Great Love—Faithful Companion to the Lion City

88 volunteers swaying their arms to the moving melody of the sign language song, “World of One Thousand Hands”, which depicts the spirit of Bodhisattva Guan Yin (Photo by Lai Tong Heng)

The weather in Singapore in early January was unusually wet and cold, with temperature dropping to a record low. Amid the cooler-than-normal weather on 13^th January 2018, Tzu Chi Merit Organization (Singapore) successfully held two sessions of its annual Year End Blessing Ceremony with the theme, “Unite in great love towards a world of kindness; pave the path at each step to protect the earth”, at The Star Theatre in Buona Vista.

The Year-End Blessing Ceremony kicked off to a rousing start with an energetic drum and bell performance of “Song of Diligence”. Forty Tzu Chi volunteers struck their drums and bells in perfect unison to the music, filling the 5,000-seat theatre with a dignified and uplifting atmosphere.

This year’s ceremony focused on the accomplishments of Tzu Chi’s Four Missions and adopted a multimedia approach of video broadcasts incorporated with live performances by volunteers. Besides giving thanks to the support of volunteers and donors, there was a greater hope that more people would join the “Save for a Good Cause” campaign.

The first programme item featured Tzu Chi’s Mission of Charity in Singapore, a memorable video that captured the beautiful footprints of Tzu Chi volunteers around Singapore over the past year. Their compassionate efforts allowed disadvantaged families to see new hope in their lives again.

With tears running down his face, Tzu Chi’s aid beneficiary, Peter Chan, shared his moving testimony on the stage: “I am deeply thankful for the appearance of Tzu Chi during the lowest point in my life, which gave me a new lease of life. They (Tzu Chi volunteers) not only accompanied and cared for me, but also encouraged me to get back on my feet…”

59-year-old Peter injured his spine after a fall at home in 2014. As a result, he became wheelchair bound and lost the ability to take care of his daily living needs. Since he was referred to Tzu Chi in 2016, volunteers started visiting his home once a month to give him care and support. Their practical acts of love gradually led him out of the dark pit of despair.

“Other than not being able to move my arms and legs, I am just like everyone else. And now, I can slowly move my hand. I believe that the other parts of my body will also get better over time,” Peter expressed with some measure of pride.

Aid beneficiary Peter Chan encouraged the audience: “Do not give up in the midst of adversities. We must exercise patience and perseverance and live with hope of a better tomorrow.” (Photo by Lim Beng Chai)

As Peter Chan gradually regained his confidence and mobility, Tzu Chi took a step further in helping him by providing him with an assistive device and software that allowed him to input data into the computer. At the same time, two companies offered him job opportunities that required him to perform data entry tasks. As a show of his appreciation, Peter expressed his hope to volunteer at Tzu Chi’s public fundraising events, thus becoming someone who could also give unto others.

After the sharing of the touching testimony, members from the Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA) presented a Wing Chun martial arts item, accompanied by the soothing music from the Tzu Chi song, “The Earth and Wind”. This was followed by a sign language interpretation of “A Tribute to the White Robe”, a moving item that conveyed the spirit of humanistic care of doctors and nurses in Tzu Chi’s Mission of Medicine.

A group of students from Tzu Chi Great Love PreSchool, together with their teachers and Tzu Chi youths, staged a sign language song, “The Kneeling Lamb”, which depicted the universal virtue of filial piety. There was also a combined drumming team comprising teachers and students from the Great Love PreSchool. The lively, upbeat performance was a showcase of Tzu Chi’s humanistic education to the audience.

With the melodious music from “World of a Thousand Hands”, 88 volunteers hailing from various Tzu Chi Missions streamed onto the stage with their sign language presentation of Tzu Chi’s love and charity, touching many hearts with their moving performance.

“A person’s strength is very limited, so we need to lean on one another’s strength to accomplish things. Regardless of their race, religion or nationality, people should help one another,” shared Mr Leow Chee Tsai, the person in charge of the Skills Development Programme in the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH).

He was moved to express his sentiments after viewing the “Tzu Chi Year-in-Review” video, and was deeply touched by Tzu Chi’s compassionate footprints around the globe, especially among the suffering people on the African Continent, who regained their self-reliance after receiving aid and support from Tzu Chi.

Accompanied by SAVH’s volunteers, a group of 21 members from the Association had come to attend the Year End Blessing Ceremony. Leow also firmly believed that in the future, more visually-impaired persons would be integrated into the society and gain greater acceptance and acknowledgement by everyone.

“Even though we may not be able to see with our eyes, the light in our hearts always shines bright,” he said.

Go Green to Save the Earth!

“The atmosphere here is really heart-warming; it is solemn while at the same time lively too!” Ms Lin Li Jun, who was a first-time attendee of the event, gushed with much emotion.

Apart from an exciting line-up of live performances, there was also an eco-exhibition, which exuded an air of creativity and vitality. Outside the performance venue, there was an eye-catching display of a pair of human hands made out of used plastic bottles and other recyclables.

Volunteer Lee Kwei Mean patiently explained the importance of environmental protection and the creativity behind the exhibits to the event attendees:

“The blue-coloured parts of the palm represent the ocean, the green-coloured portions represent the forests while the brown-coloured parts represent the land. The earth has been damaged by pollution; plastic bags and bottles are all pollutants. The undulating, dirty surface of the hand above the earth represents people’s callous attitude of dumping things, which generates trash that pollutes the earth. The hand that lies below the earth, which is printed with the recycling symbol, can help to protect the earth.”

At the side of the “Protecting Earth with Both Hands” exhibit stood an outstanding gown stitched from 577 pieces of plastic bags.

“It is estimated that each person in Singapore discards about 577 plastic bags in a year (circa 2011), which is very environmentally-unfriendly. Making a dress from discarded plastic bags serves as a stark reminder that a lot of trash, such as plastic bags will be generated if people do not adopt eco-friendly practices. It allows them to be more conscious of the long-term adverse effects of such pollution on our planet,” shared volunteer Wong May Khum.

Wong, together with a group of volunteers, spent about half a month creating this gown, which served as a stark reminder to people about the importance of reducing the usage of single-use items, such as plastic bags.

At the vegetarianism promotion zone, there were displays of exquisite vegetarian treats made of authentic materials, and each dish came with a detailed recipe for browsing by the event attendees. The mouth-watering displays attracted large crowds to come forward to take photos.

The volunteer in-charge, Ng Hai Boey, explained confidently: “Through the use of authentic ingredients and displays, the exhibits help to showcase that vegetarian meals can be appealing to both the eyes and palate, thus dispelling the commonly held myth that vegetarian meals are crude and unappetizing.”

Volunteers dressed in fruit and veggie costumes playing a fun game, which rouses a lot of excitement and enlivens the atmosphere(Photo by Chai Yu Leong)

“Save for a Good Cause”

Tzu Chi Singapore’s “Save for a Good Cause” campaign officially kicked off in September 2017, and in this event, there was a greater push to promote the campaign among the public. Besides setting up a booth for people to return their Bamboo Coin Banks to donate their savings, volunteers also widely promoted the campaign and distributed the coin banks, even using a mobile apps to trace the returned coin banks.  

After receiving a Bamboo Coin Bank, event attendees registered themselves as donors of Tzu Chi using a QR code. (Photo byPua Poo Toong)

An event attendee happily adopted a Bamboo Coin Bank after learning its underlying meaning. (Photo by Goh Lam Kia)

Serving with Joy

Working silently behind the successful event were the countless contributions of hardworking onstage performers as well as backstage crew.

“When something is right, we should just do it,” said volunteer Cai Hui Ping, who found an affinity with Tzu Chi after a chance encounter of some Jing Si Aphorisms (wise sayings by Dharma Master Cheng Yen) on a friend’s calendar.

 She further shared that the lyrics of “World of a Thousand Hands” had deep meaning, and from the sign language, she understood the significance of the lyrics and developed a deeper sense of belonging to the Tzu Chi family.

“During our rehearsals together, we were like one family, barring any differences and giving each other help and support to make the sign language item successful,” said Cai.

Another volunteer, Zhan Wang, who had been deeply touched by the dignified “Song of Diligence” drum and bell performance before, was invited to take part in the performance at this event as he had wished. He was arranged to stand in the first position of the drum formation and played an important role.

During rehearsals, he often frowned unknowingly while playing the drum and his companions would remind him to soften his countenance. This reminder helped him let go of passing thoughts and keep his heart attuned to the music, while maintaining a solemn composure. Over time and through many practices, he was able to maintain a firm countenance, which left a deep impact during the performance.  

Zhan Wang, who stood at the forefront of the drum and bell team, shared that the performance was a heart and mind purifying and strengthening journey. (Photo by Lai Tong Heng)

Tzu Chi Singapore has over the past year revealed the face of Great Love in its footprints throughout Singapore via its Four Missions of Charity, Medicine, Humanistic Culture and Education. At the same time, its volunteers have been actively inviting people to sign up for the “Save for a Good Cause” campaign, in leading members of the public to embark on their journey of charity. The two sessions of the Year End Blessing Ceremony attracted 7,312 people to attend and had 213 volunteers taking part in various performances. Red packets of blessings and wisdom, which contained the well-wishes of Master Cheng Yen, were distributed to the audience members at the end of each session.

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