Going the extra mile for Wesak Day
In Petaling Jaya, Chempaka Buddhist Lodge president Lawrence Phuah, 64, said its centre was expecting no fewer than 10,000 devotees to take part in Wesak Day celebrations, which began yesterday with chanting and blessings by the monks at their shrine hall.
'In essence, Wesak celebrations involve one paying respects to a great teacher.
'In Buddhism, we believe that birth, growing old, sickness and death is a process that everyone will go through.
At Sri Lanka Buddhist Temple in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, Jestin puts the final touches on his hand-pulled float with wife RA Nalinie.
'Once we can accept this, we will have peace,' said Phuah.
In Buddhist teachings, he said there were five main precepts to observe for a peaceful life.
They include not killing, stealing, committing adultery, telling lies and taking intoxicating substances.
Phuah said prayers for the sick also took place on the eve along with a purifying ceremony, light offerings and merits transfer.
'The latter is a personal prayer by a devotee to have merits from good deeds he has done be shared with either his family, friends or ancestors so that they may be reborn into a better life,' he said.
One other significant practice that devotees who come to the Taman SEA centre in Selangor would take part in is the bathing of Buddha.
'This act represents the purification of one's mind,' said Phuah.
As the centre is expecting many devotees to take part in this act, 10 Buddha statues have been set up in the garden.
With the centre also marking its 40th anniversary this year, it will organise a float procession tomorrow, where some 40 floats from other temples are expected to take part in a 7km parade.
Phuah bathing a Buddha statue, signifying purification of one's mind.
The centre's float features a dragon head at the front with a 3m-high statue of Buddha sitting resplendently on the platform of a modified truck.
Phuah said the statue was a 3D resin replica of the one in the centre's shrine hall.
To ensure the celebrations go on without a hitch, 150 volunteers have given their time for preparations.
Phuah's wife, Wendy Chee, 60, who is the women's division head of the centre, said one of the biggest tasks was making 8,000 sacred threads that would be tied around the wrists of devotees upon receiving blessings from the monks.
Typically, these threads are in yellow but at the centre, the women's section volunteers have made them in a combination of blue, white, red, green and yellow, which are the colours of the Wesak flag.
Blue represents the sky and is associated with compassion, peace and unconditional loving- kindness, while white represents air and symbolises purity and clarity.
Green represents water and symbolises peace, protection from harm and the wisdom of accomplishment while yellow represents earth and is associated with wealth, beauty and wisdom.
Meanwhile, red represents fire and is associated with love, action and blessings.
(From left) Chee with volunteer Ann Chin, CBL staff member Mok Kai Wen, women's section deputy head Ho Chai Yee and staff member Susan Lee showing the sacred threads they have made.
Going green
At the Sri Lanka Buddhist Temple in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, devotee KT Jestin KT Mendis, 54, a retired regional manager for the sales and service of high-rise heavy machinery, has been building Wesak floats since 2016.
This year, Jestin has taken an environmentally-friendly approach with two hand-pulled floats built on garden trolleys powered by rechargeable alternating current (AC) power banks and fitted with LED lights.
The floats are also outfitted with portable bubble makers that add to the atmosphere.
'My main concern was the effect of carbon monoxide emissions from engines powered by fossil fuel on the health and well-being of the devotees.
'We have children walking behind the float in our yearly procession.
'It's a 6km procession and at the end of the walk, the fumes they have inhaled would be comparable to smoking 100 cigarettes,' said Jestin.
With that in mind, the father of two began making hand-pulled floats in 2019.
'Before this, we used a forklift as a base for the float.
'The downside was, should the float hit a pothole, it would be hard to free the vehicle and resume the journey.
'We then used an electric- powered golf buggy but renting one cost RM2,000 a month.
The petals adorning the image of Buddha on this hand-carried float from Sri Lanka Buddhist Temple are made of recycled plastic spoons.
'As the float would be dismantled after the procession, the thought of spending so much money, which could be put to better charitable uses, made me look for another alternative,' he said.
On whether he was ever in need of help for his hand-pulled floats, the answer was never.
'As soon as it touches the road, there'll be no fewer than 500 devotees walking with the floats.
'Some will just hold the side or touch the flowers.
'Automatically, everyone wants to be a part of it. It's beautiful to see,' he said.
The temple is expecting 10,000 devotees for Wesak Day.
For the procession around Jalan Sentul on the eve, children from the temple's Sunday school also bore a hand-carried float.
It is interesting to note that the petals adorning the image of Buddha on the float were made of recycled plastic spoons.
'When I build my floats, it is an act of devotion. It is not about having the biggest or the most ornate.
'It is about inspiring people to be part of something that you believe in, to give them something to visualise and hold on to,' said Jestin.
He also extended his gratitude to the committee members of the Sri Jayanthi Association, the chief monks and all temple workers for allowing him to contribute through float-building.
Asked about his source of inspiration for the float designs, Jestin attributed it to the yearly Wesak Day procession organised by Buddhist Maha Vihara (BMV) temple in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.
'I will usually arrive earlier so that I can get an overview of the entire procession,' he said.
A float design that had impressed him was a rotating statue of Buddha, which afforded devotees a 360° view of the image.
Thus inspired, Jestin used this design on his float the following year using a platform with castor wheels.
Donation drive
In addition to the lighting of candles and oil lamps to symbolise enlightenment and compassion, BMV is also having a blood, organ and body donation drive.
BMV honorary secretary Tilak Leslie Jayawardena, 65, said organ donation was the keystone in Buddhist practice.
Tilak says the temple will also have a blood, organ and body donation drive. — Courtesy photo
'Buddha supported any kind of charitable acts including feeding animals, the homeless and noble beings like monks, nuns or religious and pious persons.
'Moving up a notch in charity is donating bodily parts and finally the biggest sacrifice – donating your life for the betterment of other humans' existence or providing solace or happiness to others,' said Tilak.
Tilak said his brother Glen Laxman, who died at age 14 in a road accident, was the first cornea donor in Malaysia in 1981, a year after the National Eye Bank started its campaign.
At BMV, blood donation started in 1976.
The body donation programme, known as Silent Mentor, where the public may pledge their bodies to be used for medical training and research after their death, is a first at BMV this year.
Other activities at BMV include the sponsored lighting of 7,000 oil lamps.
A traditional Chinese medicine clinic will also be operating.
About 50,000 devotees and well-wishers are expected to visit BMV over the eve and Wesak Day.
As part of its charitable activities, 4,000 free vegetarian food packs will be distributed at lunch.
Free cool drinks and drinking water will also be distributed throughout the day.
The highlight of the festivities will be the candlelight and floats procession this evening, starting from BMV at 6pm.
It will feature some 30 gaily decorated floats.
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