Ma Chor Po
Ma Chor Po is a goddess dedicated to rescuing seafarers from the perils at sea, was the original primary diety of the temple because the Chinese community, being newcomers in a strange land, needed divine protection for their tumultous journey through the South China Sea. A study of the altar tablets shows that the tablet representing the Ma Chor Po is larger than the one for the Kuan Yin. Also, according to historian Ong Seng Huat, the poems inscribed on the 60 fortune sticks in the temple are similar to those found in Ma Chor Po temples.
In all likelihood, as the local Chinese community evolved from one dependent on the sea to one which is urban, the virtues of the Goddess of Mercy - motherliness, compassionate, dedicated to saving mortals from tribulation - become more congruent to their needs. This transition from Ma Chor Po to Kuan Yin 1824, because two stelae by the Board Directors of the temple indicated that the Goddess of Mercy was the main deity even before 1824.
In all likelihood, as the local Chinese community evolved from one dependent on the sea to one which is urban, the virtues of the Goddess of Mercy - motherliness, compassionate, dedicated to saving mortals from tribulation - become more congruent to their needs. This transition from Ma Chor Po to Kuan Yin 1824, because two stelae by the Board Directors of the temple indicated that the Goddess of Mercy was the main deity even before 1824.