To honour religious sensitivities of residents, there was only an elegant Lucite statue of the Buddha, for residents to seek blessings. Photo by Pua Poo Toong
“What will happen to me if I don’t burn joss paper?”
A resident, Wang Qing Bo, raised his concern when Tzu Chi volunteers invited him to take part in the “Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month Prayer Ceremony”, which aimed to help the Chinese community understand why it is not necessary to burn joss paper during the seventh lunar month. He was very curious to learn more about this message, and immediately expressed his intention to participate in the event.
The “Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month Prayer Ceremony” has been held annually, with the aim of advocating Right Faith and Right View. The event this year was held for the first time at four different venues in four community zones. The South Zone’s Prayer Ceremony was held on 29th July at Block 27 in Jalan Membina, and the two prayer sessions were attended by a total of 315 members of the public.
Volunteers busy with setting up various posters and pictures that promote Right Faith and Right View on the seventh lunar month at the venue. Photo by Fong Kwai Kin
The South Zone’s “Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month Prayer Ceremony”, which was held within an HDB estate’s public pavilion, drew quite a large crowd of residents. Photo by Fong Kwai Kin
Mdm Zhang Jian Kai is a resident living nearby, and regularly takes part in Tzu Chi’s night-time recycling activities together with her son. She felt especially happy and heartwarming when she arrived at the Prayer Ceremony, whose venue was only a five-minute walk from her home. The jovial middle-aged lady immediately hugged a volunteer the moment she stepped into the venue.
Mdm Zhang Jian Kai (left), who lives nearby the venue of the prayer ceremony, greets Tzu Chi volunteers warmly as soon as she arrives. Photo by Ng Beng Chin
Connecting with the Community
Organising the “Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month Prayer Ceremony” at a venue outside of the Jing Si Hall for the first time posed a real challenge to the Tzu Chi Merit Organization. Fortunately, the organization had the support of Mdm Chow Hoy Fong, Vice Chairman of the Kim Tian West Residents’ Committee, in locating a suitable venue for the event.
As the event was held in a public domain, and in honor of the varied religious faiths of the residents, Tzu Chi specially set up the venue with a focus on the message of environmental protection. The volunteer team pared away complex rituals to keep the proceedings as simple as possible, which greatly reduced the religious elements of the event.
Senior volunteer leader Kenny Khoo emphasized that the team constantly used “respect” as their guiding principle in all aspects of their interactions with the community. For example, they used a single Lucite Buddha statue as display, which helped to convey the Buddhist faith in a tactful and elegant way, while minimizing the worries of touching on religious sensitivities. During the prayer event, the master of the ceremony reminded everyone present that they could, in accordance with their respective faiths, pray for peace and blessings.
To spur residents’ participation and sense of belonging, Mdm Chow Hoy Fong had taken the suggestion of Kenny Khoo to invite nearby residents to join her in folding lotus flowers, to be used as offerings at the Prayer Ceremony. The lotus flower folding activity started from 4th July. The flowers were made from recycled plastic bags in a variety of colours and sizes, which served to promote environmental protection to the residents.
Volunteers offer hand-made lotus flowers to the residents as they arrive at the venue. Photo by Pua Poo Toong
Right Faith and Right View Break Superstitious Traditions
At the entrance of the venue, Tzu Chi volunteers had placed visible reminders of the theme of the Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month Prayer Ceremony, “Right Faith and Right View”. Through the use of rich graphics, text, and related infographics, the theme was presented in an easy to understand format. Volunteers were also onsite to welcome the arriving guests and to explain to them the importance of environmental protection and how people could practise it.
“Why should we stop burning joss paper?”
Through a lively skit, volunteers shared the rationale why the practice of burning joss paper should be stopped. The skit revealed that this traditional practice was actually the result of a marketing trick employed by a dishonest merchant in ancient China. This lively and interesting performance drew boisterous laughter from the audience, who also learned the rationale through an immersive experience.
Volunteers enlightening the audience on the shady origin of the joss paper burning tradition through a lively skit. Photo by Pua Poo Toong
Many Chinese people thought that the tradition of burning joss paper was a tradition passed down by their ancestors. Ms He Mei Yue, a resident living nearby, was one such example.
Whenever the seventh lunar month came around, He Mei Yue was terrified about "the opening of the gates of Hell" during this period of time and lived in consternation of wandering ghosts, thus spending the entire month living in fear. She came to the South Zone seventh lunar month prayer event upon the invitation of a Tzu Chi volunteer, and arrived with many suspicions, so much so that even before the start of the event, she asked nervously, “Do the gates of Hell really open during the seventh lunar month? The joss paper money that I’ve burned - will they (the ghosts) really receive it?”
However, after watching Master Cheng Yen’s Dharma talk programme at the event, she finally had an inkling of the true origin of the seventh lunar month, and could finally heave a sigh of relief after living in fear for so long.
“So, in actual fact, the practice of burning paper money was the result of an ancient sales tactic. It is a practice that not only pollutes the air, affects our personal health, but also wastes money. I can donate the money that I save from not burning joss paper!” she said.
After attending the Prayer Ceremony, He Mei Yue finally found peace in her heart, and no longer felt fearful or anxious about the upcoming seventh lunar month’s rituals. She added that after she returned home, she would explain what she had learned to the seniors in her family, with the hope that they would stop their habit of burning joss paper, to help protect the environment with Right Faith.
Residents watching a video presentation of Master Cheng Yen’s Dharma talk programme, and finally understood the origin of the joss paper burning practice through the video story. Photo by Pua Poo Toong
Yet another participant, Lin Yi Feng shared, “Tzu Chi’s visual displays and infographics on global warming and environmental conservation have greatly challenged the core of my belief system.”
Lin Yin Feng further said that the practice of burning joss paper is a traditional belief system passed down through the ages, and it would not be easy to completely eliminate it at once. It would take time for people to adapt and change. Although it is not possible for people to stop burning paper money immediately, they will certainly burn less over time.
Aid Recipient Supports Environmental Protection
Before the start of the first prayer session, just as the volunteers were settling into their respective places to welcome participants, a taxi abruptly stopped at the venue’s entrance. A wheel-chair bound Tzu Chi beneficiary, Peter, who happens to be a Christian, was assisted by a volunteer, from the vehicle into the venue.
“Peter is a Christian, and was initially reluctant to take part in the Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month Prayer Ceremony. He was only willing to attend the event after knowing that it was not about chanting Buddhist sutras or burning joss paper, but to share about the message of environmental protection,” said Tzu Chi volunteer Lin Hua Zhen, who has been showing care to Peter all this while.
Tzu Chi’s aid recipient, Peter, who is a Christian, listening attentively to a volunteer’s explanation on the environmentally harmful effects of a non-vegetarian diet. Photo by Pua Poo Toong
After listening attentively to the volunteers’ explanations, and viewing the programme, Peter shared, “It is great that Tzu Chi is doing all the good work in environmental protection, such as recycling and reusing waste paper, bottles and other waste materials. This will greatly benefit our environment.”
Lin Hua Zhen had actively invited Peter to join the event, with the hope that he might understand what Right Faith in Buddhism is all about.
“Although Peter is physically impaired, he is willing to give of himself, and hopes to take part in Tzu Chi activities. Even though he can’t bend his body to sort recyclables, he hopes that he can still contribute as an advocate for the environment,” said Lin.
The South Zone's Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month Prayer Ceremony closed fruitfully with the sinere prayers of all present, and Mdm Chow Hoy Fong was pleased to declare that it was a successful event. She said that she would warmly welcome the following year’s event being held in the same venue.
“I sincerely hope that the South Zone’s ‘Auspicious Seventh Lunar Month Prayer Ceremony’ can become a model for us to promote the event in the various neighbourhoods next year. We hope to hold the event in more neighbourhoods (around Singapore in future),” said Kenny Khoo.
Share 
