My next stop was Jurong West Street 42, where it was said to be the location of a Monkey God tree. After doing some research, I found that the tree became famous in 2007 when the faces of two monkeys were found on the calluses of the tree. Allegedly, car accidents had happened in front of the tree, but there were no fatalities. The absence of fatalities was attributed to the powers of the tree. It drew large crowds in, where worshippers gave the tree offerings. The Hindus believed that the God that resided in the tree was Hanuman, the Hindu Monkey God. The Buddhists and Taoists believed that the God that resided in the tree was Sun Wukong, the Chinese Monkey God. Nevertheless, without seeing any differences between the religions, the devotees still gathered together to worship the tree. The YouTube video below provides a rough summary of the Monkey God Tree case.

Video: Case of the Monkey God Tree in Jurong West Street 42

Driving down the street, I could not tell which tree was the Monkey God tree, hence I parked and examined each tree more closely. Finally, I managed to find the tree. To my surprise, it did not look as decorated as it was during 2007, and there were no worshippers around.

Picture: Monkey God Tree in Jurong West Street 42

The tree did have some calluses, but they barely resembled the face of a monkey. Nevertheless, there were joss sticks placed at the base of the tree, which confirmed that that was the Monkey God Tree I was looking for. This also meant that till today, there are still people who visit and worship the tree.

Picture: Close up of joss sticks placed at the base of the tree, in between the holes of a brick

Walking down the street, I also stumbled upon another tree nearby that had a plastic bag of fruits placed under the tree. Assuming that those were offerings, this could be another tree regarded as a holy tree as well.

Picture: Nearby tree with fruit offerings placed at the base of the tree

Hence, it is evident that Singaporeans still worship trees today. Deeming trees as a form of God leads to people developing reverence towards nature and refraining from inflicting any harm to the environment.

Click here to check out the highlights from my interview with the Chief Priest of a Hindu Temple about how nature and religion are closely connected.