Images of Sri Lanka

 Landed in Colombo via UFO?

 Towards the pinnacle of wisdom

 Buddhism is part of our daily lives

 Tuk-tuk and train side by side along the sea front, container ship at the horizon.

 Fishing in the sunset

 Sri Lanka flying high

 March forward together

 The Buddhist flag was first conceptualised in Sri Lanka

Buddhist viharas in Sri Lanka for prayers and contemplation

Not to be missed....Sri Lankan tea

Turning around Sri Lanka

After going through years of internal strife that causes the economy to tumbled, Sri Lanka is set to forge ahead after peace arrives two years ago. After years of arm conflict against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE), Sri Lanka is now going through a renewal and reconstruction process which expected to bring more development to the country.

It is with high hopes that the people of Sri Lanka re-elected the popular President Mahinda Rajapakse for a second term of office months ago which inauguration ceremony was held last Friday near the sea front.

The last time I went to Sri Lanka was more than 10 years ago and the impression that Colombo, the capital city gaves me was a very tense feeling to be at the place that time. During the flight home after attending the World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth 16th General Conference recently, an Sri Lankan engineer in his 30s sat beside me. He is visiting his supplier in Subang Jaya to quality check on the lamp posts which his company is procuring from the Malaysian factory. His company was recently awarded a contract by the Sri Lankan government to built new street lightings along Colombo city roads as part of the re-construction process.

During the flight, he confided that before the LTTE was decimated, his mother was always very worried each time he walks out from home as bombings were happening regularly in Colombo and he might be the next victim as the bombings usually claims innocent pedestrians and members of the public. Now the fear is at the minimal as bombing in public places has been close to non existence for the last two years.

Many lives has been lost due to the 30 years internal strife. It would not be surprising if every Sri Lankan has lost at least one of their family members or known of someone who lost some love ones to the war. The three wheeler or "tuk-tuk" driver who fetch my Thai buddy Anurut and myself to the McDonalds also lost one of his brother to the war.

With his second term in office just being officially inaugurated, President Mahinda Rajapakse gripped on the country's future is as firm as ever and his leadership is expected to bring the long overdue progress to the people of Sri Lanka where about 77% of  of them are following the Buddhist faith. - Loka

Serdang Spiritual Connection

With the appointment as an Majlis Perbandaran Subang Jaya councillor, I  was also appointed as chairman for MPSJ's Zone 24 Residents Committee. Zone 24 is one of the 24 zones within the Seri Kembangan state constituency which constituents are mostly Chinese especially from  the Hakka clan. Seri Kembangan is part of the Serdang parliamentary constituency which also includes Bangi and Balakong state seats. Zone 24 can be said as the "last frontier" of MPSJ as the immediate Balakong neighborhood is under the administration of Majlis Perbandaran Kajang (MPKj).

At Zone 24,  the first place that comes to my mind was the Mines Resort City which was built on a former open cast tin mine. Within the resort city are various tourist related attractions including the Mines Wonderland, Capital Retail (previously Mines Shopping Fair ), Mines Wellness Hotel and other attractions. Other residential areas in Zone 24 includes Serdang Lama and Taman Sungei Besi Indah where the Zone 24 community centre is situated.

Interestingly my linkage to Zone 24 has been there for more than 10 years ago.

                                                        Source: The Sun, 30 July1996

 

In July 1996 I initiated and organised the Young Buddhist Association of Malaysia's anniversary celebration rally held at the Mines Wonderland, a very popular theme park during that time. By then I was already in leadership positions of the Buddhist youth organisation's national council and the state committee. About 1,800 YBAM members and their families were provided free entrance to the Mines Wonderland for the rally held at the theme park's amphitheatre. A team of young volunteers especially from the Subang Jaya Buddhist Association was with me throughout the night to prepare the event venue. On event day, buses from all over the country arrives as early as 7am to take part in the rally.

                                               Source : K Sri Dhammananda - A Pictorial Retrospect

 

The highlight of the day that receives a standing ovation and thunderous applauses was the speech given by the Most Venerable K Sri Dhammananda who was also the Religious Patron of YBAM. For those who attended that memorable morning, that moment was something that we can cherished and remembers for a long time. A day when we were deeply very proud and happy to declared ourselves as a Buddhist, especially as Buddhist youth.

Source : Guang Ming Daily 30 July 1996

But then nothing is permanent. Since the demised of the late venerable and silence of his lion's roar, the environment in the community has been anything but an absence of national leadership and direction; feeling of void and emptiness ( too bad it is not emptiness as in the Heart Sutra) and worst - the disintegration of a firm and authoritative Buddhist voice in the local scene.

Source: K Sri Dhammananda - A Pictorial Retrospect

 

When the Mines Wellness Hotel, which was originally known as Mines Beach Resort and Spa was preparing for its' grand opening sometime in 1997 the owner invited the YBAM to organised a huge almsgiving ceremony for the Buddhist clerics, religiously known as the Maha Sanghikadana in the Buddhist context.  About 400 Buddhist clerics (monks and nuns) from all over Malaysia were present to accept  dana from the owner, Lee Kim Yew. It can be said that all the rooms and resorts has been blessed by the Sangha members before the resort received any other paying house guests.

A grand vegetarian lunch was prepared and served at the hotel that day. Interestingly, since it was a newly built resort, the kitchen facilities were all brand new and modern that the team of cooks from a local temple was reluctant to used the facilities.  They were worry that they might not adapt well to the new utensils and might damaged them! At the end of the day everything went smoothly and the resort was fully blessed by no less than 400 monks and nuns led by the Most Ven. Dr K Sri Dhammananda, the most influential and charismatic Buddhist monk in Malaysia's modern history.

Zone 24 indeed was one of the sites where some of my most memorable spiritual and community engagements with Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda unfolds years ago. - Loka

P#94 Hulu Selangor Snippets 3

Snippets 3 - Kerling hotter then the hot springs

Before the North South Expressway was built to connect Johore to the north, travellers who is driving up north to Penang or Kedah will need to take the Federal trunk road. This trunk roads are narrow, winding and passes by many towns and villages, which means many stops due to local vehicles, pedestrian and animals crossings, traffic lights and etc.

The good point is travellers will have the chance to savour local delicacies and fruits from stalls set up at the road side. On top of that there are many local attractions which tired travellers can take a rest and enjoy the nature offerings.

Kerling hot springs is one of them but I did not visit to the place until now. During the campaign trail, one of the stop is the Kerling Chinese new village which I was informed the local DAP branch has been surviving there thru thick and thin for so many years.

Basing on the banners and posters strewn all over, this must be a hot spot to be fought over, just like the hot springs further deeper inside the village.

Maybe will take a dip in the Kerling hot springs after all settled down. - Loka

Toll discount increases road accidents?

Taking advantage of the long weekend holidays due to the Eidil Fitri celebration, my family and I drove all the way to the Cherating beaches to enjoy the sea, sun and sand last weekend. Food was also on the agenda as we tasted some local delicacies like the keropok lekor and "Satar otak-otak" which were sold along the Cherating road to Kemaman. We even joined the big tourist crowd that swamped the famous stuffed crab in Kemaman. All the restaurants selling the stuffed crab were fully patronized.

The thought of enjoying a free use of the tolled road from Gombak in Kuala Lumpur to Jabor in Terengganu remained a wishful thought. Even though the highway concessionaire MTD Prime Sdn Berhad declared the "free gift" for the road users using the highway on 18 and 24 of September between 12 midnight to 5am, the drive toll free period are nothing more than a free publicity stunt. The operator of the North-South highway, PLUS Expressway Berhad announced a discount up to 20%  for road users during the festivities for time of travel from 12 midnight to 7am.

How many people will actually take the RISK to drive from 12 midnight to 5am? Most drivers would have prefered to hit the road when they are in the best frame of mind and alertness. The timing contradicts with the information given by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research ( MIROS) which warned that road collisions involving express buses increases during hours between 12 midnight to 6am! MIROS which was set up in January 2007 is a government body involved in research and dissemination of information on road safety. A road safety campaign advisory in the local The Star newspaper published before the start of the mass exodus from the city to the kampongs highlighted the similiar fact that the risk of road accidents increases up to 4 times from 12 midnight to 6am.

With Malaysia having one of the highest rate of road accidents in the world, is the relevant highway operators doing the public a favour to reduce roads accidents as claimed or enticing more people to be part of the increasing accident statistics for the sake of saving a couple of bucks?

The highway operators need to have a rethinking on their purported "social responsibility" if they are really sincere and serious about the welfare of the road users.The Road Safety Department should have advised the toll highway operators accordingly before more accidents happens due to the discounts.- Loka

In The Buddha's Footsteps (11)

31st March/1st April 2009, Savatthi

Left Sarnath today at about 7.30am for a 300km journey to Savatthi. By noon we stopped at a coffeeshop for lunch.

Took two pieces of capati's. It taste the same as those I usually eats in Malaysia but the size is much smaller. It costs only 5 rupees each.

We arrived at the Wat Maha Rishii Prisert at about 5.30pm after travelling for about 10 long hours. After settling ourselves, we had dinner consists of noodles and fried rice ( rice was leftover from lunch) which was cooked by volunteers in our group since the temple do not have anystaff to assist us other than the lone caretaker.

Within the Wat Maha Risshi Prisert is a stone image of the monk himself.

We woke up early the next morning to catch the morning sunrise at a hilly sacred site not far from the temple.

After breakfast at the Wat Maha Rishii we proceed to the main and most important Buddhist site in Savatthi, the Jetavana monastery.

When I initially started to study the sutta's during my university days, the name Jetavana and Ananthapindika has been mentioned umpteen times in many of the suttas. My visit to Jetavana this time gave a sense of great excitement as I can relate the Buddha to the suttas that he delivered here which I first study years ago.

Buddha spent many of His rains retreat in Savatthi after the wealthy merchant Anathapindika bought a park from Prince Jeta and developed it into the Jeta Grove, Anathapindika's Park or more popularly known as Jetavana.

The Jetavana park comprised many temples, structures and facilities.

Jetavana park is very well maintained by the local authorities.

The Gandhakuti (background) is the place where the Buddha used to stay when He is in Savatthi. The Jetavana Gandhakuti was built in the middle of the monastery.

After Jetavana, we visited the site of the new Wat Thai Chetawan in Savatthi. This new temple is to replace the Wat Maha Risshi Prisert which was hand over to the Cambodian government due to the previous chief monk who has dual Thai and Cambodian nationality.

We went back to the Wat Maha Rishii for lunch before departs for Lumbini at about 1pm.

During the journey to Lumbini, the left tyre of bus no. 2 punctured and we took the opportunity to disembark to see the surrounding areas.

This water pump is a regular feature in all the villages that we passes through during our journey. The ground water is cool and crystal clear.

This guy on my right is our bus driver. We were inside a small tea stall.

Our group members loiters in front of the tea stall while waiting for the tyre to be repaired. After 45 minutes, we were on the move again.

Our group will be crossing over the India/Nepal border via the Sonauli immigration. We arrived at a new Thai temple known as Wat Thai 960 near the border to take a rest while our passports and immigration procedures are sorted out. While waiting we helped ourselves with hot drinks and local pancakes.

Wat Thai 960 was built about two years ago in conjunction with the Cakri dynasty 9th sovereign and King Bhumipol's 60th year on the throne. The temple building costs are mostly sponsored by corporate bodies from Thailand.

It is a very cosy temple where tired pilgrims can have a good rest while waiting the long queue at the immigration. This temple even have special facilities for the usage of the royalty.