00:00 I think religion has nothing to do with religion. It depends on how your heart is.
00:04 Isn't it?
00:06 It's the norm in multicultural Malaysia for different races to live in harmony.
00:11 But what you seldom see is someone of a certain race or faith
00:15 being a mainstay in a place of worship that belongs to another religion.
00:19 [Music]
00:41 My name is Ranjit Kaur.
00:43 I'm born and brought up in this temple here.
00:48 I grew up here.
00:50 I grew up in Siak Mew.
00:52 I worked here.
00:54 19 years already.
00:57 Ranjit Kaur works as a caretaker in the oldest Taoist temple in Kuala Lumpur,
01:04 the Sin Tzu Siah Temple.
01:06 Her father worked as a watchman at the temple for decades
01:10 before he passed away in 1987 and relayed the position to her brother.
01:16 Ranjit grew up alongside the Chinese custodians here,
01:20 which is why she is fluent in Cantonese.
01:23 The sixth of ten children, the 61-year-old,
01:26 returned to the temple in 2006 after getting married in Surabban
01:30 and raising her daughter.
01:32 Close to 20 years later,
01:35 Ranjit is a steadfast presence at the Sin Tzu Siah Temple.
01:39 Her days start as early as 6 a.m.
01:42 when she replaces the cups of water offered to the gods
01:46 and boiled water to prepare tea for them.
01:48 During the day when the temple is open,
01:51 she assists and guides worshippers on how to pray to the different gods,
01:56 depending on what their desires are.
01:58 For example, here now we are sitting.
02:01 There at the back of you, there's a god there,
02:03 Kong Fa Fu Yen.
02:05 Kong Fa Fu Yen is for babies.
02:07 People who are 13 years, 10 years old, no baby also,
02:13 she will help you to get a baby.
02:16 And then this is for beauty.
02:19 For beauty, for people like some girls,
02:23 when sometimes they get red patches on the face or rashes,
02:28 so they come and pray to the Kong Fa Fu Yen.
02:33 After the temple closes, Ranjit sweeps or mops the floor
02:37 and clears the jaw sticks and ashes around the altar
02:40 to prepare the temple for the next day.
02:44 With her brother having passed away in 2021,
02:47 Ranjit is the only one of her siblings
02:50 who remains in the temple they grew up in.
02:52 And even though she is a Sikh,
02:55 she doesn't consider it a contradiction to her job.
02:58 I think religion has nothing to do with religion.
03:01 It depends on how your heart is.
03:03 Isn't it?
03:05 Tivya Ragu and Tun Khit Yee, FMT Lifestyle.
03:09 Tivya Ragu and Tun Khit Yee, FMT Lifestyle.
03:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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