I’ve heard a rumour that the bus was a lot heavier coming back from Malacca than it was when it left Singapore. The reason? Chicken Rice Balls and cheap shoes!

Check out the photos here.

Photos from our Vesak celebrations are (finally) online here. Sorry, for the delay.

As usual, only smaller versions are on the web, but if you’d like big versions of anything, just let me know and I’d be happy to supply.

You might have seen some of these on the projector screen during dinner, but we’ve now got them online in all their glory, including a bunch that weren’t shown during dinner! See them here… or as a slideshow here.

If you’ve got any pictures stashed away on your computer that you’d like to share, then we’d love to have them. Just email them here, or let me know and I’ll give you our Flickr login so you can upload them yourself. If they’re hard copies, Alice or Yang Liang will take them off your hands at the Shrine to scan and then return them to you.

Vincent and Cindy… I know you have some! Anyone else?

Mr Chua Guan Thong

Angela

Jane

Alice & Darren

Yang Liang

I’ll split these over 2 days so it doesn’t disrupt the inbox of anyone who receives our newsletter by email. Here’s the first batch of beautiful babies. Don’t you just want to pinch their sweet cheeks?

Alice

Linda

Tick Koon

Elaine

Johnson

Doesn’t everyone scrub up nicely when they’re going to dinner?

Quiz-Mistress Alice and The Divine Miss Daphne certainly kept us all distracted, but we did manage to get some pictures! There’s more to come, so check back tomorrow.

Two exciting events in one exciting update. It’s efficient AND eco-friendly!

Post-Vesak Celebration Dinner – Tuesday 10th June

Kick back and relax after all that hard work with good food, good company and perhaps even a little musical mayhem and some games. This dinner is free for members, helpers and immediate families.

Boon Lay Raja Restaurant Pte Ltd

Blk 135 Jurong East St 13

#02-337

Singapore 650135

Tel : 6563 6643

(Opp Jurong East MRT Station)

It’s from 6.30pm onwards. The organisers are madly trying to ring everyone now, but if your phone doesn’t ring before Monday (or you haven’t paid your phone bill, naughty, naughty), email Alice here because seating is RSVP only!

Painting The Town Yellow, 2 Day Malacca Trip – Saturday 28th & Sunday 29th June

This will be great fun. Don’t miss out because we’ll be gossiping about it for months! An overnight roadtrip to Malacca via aircon coach and staying at the Equatorial Hotel (with a Peranakan lunch and a breakfast thrown in).

Pasar Malam got, City Tour also got. Not to mention eating, a nice swimming pool (to exercise off the eating?) and all the lovely sightseeing that Malacca offers.

Open to members and helpers at the discounted price of $135 (adults) and $115 (kids). Booking is essential, so pick up a flyer and talk to Alice on Sunday or chope your place by email here. It really will be a fantastic trip. Hope everyone can make it =)

Welcoming Address by Dr Chua Yang Liang, 19 April 2008

“Good evening Member of Parliament Mr Kumar and distinguished representatives from the Bishan – Toa Payoh North CCC, Bishan CCC and Thomson CCC, friends and families of our fellow members. Welcome to the 2552nd Vesak Celebration. It’s our second consecutive year on this site and we are delighted to be able to share this goodwill to all the residents and our community supporters.

Our annual Thousand Buddhas event with prayers for world peace and harmony will come to a close this evening. The vegetarian gala that you are partaking is just another modest way of sharing this blessing with you. While we enjoy the food tonight, let us also remember the plight of the victims in China and Myanmar. We have a collection box so for those who wish to contribute to the relief effort, please proceed to the reception table near the entry pavilion. This collection will be presented to one of the official designated collection agencies in Singapore as a gesture of Moh Hong Buddhist Society support of their relief effort.

Our society has always, and will continue to, support our community. We would like to take this opportunity tonight to present three cheques to our distinguished guests as our modest contribution in support of their community activities and bursaries.

[Cheque Presentation]
- From Bishan East CCC, may we have the representative - Mr Cheong Chee Onn
- From Bishan-Toa Payoh North CCC, Mr Roy Cheng
- And finally, Mr Chow Tak Neo from Thomson CCC.

Tonight, our Master will be reminding us of the impermanence of life and exemplifies through her meditation that enlightenment is a path for all who seek with one heart.

The gates on both sides will once again be opened at 8.30pm after our Master has begun her meditation. We welcome everyone to enter and pay homage to the Buddha and our Master - Buddha Yasathara. It is our small gesture to remind everyone that the gates to enlightenment are open to all who seek.

With this, I leave you to rejoice but with mindfulness and compassion. Ohm! Ohm. Ohm….

Announcements

Meditative posture-lotus position

Good evening, ladies and gentlement, may we have your complete attention please. May we all rise, put our palms together or by our side, and observe complete silence as our Master - Buddha Yasathara begins her meditation.

While she meditates, let us take this opportunity to come together with one heart and pray through Buddha Yasathara to lighten the pain and suffering of all the quake and typhoon victims and families in China and Myanmar and let not such events happen again.

Please be seated.

Opening of Gates for tribute/homage to the triple gems

The gates are open and we invite all of you to pay homage to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha

Master’s 2008 Message

On Vesak …

Master speaks: “Vesak celebration is over a very short period. But the preparation is long and physically taxing for all our volunteers and members. While we work towards another celebratory week, let us remember to cooperate and should any conflicts, misgivings or unhappiness arise, let’s park them aside and resolve them later.”

She went on to describe how we should devote our heart and mind. “We should devote whole-heartedly as individuals and as one people with one heart and observe this day that marks the birth, enlightenment and paranirvana of the Buddha.”

As she speaks to the volunteers, she reminds all: “Coming together in the Shrine, be it to seek healing or volunteering your time, it is similar to being on a boat.”

The basic principles of good behavior as we work together in the team include:

• Cooperate and work together as a team
• Harbour no jealousy nor pettiness of others because of their roles or responsibilities
• Harbour no ill will towards others
• Equality of all. Each of us perform what we are each best suited to do. There is no special preference, no ranking of tasks as high or low level
• Remember, we are here to devote our time to the Buddha and not to any individual

On Practicing Life ….

On common life misconceptions, she advises: “When we come to the temple, we are there to pay homage and devote our time to the Buddha. We are not there visiting relatives or friends. Yet it is not uncommon to have occasional miscommunications and conflicts among people. Should these instances occur during the time you are at the Shrine, one should not vent one’s anger on the Buddha. The Buddha did not invite you to come; we are there on our own accord. We cannot vent our anger and affect our devotion to the Buddha and affect our practice. We should not possess ego, nor seek privileges. We should devote to the Buddha with no expectations of rewards.”

On the “One Heart” theme …

On the One Heart theme, she explains by first asking “what do you do when you pay respect to the Buddha? What is on your mind? What is on your mind when you buy a fruit to make an offering to the Buddha?”

She explains: “One should not have any doubts, no multiple hearts/minds, we must simply be devoted and focused as we pay homage to the Buddha. When we make an offering to the Buddha, we shouldn’t be expecting some sort of return or rewards. That is “one heart”, the focused one heart.”

She further illustrates: “It is not uncommon to hear individuals after years of devotion, question why they still suffer. It’s doubtfulness. One must have faith, complete faith in the Buddha and his teachings. The Buddha instructions should be followed with complete faith.”

“We doll ourselves to look best when visiting the Shrine, but is our heart just as beautiful? We should not just prettify the body but the mind and the heart as well.”

“Everyone has a role to play in and out of the Shrine, but in the end, we come together in the Shrine and share the same objective “that of calming our mind, learning to walk the path, and understanding the Buddha’s teachings”.”

Everyone who helped get this underway, or who donated… thank you so much.

Just to let you all know that in the few hours we had the donation box out, we raised $3010. A cheque has been given to the Red Cross Disaster Relief fund to help with their important work.