Reunion Dinner at Fo Guang Shan North Island – Reunited to Celebrate Our Stride into the Year of the Horse

Annual Reunion Dinner for 2014 was once again organised by BLIA North Island within Fo Guang Shan’s courtyard. On the evening of 18th January, over 1000 guests gathered for the year’s most anticipated reunion.

At 6pm, a Blessing Ceremony was held within the Main Shrine, presided by Fo Guang Shan Deputy Abbot Venerable Huikai. Honoured guests for the evening included Venerable Abbess Manshin, BLIA North Island President Dolly Tsai, BLIA South Island President See Shen Lee, Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross and other representatives from local businesses and social organisations.

During the ceremony, Venerable Huikai presented everyone with Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s New Year’s Couplet, and wished everyone good fortune, to advance forward like noble steeds. This was followed by words of appreciation from Mr Jami-Lee Ross toward Venerable Huikai’s Life and Death lecture in New Zealand. He also thanked Abbess Manshin’s leadership of BLIA which gave contributions and elevated harmony in our society.

During the reunion dinner, President Dolly Tsai welcomed and thanked everyone for attending this annual banquet. She also encouraged everyone by reminding them to constantly purify their own minds and to make resolutions for the New Year to actualise “3 Good Deeds and 4 Givings”, in order to accumulate merits and wisdom.

This year BLIA has meticulously prepared many performances to keep everyone entertained throughout the dinner. It included displays of talent from local organisations and show cases from BLIA and YAD members’ own performances such as hand gestured song “Love Our Youth” and a Taiwanese indigenous dancing. At the end, all members of BLIA stepped upon stage to give a joint choir performance of “Song of Fo Guang Shan”, thereby providing the perfect finale to the evening.