The Spirit In The Trees

A friend once told me that, when he was a little boy, his grandmother wouldn’t let him pee on the trees when he was out walking, “because the Datuk lives there”. Trees are very important to Datuk worship, giving shelter to Datuk shrines and sometimes representing the strength and energy of the Datuk himself. This one is under a tree in the Georgetown Heritage District, on one of the jetties. The flags, in the five colours, denote the powerful directions of Taoism, and the armies of the gods, suggesting that this is a warrior Datuk who is worshipped for protection.