the face of a volunteer who tried to stop him, causing the volunteer to start coughing.

The volunteer, surnamed Huang (transliteration) told Shin Min that the man pushed him and a second volunteer who tried to block his way.

During the scuffle, the man fell to the ground along with the second volunteer, and a jar used to hold red packets was also knocked to the ground, breaking it.

"He accused me of using my foot to trip him, but I didn't," said Huang.

Fight broke out

Huang alleged that the man got up and started punching him, while two other devotees ran over to join the fight.

Huang claimed that in the ensuing altercation, he did not retaliate but only used his hands to block the alleged attackers.

He said he ended up getting hit on the face and head, but did not suffer any serious injury.

Footage of the incident showed a group of men scuffling at the entrance to the temple.

One man in a purple shirt was shown using joss sticks to attack a man in a yellow shirt.

Temple threatened legal action

On Feb. 3, the temple put up a Facebook post alleging that its temple volunteer had been attacked by three devotees.

Additionally, a fourth devotee told the volunteer he wanted to "talk with him outside", the temple wrote.

The temple said it understood that two other devotees witnessed the incident and reprimanded the alleged attackers.

The temple warned the alleged attackers that they had been seen on CCTV footage and that a police report would be lodged.

It added that the temple's management committee was prepared to take legal action against them.

Devotee returned to apologise

Su said the devotee who started the fight returned to the temple to apologise on Feb. 4.

"He admitted that he shouldn't have hit anyone, and apologised on behalf of the other devotees as well. I suggested that he apologise to the volunteers in person, and he agreed," said Su.

Following the incident, Su said he plans to hire two burly security guards to beef up temple security.

He added that the temple board does not condone such behaviour towards its volunteers.

"We rely on volunteers to maintain order here, and if they receive abuse, who would want to volunteer in future? That's why we must seek justice for them," said Su.

Top image from Shin Min Daily News