[Bright Hill Temple]
1. I visited Bright Hill Temple this afternoon with Yeo Guat Kwang and some grassroots leaders and had a vegetarian lunch with Ven Guang Sheng, Ven Fa Zhao and Ven Guang Pin. Mr Lee Bock Guan from the Buddhist Lodge was also there. I have not been back at Bright Hill Temple since the Venerable Sek Hong Choon died many years ago. The complex has grown and the new meditation hall is beautiful. The heavy rain created a special mood. The food was of very high standard and elegantly presented. Ven Guang Sheng expressed surprise that the Temple's kitchen could produce such fare. It turned out that the food was specially catered.



2. Tomorrow night, the delegates to the Nalanda Symposium on Monday will be hosted to a welcome vegetarian dinner at Bright Hill Temple. The Singapore Buddhist Federation is a major sponsor of the Symposium. President Abdul Kalam of India will be participating 'live' by video-conference. It is a strange but happy coincidence that I should be visiting Bright Hill Temple two days in a row after an absence of more than 15 years.