The 8th 3G4G Festival of Cultural Sharing_ Session 4 & 5 The Delicious Laba Rice
In the morning of 6th May 2022, 225 of the year 7 students led by 12 teachers from Mission Heights Junior College walked to the Temple from their school and participated the event. In the afternoon session, there were 125 students accompanied by 16 teachers and parents from Wymondley Road School joined the education program for the first-time.
In the morning session, the students learnt about the ritual and meaning of incense offering at the Front Shrine. They realised that incense offering represent giving the best of our heart to the wise and compassionate Buddha and Bodhisattvas. In the Prince Siddhartha Exhibition, the students gathered after posting their wishing cards to the wall and happily read each other’s wishes.
This year, Abbess Manshin specially led the team to prepare the Laba Rice as refreshment for the students. The Laba Rice signify Good & Enlightenment, wishing the students to gain strength to do good, say good and think good in the daily life. It has become the highlight of the program and received millions of great feedbacks. Most students had more than one bowl of rice. A student has repeatedly praised, “The Laba Rice is the best in the world”. Another student, Anna, happily shared that her grandmother cooks a delicious meal, but the Laba Rice from the Temple is better than her grandmother’s cooking. A boy from Indonesia asked, “Can you teach my mum to cook this meal at home?”
Mission Heights Junior College is closed to the Temple and has participated in the education program since 2014. They sent teachers and students to join the event every year. One of the teachers, Douglas, witnessed the differences in refreshments provided by the Temple every year, from brownies, biscuits, Laba congee to Laba rice. He expressed that the Laba Rice is full of surprise, he liked it so much and had two bowls! Another teacher, who first time visit the Temple, loved the calming environment and claimed that she would come back for a visit soon.
This was the first time for Wymondley Road School to visit the Temple; the Deputy Principal, Bronwyn Hetaraka, appreciated the organiser for the invitation. She shared that the school excursion information was sent out to the students before the Easter Holiday. Everyone was expecting this program so much during the school holiday. The students, teachers and parents enjoyed the activities in the Temple and the value of 3G4G.