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| Jade Buddha Singapore |
Rinpoche had revealed that there would be far-reaching positive benefits for the Jade Buddha to visit Singapore and that many people would make it a point to visit the Buddha. Rinpoche was absolutely spot on, as during the two week event, no less than 200,000 people came to receive blessings from the Jade Buddha. It was a major opportunity for all to make offerings of rice, flowers, lights and prayers to create skies of merit.
Amongst the 200,000 people who came were dignitaries like the Minister for Education Mr Heng Swee Kiat, who was our Guest Of Honour, Mr S R Nathan - former President of Singapore, Mrs Goh Chok Tong, 8 members of the Inter Religious Organization and the Buddhist Community - Phor Kark See Monastery, Burmese Buddhist Temple, Sri Lankaramaya and even the Sri Mariamam Hindu Temple.
Those that came were also blessed by the holy relics of Khensur Rinpoche Lama Lhundrup, and the Chenrezig Sand Mandala. About 82,000 kgs of rice was offered by the general public, all of which has been donated to eight charitable homes in Singapore. Singapore was truly blessed that week with the presence of the Jade Buddha.
Compassionate showers of blessings fell on Singapore and even a double rainbow appeared in the sky! The logistics of moving in the Jade Buddha was astronomical. A special 10 m long, 1 beam, 2 tonne metal structure had to be constructed to support the Jade Buddha, its throne with a total weight of 6 tonnes per sq metre. The Civic Square Plaza ground loading strength was only designed for 3 tonnes per sq metre, without which the floor would have collapsed. A special heavy lift crane of 250 mega tons capacity was used to hoist the Jade Buddha from Orchard Road onto its seat in the courtyard stage area.
A total of seven permits had to be obtained from the Authorities (Police, Fire Safety, Media Development Authority, Land Transport Authority, Parks & Recreation Department) before this event could be staged. Truly, unless one has the determination to create skies of merit to plan this event, the logistics (and cost) would have scared off a less determined person.
The stage decorations and lighting and everything else was all custom-made to showcase the Jade Buddha at its best. The tent interiors, layout chairs and displays, use of system furniture for the retail merchandizing stalls, and other stations were carefully designed to be elegant, as befitting the stature of this high profile exhibition.
We literally went overboard with publicizing the Jade Buddha exhibition. 2m high posters were placed at 120 bus stops in Singapore, together with a short video at Bugis Junction big screen TV. Advertisements on the Opening Ceremony were placed with the Straits Times, three Chinese newspapers and a Tamil newspaper, and thousands of flyers were distributed.
The beautiful thing about this high standard of performance and display was that it was done by ABC volunteers not professionals. Indeed, the entire two-week-event was completely manned by volunteers!
The staging of this very major exhibition would not have been possible without the hard work and extraordinary effort put in by the EXCO, members and volunteers of ABC. As the event lasted 14 days, it spanned the first 4 days of the Chinese New Year holidays.
Every day without fail from 10 am to 10 pm, our volunteers would faithfully turn up to man the retail outlets, sponsorship stalls for rice, 21 Taras, Dzambalas, free publications, and Jade Buddha Gallery, to serve the visiting public. Our volunteers sacrificed their New Year's Eve dinner, and Chinese New Year visits and festivities, to serve the Jade Buddha. This was a remarkable and extraordinary sacrifice made by not one but hundreds of volunteers.
Without their untiring effort, all the meticulous planning would have come to nothing; it would have been like a millipede without its multiple legs. We can never thank enough our volunteers for the huge sacrifices made. I humbly prostrate to their dedication and commitment to working to benefit the thousands that came to view the Jade Buddha.
May this magnificent Jade Buddha for Universal Peace bring Singapore and the entire South East Asian region lasting peace and happiness. May the Buddha inspire everyone to walk the path of loving compassion hand-in-hand and always showing loving kindness to others. To find out more, you can check out Jade Buddha Singapore.