Please do not hate me, but earlier this month I went on a week-long holiday to Bali, where I did absolutely nothing but enjoyed myself. There were days when I sat for hours by the private pool or, when the sun got too hot, on a comfortable chair in the villa, reading a book with a cold drink and a gorgeous view of the Bali Sea. I cannot remember the last time I was able to just sit and read for hours, which, to me, is the ultimate luxury. On a boat trip that rounded the eastern tip of the island, we came across a small island called Gili Tepekong. From the boat, it looked like giant lemon drop floating on the Lombok Strait, but apparently the waters around it host one of the most dangerous dive sites in Bali. What interested me more about Gili Tepekong was its name. A lesson for Christians, Muslims and Jews from China’s major religions A quick online search and a reference in a diving guide confirmed what I thought had sounded familiar: Gili Tepekong was named for a Chinese temple or shrine that used to be on the island, one that was dedicated to the deity Tua Pek Kong. First of all, a note on the name Tua Pek Kong , which is based on the Minnan-Hokkien pronunciation: in Mandarin, it is Da Bo Gong and in Cantonese Tai Pak Kung . The name literally means the Great Earth God. As with most folk religions and beliefs, the exact provenance of the popular cult of Tua Pek Kong is unclear. What is clear is that it is indigenous to the Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, and the deity, in his existing form, is not known or venerated in Greater China. There are historians and anthropologists who aver that the primeval form of Tua Pek Kong was an Earth God, a minor deity in Chinese folk religion who presides over a piece of land that may nor may not be inhabited by humans, but who will protect any humans bearing offerings to him. Earth God temples and hundreds of thousands of small shrines dedicated to him can be found all over Hong Kong, often next to the entrances of homes, restaurants and offices. Even the most expensive and pretentious steel-and-glass edifices will have an Earth God shrine, if you know where to look. In the 19th century, Hakka immigrants from China began working in the mines of the Malay Peninsula. To make amends for their constant “assault” on the land, the Chinese miners prayed and made offerings to the Earth Gods of their localities, a cultural belief that they had brought with them from China. In the Hakka tongue, Earth Gods were called “ Bak Gung ”. However, Bak Gung (which became Pek Kong in Minnan-Hokkien) did not descend on virgin soil. The Malays and other indigenous peoples in the Malay Peninsula also believe in animistic guardian spirits, whom they refer to as Datuk or Dato’ . In a process of syncretism that is very typical of Southeast Asia, the native and the foreign amalgamated to become one single deity Dato’ Pek Kong or To’ Pek Kong . The first part of the name eventually merged into the Chinese word that means “big” or “great”, hence the Great Earth God. The low-carb diet is no recent fad. China’s version dates back 2,000 years This is one of the theories that explains the origins of Tua Pek Kong , a popular guardian deity among the Chinese communities in Singapore and Malaysia. Imagine my surprise, therefore, to find a reference to him so far south (and east) on the tiny island of Gili Tepekong off the coast of Bali, in the middle of those seven restful days when I did not have to think about work. But obviously I did.