At 10am on 10th September 2016 in the Hall of No Form, the Buddhist College of Singapore (BCS) celebrated its 10th Anniversary cum Official Opening of the new campus. The ceremony was graced by distinguished guests Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Mrs Josephine Teo (Senior Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Ministry of Transport), Mr Sam Tan (Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office & Ministry of Manpower), Mr Chee Hong Tat (Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information & Ministry of Health), Venerable Sik Kwang Sheng (Rector, BCS), Venerable Sheng Hui (Vice President, Buddhist Association of China), Venerable Xin Cheng (Vice President, Buddhist Association of China), The Most Venerable Prof. Dr. Phra Brahmapundit (Rector, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Thailand), Ven Seck Kwang Phing (President, Singapore Buddhist Federation) Prof. Sunanda Madduma Bandara (Vice Chancellor, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka), representatives from the Buddhist Association of China, The State Administration for Religious Affairs of China and the Chinese embassy in Singapore. They witnessed this memorable moment together with nearly a thousand people consisting of lecturers and staff, graduates and current students, generous supporters, dedicated volunteers and faithful devotees.
The ceremony commenced with the Song of the Triple Gem. On behalf of the College, Rector Venerable Sik Kwang Sheng extended the warmest welcome to all guests and visiting alumni and expressed heartfelt gratitude to all supporters and devotees for their unwavering commitment to the College’s development. He said that the commemorative ceremony was not a formality but a summation of the College’s milestones to express gratitude to the College’s staunch supporters. He recounted the achievements of BCS in the past 10 years and the development of facilities, and envisioned future plans to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with other stakeholders, learn from fellow Buddhist colleges and work together to promote friendly interactions internationally in Buddhism and monastic training. To realise these objectives, the Rector seeks continuous support from both local and overseas monastic and lay communities.
PM Lee paid tribute to the contributions of the Buddhist community in providing social services to the poor and needy and, as the largest religious group, in fostering racial and religious harmony in multi-cultural Singapore. Venerable Sheng Hui, Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China, reiterated that Buddhists had actively promoted Sino-Singapore friendship and the bilingual graduates of BCS had played important roles for Chinese Buddhism. The Most Venerable Prof. Dr. Phra Brahmapundit, Rector of Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Thailand, reconfirmed the need to incorporate Buddhism in modern context and educate the next generation of leaders to uphold peace in the world. He said MCU would continue to support BCS to become the centre of Buddhism in the region, just like the role Singapore played in this region.
Thereafter, Rector Venerable Sik Kwang Sheng invited PM Lee, Mrs Josephine Teo, Mr Sam Tan, Mr Chee Hong Tat, Venerable Sheng Hui, Venerable Phra Brahmapundit, Prof. Sunanda Madduma Bandara, Mrs Lei Lihua, and Venerable Chuan Seng to unveil the plaque. Venerable Sik Kwang Sheng then presented the exquisite gift of “Liuli Ruyi” (symbolizing “as one wishes”) to PM Lee. The ceremony ended with a group photo-taking of overseas guests, alumni and students.
