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

Tallest bird house in the world

After the 2011 Budget was presented live on national TV by PM Najib, I went to have teh tarik at my regular mamak joint with a friend. From the many issues discussed, the proposed 100 storeys tower to be built around the iconic Stadium Merdeka was the highlight.

Various questions about the need to have such a building were raised but before my cuppa of teh tarik reached the bottom, a quirky suggestion was made. Maybe the building will looks like a "bird house" which are gaining popularity in Malaysia.

Why not? The tallest "bird house" in the world! It will surely be registered in the Malaysia Book of Records or even Guinness Book of Records. Other than the swiftlets producing tonnes of bird nests for export, it will surely be listed as an attraction for tourists from all over the world. Wow. A fully occupied building, albeit by the swiftlets, will surely  increases the national coffers. On top of that it will cover Kuala Lumpur with renewal layers of bird shit! JKR don't have to re-surface the roads anymore. The birds will do it! - Loka

USJ "Tin" Lantern Festival

The kids and adults alike were very excited when they saw the tin lanterns. Those who are above thirty would have seen and played with the lanterns made from recycled tins during their younger days. About 100 of such lanterns were displayed to members of the public during the USJ Lantern Festival held recently at the USJ 1 Sports Centre Subang Jaya. Some of the tin lanterns were even fixed with rollers made from milk cans which enable the lantern to spin whenever rolled on the ground.

All the tin lanterns were crafted by Mr. Ling Hai Chong, 50 who was invited by the organizing committee to give a demonstration to more than one thousand people who attended the event. As the initiator of the event, I contacted The Malaysian Book of Records to look into the possibilities of setting a record for the largest parade of tin lanterns. But the numbers of lantern required for a record to be made was just too huge to be achieved in such a short period. So for now we are just happy to relived an art which not many kids and youngers had seen in their life.

With the support of some USJ residents and community leaders I arranged for the lantern festival to be organized under the auspices of the office of Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh . Programs on that night includes wushu performance from Rong Seng Wushu Federation, Tadika Didik Utama Ria, USJ 1 Line Dancing and singing duo Cedric Tan and Shaun Chow from the Messengers of Dharma.

The organizing chairman of the event Ng Chai Hing hopes by producing lanterns from tin cans it can promote recycling and reuse of materials which people usually disposed of easily. He also urged parents to teach their children to turn unwanted stuff into useful artwork, just like what they did during their childhood many years ago.

More than one thousand people attended this community-led inaugural lantern festival in USJ 1. The highlight of the festival was the parade of tin lanterns around the sports centre led by Hannah Yeoh together with other children and their parents. - Loka

由首邦州议员杨巧双办公室赞助的中秋晚会，别具一格。约有100个环保铁灯笼在USJ 1 首邦再亚运动中心的中秋晚会展示给大众们观赏。还有一些环保铁灯笼还放了用牛奶罐制作的轮子，让它们可以推动，非常有趣。当小孩和成人们看见铁灯笼都感觉到很新奇。年龄三十岁以上居民看了也都回忆他们童年时曾用铝罐制造的灯笼。

这些环保铁灯笼都是由林海中先生（ 50岁） 制造的，委员会特地从叻思邀请他而来展示给千人到来观赏。这中秋晚会是由首邦州议员杨巧双办公室与USJ 1 的居民举办的。这晚会的项目还包含荣胜武术学院，小宝贝幼儿园, USJ 1 踢踏舞，还有Cedric Tan和Shaun Chow的和唱。

筹委会主席黄振兴希望用铝制造的灯笼提醒了大众们推广他们循环物品，对环保更加注重。因为人们很容易就把他们扔掉了。他也呼吁父母们多教他们的孩儿们多用环保的道具创造成艺术品就如他们童年时用铝罐制造灯笼。

赞助人首邦再也州议员杨巧双说将会在来年再次举办这个有意义的中秋晚会，当晚的嘉宾有格拉拿再也国会议员 罗国本，首邦再也市议员罗斯兰沙黑, 黄世界与及林谢明。

根据晚会发起人黄世界，他希望这项庆典可以提升居民之间的团结与情谊。

当晚的高潮是由首邦再也州议员杨巧双提着环保灯笼带领小孩和他们的父母一起游行。晚会在晚上九点三十分圆满结束。