Early on the morning of Wednesday, 7 December 2005, Bro. Chooi Shee Hoong, Vice-President of Tham Wah Wan Temple, Kuala Lumpur, took Venerable Wei Wu, Venerable Zhen Xin, Venerable Fa Yun, Venerable Tian Wen, two female Buddhist laity and me to the Palace of Golden Horses for the Opening Ceremony of the 8 th General Conference of World Buddhist Sangha Council.

The 8 th General Conference of World Buddhist Sangha Council was jointly organized by the Malaysian Buddhist Association and Kek Lok Si Temple. The theme for this World Conference was “Promoting World Peace through a Caring Community”.

A dragon dance greeted the arrival of Dato' Seri Ong Ka Ting, the Minister of Housing and Local Government. The programme started off with everyone standing up to the rendition of the National Anthem, Negara Ku, and the Triple Gem Song, a Chinese Buddhist Anthem praising the Triple Gem. This was followed by songs sang by local and Taiwan artistes, and speeches by various dignitaries, the last of whom was Dato' Seri Ong Ka Ting, who then officially declared the General Conference opened.

After the Opening Ceremony, the whole assembly adjoined to another hall for the Mahasanghikadana given by Tan Seri Lee Kim Yew. The lunch was an eight course set of vegetarian food and the many tables that filled the hall and outside corridors spoke well of Tan Seri Lee's generosity. We left shortly after the Mahasanghikadana.

Early the next morning, we went to Jing Loong Shan Wan Fo Shih (Monastery) in Rawang. This monastery is a sprawling complex of multi-level buildings, with its main shrine hall on the topmost level. The shrine hall houses beautiful statues of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The walls inside are covered with marvelous three-dimensional frescos of the story of the Lord Buddha.

On arrival, Venerable Wei Wu paid his respects to the Abbot, Venerable Master Wen Tong. Venerable Wei Wu introduced the International Buddhist College (IBC) in Thailand to the gathering at the Mahasanghikadana held there for the participants of the 8 th General Conference. At the end of his talk, application forms for studies in IBC were handed out. The response was good so much so that the forms were taken up in no time at all.

On Friday, 9 December 2005, we headed for Malacca to attend the Opening Ceremony of the 2 nd General Conference of the World Buddhist Sangha Youth held at Seck Kia Eenh Malacca (Malacca Buddhist Association). Later in the afternoon, Venerable Wei Wu briefed the assembly on IBC. After that we left for Penang and reached Than Hsiang safely late at night.