Vesak Day Commemoration at Haw Par Villa

On Saturday, 21 May, I oversaw a team in organising a Vesak Day Commemoration at Haw Par Villa.

I believe this was the first Vesak Day event held in the 85-year-old park in years.

The commemoration started with Vesak Day blessings conducted in the Culture Courtyard.

We wanted to show unity in diversity. Hence, we invited six monks representing three major schools of Buddhism - Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. They were also of various ethnicities, such as Chinese, Thai, Burmese, Sinhalese, and Tibetan.

Vesak Day blessings at the Culture Courtyard. Credit: Courtesy of Ms Lee Lay Na (volunteer photographer of Tibetan Buddhist Centre).

Credit: Courtesy of Ms Lee Lay Na (volunteer photographer of Tibetan Buddhist Centre).

Credit: Courtesy of Ms Lee Lay Na (volunteer photographer of Tibetan Buddhist Centre).

The blessings were followed by a procession around the park to bless the space. The procession stopped at major Buddhist figures such as Gautama Buddha, and Guan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion.

After two years of strict social distancing measures and online events, it was great seeing the monks physically lead the procession in paying respects.

Credit: Courtesy of Ms Lee Lay Na (volunteer photographer of Tibetan Buddhist Centre).

Moving forward, Vesak Day will be one of the key events on Haw Par Villa’s calendar, in recognition of the significant number of Buddhist elements in the park.

All communities are welcome in Haw Par Villa to celebrate or commemorate festivals. The aim is to create a common space for all.

Pressing grave papers

It’s Qing Ming (Tomb Sweeping Day) again, which means it’s time to pay respects to my paternal and maternal grandparents again.

My paternal grandfather’s grave lies in Kopi Sua Cemetery; after an entertaining search, I “found” and cleaned it in December 2020. This year, I decided to revive an old Hokkien tradition and “press grave papers” (ya mu zhi) on his tomb.

The tradition involves spreading thin, square pieces of coloured paper all over the tumulus, usually with small stones on them so they do not fly away.

This practice fulfils a few purposes:

1. It symbolises repairing the roof of the deceased’s “house”.

2. It lets others know that the grave is taken care of by descendants.

3. It lets surrounding spirits and deities know that the deceased will not become a lonely, hungry ghost.

The underlying value here is filial piety - a value I admit I took time to understand and appreciate.

My father was surprised when I showed him the stack of colourful paper I had purchased from a paper offering shop. I guess he did not expect me to know about this tradition, let alone desire to continue it. But he readily agreed when I suggested practising it at his father’s grave.

And so we visited my grandfather’s grave - my dad, my brother, Tiak, and me.

We burned paper gold to him.

We also burned paper silver to the Hou Tu (“Emperor of the Earth”), the guardian deity resting next to his grave and overseeing its welfare.

It took me some time to “press the grave papers”, because the tumulus was huge.

A splash of colour!

My father reminded me to put a stack on his headstone too.

Rest well, Ah Gong!

Jurong Bird Park, 31 years apart

Hanging out with the birds, 1991 and 2022.

Thanks for the memories, Jurong Bird Park - it has been a good 51 years from your opening in 1971.