Taoist temple in Singapore offers blind boxes to attract young visitors

SINGAPORE – Move over, Labubu and Sonny Angel.

The blind box craze now appears to have reached places of worship, with figurines and amulets of Taoist deities, and their magical weapons, up for grabs.

Videos making the rounds online already show a blind box vending machine dispensing various lucky charms and trinkets at the Sembawang God of Wealth Temple in Admiralty.

And to increase engagement with visitors and devotees, and attract the young, Hiang Tong Keng, a Taoist temple in Tampines, has embraced the trend by rolling out “blessings” blind boxes for Chinese New Year 2026.

The boxes might contain any one of 13 items, including figurines of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, and Guan Gong, the god of war.

Visitors who want the boxes have to answer questions printed in a foldable challenge card, which is given to them after a $2 donation.

The answers can be found in the temple grounds – for example, one question asks which deity holds a dragon head staff.

For every three tasks completed, with each task mostly linked to answering a question, participants can collect a blind box. Participants who visit the temple and attempt to answer questions over several days can collect up to four boxes per person.

This initiative has been part of Hiang Tong Keng’s strategy since 2024 to widen its appeal, especially to young people.

The temple was founded more than a century ago, and was located at Coldstream Avenue in the Siglap area before moving to its current site in Tampines Link.

The temple has increased engagement via social media in English and Chinese, said Master Eugene Choy, one of the temple priests, who often appears in its social media videos.

The 32-year-old said that during a discussion at the temple the idea came up to make use of the “stamp rally” culture and blind box trend to introduce Taoist deities to the young during Chinese New Year.

That is when many young people accompany older family members to visit the temple, he added.

Based on Singapore’s latest population census in 2020, 8.8 per cent of Singapore residents who are 15 years of age or older identify as Taoists.

But the proportion drops to just 4.9 per cent in the 15-to-24 age group.

The blind boxes were packed by Chong Jun Wei, a 16-year-old part-time staff member of Hiang Tong Keng.

Jun Wei, who will soon start his studies at a local polytechnic, also suggested handing out deity cards akin to character trading cards to visitors who show that they follow the temple’s Instagram account.

Already, visitors of all ages, from eight-year-olds to people in their 60s, have tried to answer the quiz to get a blind box.

When The Straits Times visited the temple in the morning on Feb 22, teens and seniors alike could be seen walking around the temple grounds, challenge card in hand, searching for answers.

Germaine Neo, a 16-year-old student of Dunman Secondary School who was at the temple with her family to offer prayers, walked around the temple several times, looking closely at statues of various deities.

For her effort, she drew a blind box which contained a phone amulet.

She said: “It was quite fun. I got to explore around (the temple).”

The challenge even drew visitors who did not normally go to Hiang Tong Keng, such as Mr Sam Zhiquan, who was there for the third time over the Chinese New Year period to collect the blind boxes.

The 40-year-old property agent and business owner said his wife had found out about the activity online and they decided to make several visits.

“It’s interactive and you get to know more about the temple,” he said.

For more information:

https://www.instagram.com/hiangtongkeng