Completion of Octagon Pavilion of Kek Lok Si's Kuan Yin

THE Goddess of Mercy (Kuan Yin) statue at the Kek Lok Si Temple in Air Itam is now lighted up following the installation of spotlights by workers rushing to complete the 20-storey pavilion.

Spotlights have been put up in some areas as work is being done round-the-clock to complete the top of the octagonal pavilion where nine pagodas will be installed.

If you are living in the Ayer Itam area like I do, you can see now that the banners are everywhere to inform the public that the grand opening of the pavilion will be on the 6th Dec 2009.

Temple trustee Datuk Steven Ooi said he was confident that construction works would be completed ahead of the pavilion’s grand opening ceremony on Dec 6.He said workers occasionally test out the decorative lights in the pavilion, which may be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest in the world.

The three-tiered 60.9m roof pavilion, which is supported by 16 granite pillars, serves as a canopy to shelter the 30.2m-tall bronze statue of Kuan Yin.

The cost of the pavilion is RM40 million while the bronze Kuan Yin statue, which was completed and unveiled in 2002, costs RM30 million.

The grand opening of the pavilion will also mark the 118th anniversary of the Penang Kek Lok Si Temple, which is expected to be attended by more than 10,000 people.

This is really coming to age. From my house, I can see how from the very 1st day the statue of Kuan Yin being built, assembled, painted and now the pavilion being built day by day. Every night when I go to sleep, I saw lights of workers doing ironing and metal works and again in the early morning of 6+am when I woke up for work. I was thinking....are they humans or robots? As time goes by, I came to understand that they need to rush for the grand openings coming soon, and YES, they are human after all since they have been working on shifts....thankfully!

Let's hope this will further boost up our state's tourism, but please do take care of the cleanliness as well as the well being of residents living nearby like me :)