Tote Bag!

Designed by Yuanyi in time for the Mission's 30th Anniversary Celebrations Gala Dinner! The Buddha so cute. Sadhu for a job well done.

May you be well and happy

Within the week itself, I've heard the statement "it was too sudden" twice.
Once from my dad, when his friend of his age passed on.
The second from nest, when his granny passed on.

Indeed, life is impermanent, isn't it?
But what hit me more abruptly was the uncertainty of life.

We know that death is inevitable, we know that one day, our time will be up. When? We don't really know. Might be soon, might be not so soon.

I wondered: what if one day, my death dawns upon me suddenly. What do I do? I have so many dreams unfulfilled, I have so many things undone. What can I do? The emotion that has then arisen in me surprised me. It wasn't fear, but motivation.

I wanted to do more, do what I can with my time. We can't control when our time is up (well, unless we indulge in ignorant acts like dashing across roads and driving recklessly). However, we can ensure that while we are still well and happy, we do what we can.

I wondered: people who have fought for nothing, done no service to others and lived a self-centered life, how would they feel when they realise that the time left is little, yet they have not done anything for the benefit of others? Then I told myself that I'm not gonna live a life that will allow for such regrets.

I wanna live a meaningful life. One that is guided by the triple gems, in service of others, in cultivation of my mind and in propagation of the dhamma. Of course, I have a long way to go, but I'm gonna try and I'm inspired to make this aspiration.

May Uncle Goh and Mak Mak be well and happy =D

For the unfortunate ones who have yet to view the greatest trailer ever made, this trailer is the fruit of a lot of people's efforts:

Zhenyu, Shixiong and Zeming for the shooting and Editting
Jianyong for the coordinating and planning.
Dylan, Xinyi, Ying Hui, Ernest, Wei Liang, Vicky, Fuzhong, Yuanyi, Kevin, Glen, Ryan for the fantastic acting.

I'm sure along the way we've had loads of fun with the crazy antics, and I wanna thank you guys for putting in so much effort into this!

This camp is gonna be different, because it's a camp that's back to basics. Not only will it involve our classic games of the past 18 CEPs, it's gonna be back to basics for us, as SBMY. SBMY will not be functioning if not for the spiritual friendships that we aim to forge, so that we can learn the dharma together. Let's build our own circle of strong, kalyana mitras through this camp.

I hope that this camp is one in which we learn to spend quality time with one another, so don't be surprised if I start calling you guys up for htht sessions =]

I also hope that this camp will be one in which the older can guide the younger ones, and everyone will be willing to step out of their comfort zones, as you guys have during the run, albeit being in slippers, for some of you.

I have a belief that only when we step out of our comfort zones will we be able to learn more about ourselves as well as skills. Don't worry, when you're doing it, we are here for you, all of you.

Let's make this camp a blasting one-- for the campers, and for us. Let's go SBMY!

AWESOME

The Reason Why

Afterthoughts from a packed weekend: Old Friends' Gathering on Friday evening. LIONS Refresher on Saturday Morning and Camp Ehi-Passiko Organisers Run on Saturday evening.

There are many reasons that make this Buddhist youth group work, the tick. How after 15 years (SBM Youth was re-formed in 1996, after more than 5 years break from the previous generation), the youth group is still going strong:

Our visionary Founder the Late Ven. Dr. K. Sri. Dhammanada, a wise Chief Advisor in Ven. Dr. Anuruddha, a compassionate Youth Religious Advisor in Ven. Dr. Bodhi, a supportive Adults Committee, the passionate "4 Kings" who founded the group back in 96, a servant-leader in our former youth President Kwek Zeming, a dedicated youth committee at the helm now, and most importantly, as Mrs. Cheng remarked on Saturday, Venerable K. Dhammika.


"... that is why SBM is so successful. You have a Bhante who is so patient... so compassionate..."



A simple, humble and patient monk. Always there, quietly, holding the fort, giving Mission's laity the spiritual guidance.