Hey Lad Tour Launches Culture Pass Tours Highlighting Chinese Customs, Traditions, and Religious Heritage
Discover the rich tapestry of Chinese culture with Hey Lad Tour’s new Culture Pass Tours. Led by experts in Chinese customs and religious traditions, these immersive experiences offer travelers authentic insights into ancient rituals, festivals, and local beliefs.
Heritage Street of Temples
(Singapore 17 October 2025) Hey Lad Tour, a licensed tour operator specialised in customs of Chinese temples and rituals in Singapore, introduces a new range of tours that are Culture Pass applicable.
Jayden Seah, the founder and principal tour guide of Hey Lad Tour, has been running his temple walking tours for about four years. Each year sees Jayden back at the same temples, sharing their annual rituals and rites with groups of Singaporeans and tourists who are curious to learn more about what goes on behind – the – scenes during cultural and religious ceremonies in Chinese temples in Singapore.
Intangible Cultural, Heritage, Art and Tradition Tour (CHAT)@Kallang
Temples play a significant role in uniting people through their beliefs, customs and rituals. Historically, in 19th century Singapore, Chinese dialect communities (Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hainanese and Hakka being the five major dialect groups in Singapore) formed clan associations to take care the needs of their respective communities, and community leaders started to build temples to unite their people as well as rely on divine power to ascribe authority and lead.
There are approximately 1,000 Chinese temples in Singapore, spread across Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, City temples, multi -deity temples and so on, some of which are residence - based. Hey Lad Tour organises several tours at as many as 10 different temples and related businesses for participants to gain a much deeper understanding behind the purpose and relevance of each Chinese custom and ritual.
On Chinese Valentine’s Day, Hey Lad Tour holds The Love God and Earliest Baby Wishes Granter tour that showcases a ceremony that bestows children on couples wishing to have a child. The temple continues conducting the ceremony because many who had been childless for years report happy success after their visit.
The Courts of the Afterlife
Sometime in May, Hey Lad Tour will also conduct the Culture and Heritage Tour @ Pulau Ubin Annual Festival, bringing participants back in time to traditional kampung (village) life in one of the last rural areas of Singapore.
“There is always a cultural or religious event going on across various temples. As a young boy, I lived in Bristol Road (commonly known as the Pek Kio area) which was home to many temples. My grandmother used to take me to the various festivities and explain their meanings to me. Over time, I learnt that there was so much more than met the eye. When I started working, I worried that this knowledge that my grandmother had passed on to me would disappear in time, and along with it a loss of a deeper meaning of who we are as Chinese living in Singapore. I decided to register as a registered tour guide so that I could organise tours in the evenings and weekends, and share my history,” says Jayden.
Culture Pass Eligible Tours Include a Visit to the Courts of the Afterlife
Ongoing Hey Lad Tours that are now Culture Pass approved include the Medium and The Judge Tour, where Jayden brings participants on a Journey through the Courts of the Afterlife and the Living Art of Traditional Paper Craft in Chinese Funerals where participants get to witness up close, craftsmen at work on the diminishing artform of creating mansions, cars and afterlife guides from paper and rattan – offerings meant for burning at funerals meant to accompany loved ones who have passed on in their next life.
Living Art of Traditional Paper Craft in Chinese Funerals
New tours that have recently been added to Hey Lad Tour’s schedule include the Intangible Tour of Chinese Traditional Pastries, the Thian Hock Keng Temple Half-day Historical & Cultural Tour and the Intangible Cultural, Heritage, Art and Tradition Tour (CHAT)@Kallang: The Cantonese and Teochews Community Temple Tour Culture Pass tours are currently available on Klook.
“I hope that with the Culture Pass, more Singaporeans will get to know of our tours, and take up the chance to know more about the cultures and history behind many of our wonderful temples and traditions. Just doing my small part in keeping our heritage alive, with the stories of our forefathers in modern Singapore, and something I hope that we will not lose,” adds Jayden.
Hokkien and Putian Temple Tour
For more information on other Hey Lad Tour’s upcoming tours, visit www.eventbrite.sg/o/heyladtour-44803714883-#events and www.peatix.com/group/11822447.
