BF Newsletter Special Edition Dec 2009

Newsletter of the Buddhist Fellowship • Special December Edition

Address: 9 Chwee Chian Road Singapore 117488 • Tel: 6278 0900 • Fax: 6278 0102 • Email: [email protected] • www.buddhistfellowship.orgOffice Hours: Mon-Fri: 10am - 8pm, Sat-Sun: 10am - 5pm • Closed on Public Holidays FREE shuttle bus from Vivo City, check website for details.

MICA (P) 186/05/2009

HIGHLIGHTSEvents

31 Dec 2009 New Year Countdown - Sitting Meditation cum vegetarian

potluck session starting 10 pm to 1 am, Dhamma Hall.

3 Jan 2010 Club Meditation at Fort Canning every first Sunday of

the month. Meet at Car Park B at 6.30 am

10 Jan 2010 Club Meditation Family 9.15 am to 10.30 am, Dhamma Hall (for parent/s and child/children)

9 - 12 Jan 2010 Meditation Retreat by Ajahn Cattamalo

15 - 17 Jan 2010 Nargis Step 5

Sunday Talks

3 Jan 2010 “Happiest Moments In My Life” by Bro Piya Tan

10 Jan 2010 “Harmony In A Divers World” by Ajahn Cattamalo

17 Jan 2010 “Seeking Refuge, Taking Cover” by Bro Tan Hun Tong

24 Jan 2010 TBA

31 Jan 2010 “Theravadan Path” by Ven Rathanasara

7 Feb 2010 “Happiness Through Giving” by Sister Angie Monksfield

14 Feb 2010 BF Centre Closed for Lunar New Year

Wednesday Night Talks

6 Jan 2010 “Development of the Path” by Bro Richard Chia

13 Jan 2010 “Mindfulness in Daily Living - Walking With The 8-Fold Path” by Bro George Lim

20 Jan 2010 TBA

Youth Service

Every Sunday from 1.30 pm to 5 pm

Monthly Indonesian Service

17 Jan 2010 Dhamma discussion by Heinz

28 Feb 2010 Movie and discussion by Vina

21 Mar 2010 Sutta discussion by Luis

Spiritual Patron: Ven. Ajahn Brahmavamso

Advisor Patron: Low Teck Suan

Patrons: Dr. Ang Beng Choo Dr. Tan Choon Kim

EXCO Members: President Angie Monksfield • VP - Administration Wong Tai WeeVP - Members Affairs Bita Seow • VP - Public Affairs Yap Kheng GuanVP - Resource Development Jerry Ong • Hon Secretary Poh Mui HoonHon. Treasurer Luar Ling Ling • Committee Members Henry Baey, Jayson Goh Chor Hong, Lim Ai Ling, Lim Soon Huat, Poh Joo Tung, Mathew Rickard, Tikki Gee & Dr. Henry Yeo Peng Hock

Centre Manager: Ho Eng Chin • Centre Administrator: Wai LingManager Humanitarian Projects: Wang Pei Chong • Manager Programs Development & Public Relations: Albert Lee K. H

Excerpt from the speech delivered by Angie Monksfield at Buddhist Fellowship’s

21st Anniversary Celebration

21 YEARS AGOToday marks a major milestone for the Buddhist Fellowship. 21 years ago when I was introduced to the Buddhist Fellowship - by my then customer Chi Cheng Hock, who was working at Great Eastern at that time - it was a loosely formed group made up of young English speaking Buddhist graduates from NUS. Timing was perfect as I was eager to learn more about Buddhism in English and to have a network of like-minded friends.

I started attending their talks at the Hilton Hotel held about once a month. Finding English Dhamma speakers in those days was really tough and when we did find them, they usually gave very boring talks. Even Buddhist books in English were rare at that time. One had to be really committed to Buddhism to remain as a Buddhist in those days, especially when we were also badly discriminated against. Most of those who remained as Buddhists became closet Buddhists!

AT THE BEGINNING Buddhist Fellowship was registered in late 1988 as the Buddhist Graduate Fellowship at that time, and the first President was SeeToh Wai Keong (who is in the audience with us) and I served as a committee member.

continues on page 2...

President, Angie Monksfield

Connection Special December Edition2

...from page 1

We met every month as a committee, usually at Chi Cheng Hock’s apartment in Pine Grove. We produced a newsletter about once a year, sometimes two if the Editor was feeling up to it. And we organized one event a year. We lacked organizational skills and many of us were distracted by the worldly pursuits of finding a mate, producing babies and developing our careers.

In 1990, we held the first National Buddhist Conference. We had great difficulty finding speakers and it was a challenge to find Buddhists to attend. Well, we did manage to find enough speakers and about 120 people attended.

When we held our first dinner in 1991, 150 people came and we considered it a great success in those days. I am delighted to announce that tonight – eighteen years later - we have almost 1,000 members and friends with us to celebrate our 21st Anniversary!

HAVING A PROFESSIONAL TEAM Up until 2004, the Buddhist Fellowship office was basically someone’s apartment, first being Cheng Hock’s. I am delighted that we now have a

professional management team of staff, although we are still housed in a rented premise. Having a professional management team means we now have an organisation with a structure, system and processes. It is laying a foundation for continuity and growth.

With the growing demands of a population comprising of more highly educated and sophisticated Buddhists and truth seekers, the way Buddhist organizations are managed and their delivery of programs have to be stepped up.

We have to invest in professional management, technology, advertising and training of our administrators and Buddhist Leaders to ensure our product “The Dhamma” is marketed, delivered and managed well.

Thanks to the financial support of our Giro donors, we are able to sustain a team of 5 full-time professional staff running the day-to-day operations of the Buddhist Fellowship. As a result, we are able to conduct a myriad of activities comprising of weekly programs that consist of Sunday Service for adults, youths and children, Sutta Class on Tuesdays, Dhamma talk on Wed evenings, and Meditation on Friday evenings.


Celebrating BF’s Coming of Age

Rahula- Paying Homage

to the Buddha

New Patron, MP Mr Yeo Guat Kwang

Ajahn Brahm giving a dharma talk

Patron Dr Ang Beng Choo, President

Angie Monksfield, Dr Wong Yin Onn

Connection Special December Edition�

In addition, we have monthly Meditation at Fort Canning on the 1st Sunday of the month and Executive Club meetings to promote business networking every first Thursday of the month. The first Execlub meeting was launched with Mr. Choo Chiau Beng, CEO of Keppel Corp., as the speaker, followed by other CEOs and prominent business leaders including Ms Poh Mui Hoon, CEO of NETS.

In addition, we conduct meditation retreats - the most popular being our 5-precept Executive Meditation retreat in a 5-star resort led by Ajahn Brahm. We have held them in Thailand every year so far. We also organize pilgrimage tours, excursions, programs for seniors and children and Youth Camps.

Our success has been due to the many brains and pairs of hands that form the larger nucleus of BF. There are countless people who have helped touched the lives of thousands through their small and large efforts. They will undoubtedly be blessed with wonderful kamma!

OUR UNIQUENESS Our uniqueness has been in promoting Buddhism without the rituals and traditions, promoting the teachings that will enable us to live a life with confidence and of benefit to the world. We become individuals who are not bound by superstitions, who are not fearful of things going wrong in our life, and who have the courage to make changes in our lives when needed.

As we come of age, being 21years old, our new maturity is reflected in our new logo: the leaves represent the attributes of the Noble Eight-Fold Path. The tree symbolizes our growth and the green, our freshness and dynamism. The stylized tree projects a fun image. Tonight, you will be able to take home a shirt with our new logo as they will be available at the foyer for a small donation. This logo will be consistently applied to all our sub-groups and affiliated organizations, projecting consistency in branding.

For the first time in Buddhist Fellowship’s history, we will be issuing membership cards. The card will entitle

you to discounts at vegetarian restaurants and other establishments.

THE FUTURE – COMING OF AGE We have come a long way, so where do we go from here?

1. To have a Place Called “Our Home” We have been nomadic since we started regular activities in 2001, first at the Tai Pei Buddhist Centre, then at the Burmese Temple, subsequently rented premises in Geylang and Paya Lebar and now at the Poh Ern Shih Temple.

Now that we have come of age, 21 years old, don’t you think it is time we have our own place? This will enable us to broaden our offerings, as the unfortunate reality is that most temples do not build with diverse functionalities in mind. We need classroom facilities so religious and life skill classes can be conducted; a place for people to come together to discuss Dhamma, to bond, socialize and network; a corner where children can play and youth can study and unwind.

I think we have demonstrated flexibility, adaptability and resilience, thus proving we are a worthy organization that will be here to stay. Thus, to have a building that we can call our home is perhaps timely. That is our dream!

2. Internationalize Buddhist Fellowship Our second dream is to further extend our programs and services to serve a wider community in Singapore and beyond. Having been a member of international organizations like Rotary International and Toastmaster International, I was inspired that one day Buddhist Fellowship would have an international network. Today is perhaps a step closer to that dream with an Indonesian chapter now in place, spearheaded by Mrs Liliana Halim.

�. Growing Along with Others Buddhist Fellowship is not only interested in further developing



our own organization but to also assist or work with other Buddhist organizations to step up so that the community as a whole can be enhanced to meet the demands and needs of the changing demographics.

(i) Sharing of Information We have launched the Community Collaboration Circle, encompassing English speaking Buddhist groups. They are Tisarana Buddhist Association, Buddhist Library, Sri Lankaramaya, Firefly Mission, Mangala Vihara Buddhist Temple, Shan You Counselling Centre, Singapore Buddha Sasana Society and Wat Ananda Majjhima Dhamma Centre. This is an informal group to disseminate information and promote collaboration in community and humanitarian programs. After all, as a community, we need to be smarter about leveraging on public funds. For example, MCYS has a $1 million fund for social programs. MOH through HPB also has a fund to promote healthy living and AIDS prevention education. In addition to promoting the Dhamma for the mind, we need to look at being holistic and to also promote programs to keep the body healthy and our environment clean and green. Instead of relying on our own community for funds, leverage on public funding that is available.

(ii) Enhancing Buddhist Organizations’ Effectiveness To improve on the administration, governance, organizational capability and Buddhist knowledge, we have tied up with MCU in Thailand to offer a choice of certificate, diploma and Bachelor of Arts degree in Buddhism and Management.

(iii) Networking with NGOs and Government Agencies We, Buddhist groups need to be more sophisticated in networking with government agencies and NGOs so that we are able influence public programs and policies. We should be proud of the fact that we are inclusive, sensible and rational, instead of being dogmatic. Our voice will help shape programs and policies that are non-discriminating and beneficial to the larger majority. In one AIDS Prevention meeting I attended a few years ago, I proposed the education of safe sex and promote the use of condoms. Some other religious representatives objected as their religious teachings are against pre-marital sex and therefore their position was to promote “NO Sex before Marriage”. As we have witnessed, the problem of unwanted pregnancies and the spread of HIV continues

even amongst heterosexuals. We, Buddhists have the ability to be practical and not be constrained by dogma, therefore we need to be heard and offer a voice of practicality.

�. Voice of the Community It is also important there is a voice in the community to speak up against mis-conduct in our own community. We should not just sit back passively when we see misrepresentation of Buddhism.

We also need to be a voice that pushes back when Buddhists are being discriminated against or our kind nature is being taken advantage of.

We need to continue to stand tall and walk tall and to speak up in solo voices as well as in a group voice when we witness wrong-doings and misconduct, and promote healthy living through a healthy mind. Each one of us should be proud to call ourselves a Buddhist and to defend the good name of Buddhism.

Thank you for having been part of the Buddhist Fellowship’s continuing journey to bring ourselves to yet another level of relevance. Let us work together, giving our best to build a better community, a better world for ourselves and for generations to come.


Auction of Benny’s artwork

Musicians August Lum & Rit Xu

Volunteers preparing 1,000 goodie bags


Coming of Age – Buddhist Fellowship 21st Anniversary Dinner by CU Pinn


Through many trials and tribulations, the Buddhist Fellowship (“BF”) has arrived at the stage where in most communities, the BF would be legally and socially deemed an adult – at the mature age of 21 years old. To celebrate the BF’s coming of age, a gala dinner was held on 26th November 2009 in the ballrooms of the Suntec Convention Hall in Singapore. I had the good fortune to attend, and found that it was indeed a great night to remember.

When I reached the venue after 6pm on the momentous day, I found that the foyer was tastefully decorated with informative stands, leaflets on healthy activities such as Yoga, Taichi and Meditation, as well as free educational booklets on Buddhism. A reception table had also been set up to sell Ajahn Brahm’s books and CDs, while exquisite handmade jewellery was on display for a silent auction, providing attendees a chance to simultaneously donate to BF’s efforts while owning a piece of exclusive accessory. The materials in the foyer gave non-BF members an insight into the charitable projects of BF, while updating BF members on new activities that they could participate in. My personal perception therefore was that time spent in the foyer prior to the dinner itself was enriching to everyone present.

Dinner commenced with a well-received joke from The Master of Ceremony Robert Fernando who looked smart in his silver-grey and black tuxedo. Before tucking in to the sumptuous platter of varied vegetarian finger-foods, guests paid reverent silence/participated in the “Namo Tassa” chanting by Soracco. What followed after was a delightful evening of delicious food, building fund-raising

auctions, speeches to thank all the staff and volunteers who brought the memorable night to fruition, entertaining songs and dances, all of which were enhanced by ambient lighting and cheery stage backdrops. I also found myself laughing often at Robert Fernando’s humour and “wowing” at his sensational singing throughout the rest of the event.

Amongst the myriad of interesting presentations, the item that left the deepest impression in my mind was the enlightening talk by Ajahn Brahm on putting more meaning into our lives. Punctuating his advice with light-hearted jokes, Ajahn Brahm not only provided illumination into every day living, he also kept everyone’s spirits high and jovial. The display of Benny Ong’s elegant works of art for auction (for a good cause), too, added an exceptional touch of aesthetics to the night. To commemorate the BF’s coming of age, the new logo of BF was unveiled. The new logo of BF is not only rich in meaning, it is also in synchronization with the times, showing yet again that BF to be progressive in nature.

A cake-cutting ceremony with everyone’s well-wishes for BF, a birthday gift of a Buddhist hand-made quilt by Miranda Rowlands and a final medley of popular yet meaningful songs by the saccharine vocals of Soracco’s choir ended the banquet on a sweet note.

Happy Birthday Buddhist Fellowship! You look fantastic at 21, and we look forward to many more birthday celebrations to come.

Silent auction of gemstones at Foyer

Soracco; Reaching for the stars


Rahula College

Rahula Reflections by Teachers

“Rahula Sunday Service is not about A plus nor C minus, but a Sunday school to plant a Dharma seed into each student so that they will remain kind and compassionate when they grow up.

It was amazing to be able to see our students chanting confidently to the Salutation to The Triple Gem without the chanting book during their performance at BF 21st Anniversary Dinner event.

Rahula’s musical item would not have materialised without the unconditional compassion and metta support given by all the wonderful parents from food/drinks/transport to & fro throughout the rehearsals.

Great Teamwork by Parents / Teachers / Students / BF Volunteers. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu.

With Metta,Teacher Irene Tham

Amazingly within a short span of 3 weeks, our Rahula students have done the teachers proud in the mini musical show on BF 21st Anniversary Dinner, feedback was well received for their excellent performance. The long hours of rehearsals for both students and teachers have shown their perseverance, team spirit and determination to excel above our expectation....as we know kids are still kids. Most importantly parenting supports and contributions in all areas from sending their kids to BF, preparing delicious food dana for our break times, making of the sun prop by Charles for his little daughter Jennifer and lastly their spontaneous participation in our grand finale song to make this musical so successful - A HAPPY BUDDHIST FAMILY WE ARE. Teacher Katherine

L to R : Goh Heng Leng, Irene Tham, Katherine, Teng Lan, Michelle (Not all the volunteer teachers are in photo)

Rahula Reflections by parents

The sun for Jennifer was inspired by the Rio de Janerio style carnivals. The signature sun design that Versace usually uses was my inspiration for the prop. After some research on the internet, I sketched a rough model bearing in mind that the sun had to be wearable, light weight and comfortable. It also had to allow Jennifer’s hands free movement and had to have a quick release button from the prop to permit her a quick change of costume.

With the design completed, I bought the wires for the sun rays, PVC pipes for the frame, straps and reflective materials. It took 6 hours of work to finish the sun with lots of help from Samantha, my eldest daughter. When I showed the finished sun to Jennifer, I saw her eyes lit up. When Jennifer wore the sun in the concert with pride, it made the work worthwhile.

I was really happy that she looked and felt comfortable in this prototype design. Immediately, my mind thought of how it could be better improved and that is, the next sun would be a larger 3 dimensional one !!

Charles Baey (Jennifer’s dad)Jennifer Baey


Rahula College

My name is Teo Heng Soon.I am in Primary 6 this year. I recently joined Rahula at the start of this year. I was introduced to Rahula by my brother, Heng Bin, one of the youth leaders. When I first entered the room, I could feel alot of energy. I remembered that when I joined Rahula class for the first time, Heng Bin had told me that he would come back to check on me in about 5 to 10 minutes . At Rahula, I met new and kind friends like Phionna, Darren, Darryl, just to name a few. I cannot name all of my classmates as there are just too many of them. Everything was great about Rahula, the kind hearted teachers, the teachings and as I said just now, the children. When Heng Bin came back, I told him that I wanted to stay back at Rahula as I enjoyed the session very much and now Sunday is a day I look forward to going to Rahula.

At the later part of this year , I was asked to join the Rahula in its performance on the Buddhist Fellowship’s 21st Anniversary. When I heard that, I was elated, furthermore, my friends were also in the performance. We had to rehearse a lot and I can tell you it was a lot of hard work. There is a saying :”When you work hard, in return you get success” and that was what really happened for Rahula. It would not have happened without the discipline of the Rahula children and the perseverance of the teachers.

I remembered on the Buddhist Fellowship’s Anniversary day itself, we had to turn up at 2.30pm to rehearse for our performance. Everyone was jittery but excited. During the performance, energy level was high in front of more than 1000 people.

The next week when I arrived at Rahula , the teachers and the children celebrated our successful performance. All in all, this performance taught me about leadership and teamwork .

With Metta,

Teo Heng Soon Teo Heng Soon

It is going to be a year now since we join BF. Looking back, this is definitely one of those right moves that we made in 2009. Like most parents who have to juggle between career and family, we find it extremely difficult to meditate at home, so the weekly service becomes very helpful for us to learn about the Dharma, do some reflections and enjoy some inner peace. As for Yinmin and Yinwei, they now know Sunday means going to Sunday school. At their age of 4yrs, when asked, they aren’t able to tell us what they have learnt, but we got nice surprises every now and then. Just last week, Yinmin was trying to teach her daddy how to sit in full lotus position while doing a ‘10 seconds’ meditation. And once I overheard Yinmin telling Yinwei not to kill the ants on the floor... just to name a few.

We are very grateful to the very kind and hardworking teachers at Rahula for helping to plant the Dharma seeds in them.

With Metta

Sabrina

It is my husband & my greatest honour to be able to participate at Buddhist Fellowship 21 years Anniversary Event as Rahula parents in the mini musical. It is our form of offering Dana in a musical way.

My family enjoyed singing to the meaningful song & it has become our weekend ritual with theme song “To The Temple We Go” whilst heading to Buddhist Fellowship on every Sunday . Indeed our 2 Rahula kids, Xin Hui & little Dora have reminded us what “A Happy Buddhist Family We Are”.

With Metta,

Pollyn Sim &

Tan Kim Leng.

Pollyn Sim & Tan Kim Leng


Rahula College

Linda, 7 years, started at Rahula college in May 2009. All the Rahula children and teacher are extremely nice to her. She loves to go to Rahula every Sunday.

At the beginning Linda was quite shy, but now she likes to volunteer and she made a lot of friends there. We are extremely proud that Linda became more self confident which was made easy by the teachers.

Linda tells about Rahula College to her other friends and her teachers know about it in her school. We are proud to tell our relatives, colleagues and friends that we are Buddhists and our daughter goes every Sunday to a Buddhist Sunday service!

We can already see the positive outcome of Rahula college. Meditation improved her concentration at school. Linda used to be easily disturbed at school but now she has become the best in her class. We were very impressed about the quality of teaching there. In her first lesson, she learnt the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and she isn’t afraid of the dark anymore. In addition to EFT, Buddha’s teachings have helped her to have less nightmares than before.

The regular programs like movie review, singing, art & crafts and storytelling is just right for the children. They learn a lot without getting bored. We also think that it’s a good idea to have the themes of the month like respect & gratitude, compassion, loving kindness & forgiveness, accepting failure, trust & honesty and so on. These are all important themes to become good Buddhists and for life.

Also the events at Rahula college are always amazing. The Father’s Day was a big fun for all of us. Linda remembers especially the wonderful birthday party which was arranged by the teachers.Linda’s words: “Rahula is good because everyone likes it; me, my mum, my dad and my Rahula friends. I want to be a good Buddhist girl and now I like to give more presents to my friends.”

Thanks and many greetingsKarita and Christian Fischer

Linda Fischer

By Phionna Teo (aged 12yrs) from a student point of view

Sunday mornings are always spent lazing around in bed for every other regular kid. However Sunday mornings for me are spent at the Rahula Sunday Service.

Recently, the Rahula Sunday Service participated in a big scaled event-the Buddhist Fellowship 21st Anniversary Dinner. Of course, participating in such an important event meant lots of stress, commitment and personal time . There were closely-packed rehearsals, one after another. And it was only then that I realised how much commitment had to be put into a performance before it can become a success.

Of course, being the oldest among the performers meant a lot more responsibilities and expectancy to do well. The day of the performance was also the collection of my PSLE results day. I was apprehensive and even told my mom that if I don’t do well, I will not perform. However, I realised that I cannot be so selfish and hence I told myself to perform no matter what.

The patience, guidance and warmth from the teachers were deeply appreciated when we did not get things right. They really put in their best effort to make our performance a success and no doubt, it paid off, our Rahula performance was indeed a huge success. Our classmates were undoubtedly an encouragement to strive on and not give up.

If you ask the kids what makes them to come for Rahula every Sunday, maybe some would say because their parents force them to, maybe some would say because of the tidbits Rahula gives out, but I would say because of the under-rated fun I experienced there and that indescribable feeling of happiness that I have when I’m there.

BF Newsletter Special Edition Dec 2009

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