The crowd of devotees slowly built up on the night of 30 April 2007 at the car park beside Than Hsiang Temple to witness the “Merit and Wisdom Nite”, held in celebration of Wesak Eve and also to introduce the use of light emitting diode (LED) “candles” in place of the wax candles as a measure of keeping the temple's environs free of candle fumes and heat and for the personal safety of the devotees.

Before the event started the 1,300 seats were all taken up with many more left standing, and this was in spite of the bad weather forcast for the night. In fact the bad weather forecast for the week leading up to 30 April 2007 was depressing with rain showers predicted for every evening. This was borne true throughout the week and it even rained in the late afternoon of 30 April. Thankfully, the sky became clear for the rest of the day and night after that.

Sharp at 7.30pm, the ceremony started with the Than Hsiang Youth, smartly dressed in white shirt, black pants and light aquamarine green vest, carrying the LED candles to the stage front. This set the stage for the singing chant in praise of Sakyamuni Buddha. This was followed by two solo singers from the Than Hsiang Choir Group singing Buddhist songs. More Buddhist songs were rendered by the Than Hsiang Youth Group, a local singer, Jasmine, with a lovely lilting voice and another singer, Zhuang Xue Zhong, who came all the way from Kuala Lumpur.

The Abbot of Than Hsiang Temple, Venerable Wei Wu, then presented a mock cheque for RM500,000 to Phor Tay High School for its relocation to Sungai Dua in Bayan Lepas district. On hand to receive the cheque was Datuk Tan Beng Hwa, the Assistant Secretary of the Phor Tay High School Board. This simple ceremony was witnessed by YAB Chief Minister of Penang, Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, Datuk Wong Kam Hong, Deputy Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister, and representatives of Kwong Wah Yit Poh.

In his address, Venerable Wei Wu thanked YAB Chief Minister of Penang and other distinguished guests for their kind presence. He said the ceremony of lighting 2551 lights was to remind ourselves to practice both merit and wisdom. He shared the inspirations and blessings from Bodhgaya, when he was there in February for a conference hosted by the Indian government to celebrate the Buddhist era 2550. He mentioned that the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Shri G. K. Gandhi praised the Buddhist teachings of compassion (karuna) and loving kindness (maitri) and urged the politicians to care about the sufferings of the people.

Venerable Wei Wu stressed the importance of education in Buddhism so that the wisdom of the Buddha could be re-expressed in the 21 st Century. Venerable Wei Wu appealed to all Buddhist to support Buddhist education at all levels from kindergarten to tertiary studies. He said, “Often we ignore education because we can see the results of welfare work almost immediately but not education. It is actually even more important to support education than welfare work.”

Venerable Wei Wu mentioned that in Thailand, a Buddhist country, there are only three Buddhist colleges/ universities, whereas there are seven Christian colleges/universities. Buddhist education should therefore be placed foremost in importance for the disemination of Buddha's teachings. He appealed to all Buddhists and the general public to support the moving of Phor Tay High School to Sungai Dua and also appealed to the government ministers to expedite this move of Phor Tay High School to Sungai Dua so that the students in the Bayan Lepas area could shift into the new buildings for the new academic year.

Venerable Wei Wu in conclusion urged all present to continue to plant merit and wisdom on their path to Buddhahood.

YAB Chief Minister of Penang, Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, in his speech said that it does not matter whether the light is from a wax candle or an electronic candle, as long as there is a shining light. Besides, a wax candle would burn out after a short while, whereas the light from an LED candle would last much longer.

The ceremony proper for the evening then started with the Abbot performing the Blessing Service (Sa Jing) followed by chanting of the Heart Sutra. Meanwhile, the 2551 LED candles were solemnly distributed to those seated, with each person getting two candles to hold. Under the moonlight sky, the car park was a sea of flickering lights. When all the lights had been distributed, the chanting for the offering of light began. Great Dharmic joy arose upon the sight of the two groups of flickering lights alternatively raised and lowered in concurrence with the chanting. Somehow, the sight of the lights and sound of the chanting made the solumn event deeply moving.

After homage was paid to the Triple Gem, the lights were collected and sent to the front of the stage and arranged to form a giantic 2551 with two Buddhist swastikas at each end. Thus ended an evening of great religious significance to the Buddhist devotees in Than Hsiang Temple.

“MAY YOU CONTINUE TO PLANT MERIT AND WISDOM ON YOUR PATH TO BUDDHAHOOD”

Venerable Wei Wu, Abbot of Than Hsiang Temple