2002 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation

Mon, 1^st Aug, Melaka. As usual (I) got up at 5.30am to fetch my 3 boys and a neighbor¡¦s kid; also a boy to 3 separate schools about 12 km from where we live. Thereafter I drove to Cheng Hoon Teng Temple, located at Jalan Tokong (Temple Street), adjacent to Jonker Street and Heeren Street, in the heart of the city centre. This also happens to be the oldest Chinese Temple in Malaysia; built in 1673 by a group of Chinese immigrants dwelling within the Kampung Belanda ( Dutch Village ) area during the Dutch East Indies Company¡¦s (V.O.C.) rule.

Amongst the most unique features of Cheng Hoon Teng Temple were that within it encompasses the combined noble teachings of Buddhism ¡V the loving kindness and compassion of Guan Yin, Taoism, and Confucianism as a way of life to preserve unity and harmony for Chinese immigrants in Melaka now and then. Henceforth, in 2002 Cheng Hoon Teng Temple was bestowed as the 2002 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation !

In a nutshell, Buddhism promotes equality with loving-kindness and compassion; Taoism stresses on return to nature while Confucianism teaches filial piety. Maybe these non-religious characteristics of the aforesaid have had immense bearings on the humble and peace-loving characters of the Chinese majority world over! Ironically, Buddhism hailed from non-native hinter land of India! Moreover, all the above mentioned teachings were non-religious in nature!

Today is also the 19^th day of the 6^th lunar month of Chinese Lunar Calendar; which happens to be the birthday of Budhisatta Guan Yin ( Alloviakette in Sanskrit ). Many local English speaking devotees considered Guan Yin as the ¡§Goddess of Mercy¡¨ of Buddhism! How true!

Legend had it that in the cause land, Guan Yin was born Miao-yin to a royal family with two other elder sisters. It was said that the moment her mother conceived Miao-yin; she would unwittingly preferred to be a vegetarian than otherwise. Miao-yin became vegetarian since childhood and she possessed the universal loving kindness and compassion that she would not even harm an ant. She¡¦d started cultivating the truth behind the meanings in life at the tender age of 14 and attained enlightenment thereafter¡K.

Today, there is a proverb in Mandarin that: ¡§Either a Bodhisatta Guan Yin or Amitabha Buddha within many a household.¡¨ It was said that upon seeing the loving kindness and compassion appearance of Guan Yin; one couldn¡¦t help but subdued and pay respect (with respect to each religious believe and rituals) to her!

As dawn breaks, scores of devotees brought along flowers ( which signify cause ) and fruits (which signify effect ) etc to pay homage and seek refuge from Bodhisatta Guan Yin. May all sentient beings follow and be reminded of Guan Yin¡¦s loving kindness and compassion heart when facing the world within and without!

In our capital Kuala Lumpur, a grant ceremony organized by Malaysian Buddhist Society and affiliates with drama talks, rituals, and exhibitions were launched from 31^st July to 2^nd Aug at Bkt Jalil Stadium. To grace this auspicious occasion, which would be officiated by the like of HR Master Ching Kung, Master Hai Dao, Master Jing Xin and many more¡K¡K.all with a common goal to purity our human minds towards world peace!

At this point in time where we are facing countless undesirable threats day in day out; and it seemed that religions alone could no longer play a proactive and productive role to preserve and promote world peace; we are indeed relieved that others have embarked to share the load of such responsibilities¡K¡K

Any two conflicting parties would soon know that they have more common issues to agree upon than those isolated issues that they disagreed upon. Maybe from now onwards we should only dwell on common issues and k.i.v., if not ignore or erased those isolated ones which seemed to split us world apart!