This Taoist temple was founded as a private family temple by businessman Ong Choo Kee in 1921 in Upper Serangoon Road. It is a centre of worship of the Nine Emperors Gods (‘Kiu Ong Yah' in Hokkien), while bearing the name of the Goddess of the North Star (Tou Mu), mother of the Nine Emperor Gods.
Some accounts state that Ong was on a business trip in Penang in 1902 when he heard of the Nine Emperor Gods. He visited a temple and made a vow of lifelong worship to the Nine Emperor Gods if his trip was successful. The good results from his trip led him to purchase an amulet of the Nine Emperor Gods and install it on his altar at home. From 1919 to 1921, Ong constructed a temple for the Nine Emperor Gods at Serangoon. A stage for Chinese opera performances during religious festivities was located on the temple grounds, and this became a landmark until it was demolished in 1998 to make way for the expansion of Upper Serangoon Road.
Aside from the Nine Emperor Gods, the temple also has shrines dedicated to Guanyin and other lower ranking deities. Its main event is the Nine Emperor Gods Festival, which takes place during the first nine days of the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar. The temple was gazetted as a national monument in 2005.