A small tweak to the online calendar. Most of you probably worked it out already anyway. We mentioned previously that Deepavali had changed dates, but I forgot to update the website.

The Shrine is closed on Sunday 26th (and Tuesday), but it is open on Monday 27th October, the day of Deepavali. See you there

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.

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 =)

Yet another scribble on your calendar, if you’re old fashioned like me and use a paper one. It was announced over the weekend that the date for Deepavali has moved from Tuesday 28th October to Monday 27th October.

The Shrine’s open on that day and I’ve placed my order for lovely weather, so see you there.

There’s been some changes in the dates for these two months. The Shine will be open:

• June: 8th & 22nd
• July 6th & 20th

In the past couple of years we’ve all been following some fairly high profile charity scandals in the media. Not just big corporate charities like NKF, Youth Challenge, and currently Ren Ci, but also some cases of smaller charities that have had problems being accountable for their running.

It’s not necessarily the case, although it might be, that dishonesty is involved. Charities are often manned (personned?) and run by volunteers who are good-heartedly giving something back to the community, but aren’t necessarily trained or qualified for the role they are taking.

Moh Hong Buddhist Shrine is a charity, registered with the Singapore Government. Charities are set up to advance a cause beneficial to the community, which includes education, religion, arts, welfare, sport, health and a range of other things. There is also another category of charity called Institutions of Public Character (IPCs) which are mainly institutions and trust funds.

To help charities and IPCs in good management and operations, the government has recently drawn up a Code of Governance for Charities and IPCs. It includes guidelines for charities in good practices, such as how many trustees should be on a committee, what forms a quorum at a meeting, bookkeeping, conflicts of interest, asset management, contracts for services and the like.

Moh Hong Buddhist Shrine will certainly be doing everything possible to comply with the new Code of Governance.

The Chairman and Secretary of the management committee attended a briefing with a representative of the Charities Unit of the government on Friday, 22 February. They report that at first glance Moh Hong, which is run entirely by volunteers, complies with most of the standards of good governance and very few changes are required. Over the next couple of months they will be going through the code in detail to see whether any changes need to be made or whether Moh Hong should take advantage of any of the training, consultation services or government funds that have been set up to help charities with best practices.