Thian Hock Keng Dou Gong Workshop

A THK Dou Gong model was presented to DPM Lawrence Wong during the opening ceremony of the 7th Hokkien Festival on 2nd December 2022.

Since 2017, Dr. Chen Yu has been offering two electives (i.e. Overseas Chinese Architecture and Settlement, Urban and Rural Regeneration in Asia) in the Department of Architecture, NUS. This semester, Guo Rong and Zhang Jinghan, two MArch II students taking the OCAS module, expressed their greatest interest and passion for studying Thian Hock Keng’s Dou Gong, a sophisticated yet iconic component in traditional Chinese architecture. Moving beyond the module requirement, they created the 3D model of the Dou Gong in the central bay of Thian Hock Keng’s front porch.

Realizing the potential of the students’ assignment, Dr. Chen empowered them to further their study and prototype the model into the first-ever Dou Gong building block kit in Singapore. She initiated the THK Dou Gong Workshop on 28^th September 2022 and set up a team of 12 students and graduates. With the generous support of Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan and three individuals, the workshop was held on 3 & 4 December 2022 in Chung Wen Ker where Chinese education in Singapore first started, which is also a national monument in Singapore.

Organized by the Overseas Chinese Cultural Heritage Programme, the two-day workshop was attended by more than 60 curious participants across a wide variety of ages. The workshop team was interviewed and featured in Lianhe Zaobao on 7th December 2022.