Chin Swee Temple, Pahang

In 1918, a boy was born in Anxi, a mountainous county in Fujian province in China. The fifth child of Lim Shi Quan and Goh Ban, the boy grew up in a rustic village at a time when China was undergoing a period of turmoil and unrest following the 1911 revolution.

Life in the village was relatively peaceful, until Lim Shi Quan passed away when the boy was only 16. The boy decided to leave Anxi and head to a distant land far south of China called Malaya to seek out a better life. There he initially learned the trade of carpentry under the tutelage of an uncle.

The boy became a man and grew from strength to strength, becoming a farmer, a scrap metal and petty trader, then becoming involved in the business of machinery trading and then mining, where he made his first fortune. Eventually he became heavily involved in construction, plantations and property development.

The man is of course Lim Goh Tong, once the richest man in Malaysia and the founder of the Genting Group of Companies.

Once while Lim Goh Tong was having dinner in Cameron Highlands, a colonial era hill station developed by the British, a thought struck him, why not develop a hilltop resort himself, but closer to Kuala Lumpur, so that more and more people could enjoy the cool mountain air without having to travel so far. Lim Goh Tong plowed much of his money to obtain land from the Pahang and Selangor governments at a place called Genting Sempah and single-handedly bulldozed his vision to reality despite detractors and naysayers telling him that it was impossible to create such a hilltop retreat in the middle of wilderness with no roads or infrastructure. Lim persevered, building all the necessary infrastructure himself and even managing to get a casino license from the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, no small feat in a muslim country.

The rest as they say, is history. Genting Highlands was opened for business in May 1971.

As a young boy, Lim had witnessed his parents worship a deitified Monk who was venerated as Master Chin Swee. Known for his ability to bring down rain during periods of drought, as well as for having healing powers, a monastery was built for him at the foothill of the Penglai mountains, called Clear Water Crag, named after a clear stream coming from the rocky mountainside.

As a devotee of Chin Swee himself, Lim decided to build a temple to Chin Swee himself at his beloved highlands in Genting.

In 1975, with the same dedication he took to developing his hotel and casino, Lim Goh Tong began the building of the Chin Swee Temple together with a few friends of Anxi ancestry. Lim himself donated 28 acres of his land, at a site cool rocky site overlooking lush virgin rainforest with flowing streams, which reminded him of a similar crag back in his ancestral Penglai village in China.

In 1994, the Chin Swee Temple was officially opened to the public. It has been continuously upgraded and improved right up to the present day. The Chin Swee Temple makes for an interesting stop-over in contrast to the the theme parks and casinos at the hilltop of the Genting Higlands.

The 9-level Pagoda is one of the main buildings of the Temple.

The shrine at the bottom of the Pagoda.

The Pagoda is open from 7am to 5:30pm.

"Blessing Lamps" adorn the walls of the Pagoda.

The spiral staircase winds up the Pagoda.

Eventually you reach the 9th and topmost level.

The reward is a 360 degree view of the valley.

After descending the Pagoda, climb up these stairs to the Square.

At the centre of the Square is this ornate Buddha Temple.

Inside is of course a statue of the Buddha.

View of the Pagoda from the Buddha Temple.

Behind the Buddha Temple is a statue of Lim Goh Tong himself, set against the backdrop of two streams flowing down the rockface, which reminded him so much of Clear Water Crag monastery in China.

At the far end of the Square, is the imposing Big Buddha statue.

Say a prayer if so inclined.

To get a sense of the immensity of the Big Buddha, compare it with the human scale.

Next, climb up the pathway up the hill on your journey to enlightenment.

However to get to enlightenment, you have to go through a journey through the Ten Hells first!

The dioramas of the Ten Hells may be kitschy, but are interesting to look at.

Not for the faint hearted!

Creative torture methods in Hell.

OK, OK, I promise I will be good in future!

At the top, enlightenment, as you reach the statue of the goddess Guan Yin.

There are many more places to wander around in the Temple complex, including a vegetarian restaurant and the actual Chin Swee temple hall, where you can see the black-faced statue of the Master Chin Swee himself.

So, if you thought Genting was only about the casino and theme park, do pay the Chin Swee Temple a visit.