Yeoh Clan Jetty and Hean Boo Thean Temple

Reclamation changed the waterline: the wooden decking left from the jetty now runs mostly over solid ground. Only at its far end does a concrete two-level shrine still stand on supports. Below are altars to Chinese deities, while the upper level is given over to Guanyin of the South Sea, the merciful protector.

The jetty's name is a surname. Yeoh is the Penang pronunciation of the Chinese surname Yang. Relatives from the village of Xiayangcun in southern Fujian moved here. On this stretch of shore, they traded charcoal and firewood. The first settlers had no money for a permanent cargo pier: they installed the piles and light decking themselves, so heavy cargo went through the port piers, while boats were unloaded here. The work sheds gradually turned into homes.

During the Japanese invasion, the jetty suffered from bombing. Many Yeoh families did not return here after the war. Then the shallows around the old piles were filled in, and a considerable part of the settlement ended up on land. This explains the odd layout of the present jetty: the walkway still bears the name of boatmen and traders, although the water begins only at its far end.

At the edge of the reclaimed land, parishioners set up a wooden shrine on piles in nineteen seventy-two. They named it Hean Boo Thean; the main object of worship here is Guanyin of the South Sea, the bodhisattva, the enlightened merciful protector. At high tides, water regularly flooded the structure.

In the spring of two thousand eleven, Yang Xiuming, chairman of the building committee, began replacing the wooden temple with one of brick and concrete. The committee kept the shrine right by the water and planned a second floor for a large statue of Guanyin. The work was initially estimated at eight hundred thousand ringgit. When the building was about sixty percent complete, another two hundred thousand was still needed. Yang asked people to donate money or pay for individual bricks: the community could finish the temple only through pooled contributions.

He expected both worshippers and people viewing the Clan Jetties from the water to come to Guanyin. Construction was completed in November two thousand twelve. Altars to Chinese deities were placed on the lower level, while the upper level was set aside for Guanyin. The wooden walkway of Yeoh Jetty now runs mostly over reclaimed land, while the concrete platform of Hean Boo Thean still stands on supports by the water—on the present shoreline.