The deity was brought to Malaysia and Singapore for tours of Chinese temples

A statue of a Chinese goddess that became a social media sensation after being pictured flying business class for a Southeast Asian tour has headed home after putting her feet up at a premium airport lounge in Singapore, organisers said on Monday.

Adorned in brightly coloured clothes, an extravagant headdress and garlands of flowers and cash, Chinese sea goddess Mazu got the chance to relax a little in the lounge early on Friday before a flight home — on business class, no less — following a whirlwind seven-day tour of Malaysia and Singapore.

The statue made headlines after it was pictured strapped into a business class seat on the way to Kuala Lumpur from a temple on an island in China’s Fujian province, believed to be the birthplace of the goddess, who is revered as a patron of sailors and fishermen.

Luxury treatment

But after the luxury treatment on the first leg, the goddess and two heavenly guardians had to take the road for the rest of the trip, travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Malacca by bus, before journeying down to neighbouring Singapore at the back of a lorry.

Singapore’s immigration authority clarified on Monday that the goddess and her entourage spent just over an hour clearing the land border between Malaysia and the city-state, rather than several hours as had previously been reported.

Mazu Ancestor Temple administrator Lin Junhua said that close to 300,000 devotees came out to see the goddess in both countries.

Going to the people

The organisers of the tour decided to bring Mazu to Malaysia and Singapore for tours of Chinese temples because the countries’ ethnic Chinese communities revere the goddess.

“We’re very encouraged by it and since there are Mazu temples where there are Chinese immigrants, we certainly don’t rule out the possibility of taking (the deity) to as far as San Francisco some day,” he said.