Hundreds of people braved the pouring rain to enjoy the different varieties of food for sale at the Vege Food Fair held on the grounds of Than Hsiang Temple. The food fair was held as part of a fund-raising activity for the International Buddhist University Project (IBU). The people were spoilt for choices when selecting their purchases as stalls after stalls presented delicious lip-smacking 100% pure vegetarian food. Among the many choices were vege chicken rice, nyonya kuihs, eggless vegetarian cakes and biscuits, pasembor, nasi ulam, nasi kunyit, ais kacang, bubur kacang, ‘muah chee’, ‘lo han go’, mooncake, putu mayong and a whole lot more. Besides the normal Malaysian flavours, there were also some ‘international’ choices, with Japanese style noodles, Thai nasi mango, America coney dogs, Japanese sushi, and Italian pizza bread, just to name a few. All the foods were sold at reasonable prices, as many people were seen leaving with bagfuls of food!

Besides the normal food stalls, there were other items for sale, like clothes, bags, shoes, gifts, jewelry, pouches, toys, origami, incense, mala beads, flowers, hand-made rattan baskets, lubricants, dharma books and Chinese water paintings. A few services were also provided during the fair, which were hair cutting, blood cholesterol check and photo taking. A drawing contest was also held at the Great Compassion hall, where children ranging from 4 to 8 years old painted with full of flair and creativity under the watchful eyes of their parents. Throngs of volunteers were also on hand to help market the food products, most notable was the contribution from the Aixin Mamas, all wearing stylish black caps, selling their items with gusto.

The food fair officially began at 10:00am at the Multipurpose Hall on the 5th Floor of Wisma Than Hsiang. Donors who contributed more than RM200, were asked to proceed to the hall to be part of a ribbon cutting ceremony and also to savour the delicious buffet spread out for them. Ven. Wei Wu, the abbot of Than Hsiang Temple, first took to the stage to give a welcoming speech and to show his appreciation to all the contributors who helped raise funds for the IBU project.

The donors were then asked to be part of a ribbon cutting ceremony, where they were also presented with mementos. After the ribbon cutting ceremony, the Sunday School Aixin Jie Jie’s and Aixin Ge Ge’s performed a hand musical gesture, vowing the audience with their act. The four top donors were then requested to go on stage to sound the ‘gong’, to certify the opening of the food fair. Then, it was time for fun, as the Than Hsiang Kindergarten children gave a rousing dance performance, with matching yellow and green flowers adorning their hair. An introduction video of Than Hsiang was then shown to the audience, to provide them with a better understanding of the activities involved in Than Hsiang. By noon, the buffet table was laden with aroma filling vegetarian food, as the donors patiently lined up to select their meals.

During this time, the grounds of Than Hsiang Temple were filled to the brim with people buying and selling food. One had to ‘kick and push’ his way just to get through the crowds! The MC for the food fair was busy promoting the items for sale, and among the huge ‘items’ promoted was a 4-feet tall Teddy Bear, who was bought for RM150 and presented as a birthday gift by the buyer to her friend!
Representatives from each stall were also presented with a certificate of appreciation by Ven. Wei Wu, to mark their generous contribution for the food fair. More than 50 stalls had been set up for the event. The food fair was a huge success, and we would like to thank all the donors and contributors who helped to make it happened.