On 9 March 2015 at 10.30am, the Buddhist College of Singapore (BCS) held its school re-opening ceremony for the second semester of academic year 2014/2015 in the Dharma Hall. The ceremony was graced by the Rector Venerable Kwang Sheng, Vice-Rectors Venerable Dr. Chuan Sheng and Venerable Chuan Hou, the Dean of Academic Affairs Venerable Chuan Xiong, the Head of Monastic Training Venerable Ti Jie, the Head of Administration Venerable Chuan Deng, Deputy Dean of Academic Affairs Dr. Ji Yun, Class Mentors Venerable Chuan Li, Venerable Quan Zhi, Venerable Chuan Hang, the Vice-Rector of BCS Nuns’ College Venerable Fa Xun, Class Mentor Venerable Ming Hao, esteemed lecturers and students.Venerable Kwang Sheng began his speech by extending a very warm welcome to all the Venerable, lecturers, students and staff who returned from their winter vacation. The Rector went on to emphasize to all the students the importance of always cultivating a sense of gratitude, the virtue of hard work and diligence in both their academic studies and practice, and that they should practise mindfulness from time to time, experiencing the ‘Zen’ state of mind in their daily activities including mealtimes. He also gave his guidance and encouragement to the students in the newly established Nuns’ college (for basic monastic training) and expressed his wish, that with the blessings of the triple Gem, the college would be able to relocate to a permanent campus in the near future. To motivate and further inspire the students to practise meditation, the Rector announced a new initiative to sponsor interested students to go for meditation retreats in Myanmar. The Rector concluded his speech by updating everyone on the progress of the long-awaited new BCS building and estimated that we could move into the new building by the new academic year.
