BUTTERWORTH: The spirit of giving shines at a temple here, where some 6,000 packets of free vegetarian meals are distributed daily during the Nine Emperor Gods Festival.
Behind the effort are more than 100 volunteers who handle over a tonne of rice each and vegetables daily at the Tow Boo Keong in Jalan Raja Uda.
Work begins at 5am, with volunteers peeling and chopping pumpkins, cucumbers, cabbages, French beans, and chayotes before cooking the vegetables in giant woks. They then pack and distribute the meals.
Temple food affairs deputy chairman Yap Voon Hooi said the meals are open to everyone, regardless of race, religion, financial background, or nationality.
“Each person can collect up to four packets, with each containing rice and three dishes. The most important thing is to finish whatever you take,” she said when met at the temple yesterday.
Lunch is served from 11.30am to 1pm, while dinner is distributed from 5.30pm to 7pm, or until supplies run out.
Large crowds were seen queuing as early as an hour before distribution began.
Yap said the menu changes daily, with donations of ingredients and funds from sponsors helping to sustain the initiative.
She said all cooking utensils are reserved strictly for vegetarian food.
Eggs and the five pungent vegetables – onions, garlic, leeks, chives, and scallions – are also excluded, she added.
“The initiative primarily aims to promote compassion and foster affinity within the community,” according to Yap.
“We want to encourage devotees and the public to observe a meatless diet to nurture empathy and respect for life.
“It is also a way to help ease the financial burden for some families and individuals,” she said.
Businesswoman Woo Pao Tsen, 61, collected three packets for herself, her husband, and daughter.
She has observed a vegetarian diet during the festival for the past 40 years and has also donated towards the purchase of ingredients.
“The vegetarian food here is healthy and delicious,” she said, adding that her husband used to serve as a medium and conduct blessing rituals at the temple during the festival.
Another visitor, CL Yao, 60, came with her daughter, JY Lim, 30, to collect two packets.
Although each person could take up to four packets, Yao said they took only what they needed.
“My son and daughter-in-law work on Penang Island, so they could not come here for the meals.
“I will cook vegetarian food for them when they return home,” said Yao, who also donated to the temple.
The Nine Emperor Gods Festival runs until Oct 18 this year. It features nine days of prayers, rituals, and processions, with devotees abstaining from meat as an act of spiritual cleansing and devotion.
The festival is widely celebrated in Thailand and Singapore, while Penang is one of its major centres in Malaysia.
Other prominent centres of worship include Ampang in Selangor and Taiping in Perak.
