Establishing Close Cooperation on White Ribbon Day
On the 25th November, Fo Guang Shan (FGS) New Zealand Abbess Venerable Manshin, FGS South Island temple supervisor Venerable Jue Xi, Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) South Island President See Shen, Lee and 9 more members of the BLIA visited the Christchurch Police Office with great welcomes given from NZ Polices’ Deputy Commissioner District Operations - Grant Nicholls, Canterbury District Commander - Superintendent Gary Knowles and Detective Senior - Sergeant Virginia Le Bas.
The White Ribbon campaign in NZ is a day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, which is celebrated on 25th November each year. In conjunction of this campaign, the busy scheduled Superintendent Gary Knowles sincerely invited FGS and BLIA members not to just only join the march of awareness with the public, but also to visit the NZ Police Force Office. He further expressed that members from the FGS and BLIA constantly contribute in community services, youth education, culture and religion, and working hand in hand with the NZ Police to a better level.
At the Police Office, under the guidance of the Superintendent, FGS and BLIA members visited the tightly guarded control centre and the strong secured important base. This is the busiest Police Office following second to Auckland’s Manukau Police Office and that is why security need to be tighter not only for the safety of the police but also to the people of Canterbury. The Superintendent also introduced two NZ Police dogs which were trained and currently helping to fight against crime.
Later on, Abbess Manshin and the group again met with NZ Polices’ Deputy Commissioner District Operations - Grant Nicholls that just arrived from Wellington and Detective Senior - Sergeant Virginia Le Bas. The Abbess then presented them prayer beads from India, books authored by FGS International Founder - Venerable Master Hsing Yun entitled “Ten Paths to Happiness” and “The Secret Achievement”, CDs’ from FGS International 7th and 8th term Abbot - Most Venerable Hsing Pei and many more gifts which the Abbess kindly explained the meanings and significance behind it. Both parties were filled with gratitude on that day, thanking each other in participating and helping each other in bringing more positive impacts.
The Abbess then shared the experience on the visit to India in October that amazed everyone. Following on, the Abbess also shared her experience in cooperating together with the NZ Police Force for around a decade, accomplishing impossible tasks in serving the community. In return, the Superintendent Gary Knowles is also grateful by the support and assistance given from the FGS and BLIA members and hopefully, with fate, he could soon visit FGS North Island and lay a firmer foundation in the future.