According to the history of the temple as supplied by the TPK Temple Committee of the Miri Chinese Charitable Trust Board, when Miri was booming due to the discovery of oil in the early 20th century, an unknown epidemic struck the town that caused a lot of deaths. A Chinese wise man, Chan Chak suggested that a monk must be called to appease the evil spirits.
A spirit pacifying ceremony was carried out near the Miri river and an altar was placed. It worked and in gratitude, the local population erected a temple around 1913 near the river to honor the revered Tua Pek Kong, a god commonly worshiped by Chinese immigrants.
During the 2nd World War, the temple was the only building in town which survive the Japanese bombings and all the Chinese who took refuge in the temple... Hmm... even the Brunei Town's Chinese temple survived the Japanese bombing... I wonder if there's any particular reason for that...
Today, it's architecture is as magnificent as the one in Kuching's and is one of Miri's tourist attraction.
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