Chinese New Year Eve Volunteer’s Celebration Dinner

As Chinese New Year Eve is approaching, FGS South Island held the Chinese New Year Eve Volunteer’s Blessing Dharma Service in advance on 30th January to thank all the Temple volunteers and devotees for their service and contributions during the past year. Venerable Abbess Manshin led the 150 volunteers and their family members in chanting.

Special guests included Minister of Ethnic Affairs Hon Pansy Wong, Christchurch City Councillor Helen Broughton, Riccarton-Wigram Community Board Member Jimmy Chen and New Zealand Police Ethnic Advisor Portfolio Constable Liying Cai, New Zealand High Court Barrister Xiaolei Sun and his wife, Christchurch Sister City Kurashiki of Japan Committee Chairman Malcolm Harris, Oil painter Gail Batchelor and her husband, Christchurch’s Chinese Lions Club President Ing Ma and her husband and BLIA South Island’s President and Advisor.

BLIA South Island President Almeric Cheng thanked the volunteers for helping with the numerous activities during the past year which have left Christchurch locals with beautiful memories.

Minister Hon Pansy Wong praised the BLIA members for their contributions of education and charity to the community, saying that they have become a good role model for others. The Minister also commended the BLIA for becoming an advisor of the United Nations and working hard towards realising world peace and Fo Guang Shan for sending out a young and promising Buddhist to represent the Buddhist faith in New Zealand during the 2009 Interfaith Dialogue in Perth.

Venerable Abbess Manshin gave a Dharma talk on the significance of the Dharma words ‘Awe-inspiring Virtue and an ocean of Merits’, encouraging everyone to develop the might of a tiger and adopt the mannerisms of the virtuous one so that they may gain merits as vast as the ocean. The Abbess also mentioned the causes and conditions behind Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s ‘one-brush calligraphy works’ and encouraged everyone to learn from Venerable Master’s persistence and industriousness. The Abbess wished everyone a hopeful New Year by giving everyone an auspicious red packet.

This year, the Temple kitchen staff delicately prepared delicious vegetarian cuisine for the guests to enjoy. The entertainment began at 7 pm where various performance groups showcased their talent in through dancing, singing, Japanese drums, and piano performances. Master of Ceremonies Tom Chen and Ying Shuan Chen hosted the 15 raffle draws conducted throughout the evening and together they created a warm atmosphere with their warm interactions with the audience.

The Celebration Dinner concluded at 9pm with everyone singing the ‘Fo Guang Shan Song’, ‘My hometown is Fo Guang Shan’ and several other Buddha’s Light songs. The Temple presented everyone with a copy of the ‘Awe-Inspiring Virtue and an Ocean of Merits’ New Year Scroll and Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s letter to the devotees, wishing everyone a vibrant Chinese New Year.