Than Hsiang Kindy organised a half day education plus fun trip on 21st of July 2007. Fifty-four children accompanied by six teachers and six volunteers visited two of the oldest Buddhist temples (designated as tourist spots) in Penang.

We arrived at the Wat Chaiyamangalaram or popularly known as the Thai Reclining Buddha Temple at 8.40am. The reclining Buddha symbolizes the Mahaparinirvana of the Buddha. The reclining statue measures 33 meters long and is the longest in Penang. Upon entering the compound of the temple, the children were attracted by the sculptures of the four dragons fronting the entrance to the main temple. Two of the dragons were fashioned in Chinese tradition, while the other two were of Thai origin. The children happily gathered in front of the dragons to have their photographs taken with their teachers. The camera man in attendance, Ah Jin was also seen following the children around and busily video-taping the event.

Once inside the main hall, the children bowed and knelt to pay reverence to the Buddha. Again, the teachers took numerous pictures with the children posing against the colourful backdrop of the beautifully decorated Buddha. The teachers also showed the children the various Buddha statues of different postures around the giant reclining Buddha.

The next destination of the visit was the Burmese Dhammikarama Temple situated just across the road from the Thai Reclining Buddha Temple. This temple is the oldest and biggest temple in Malaysia belonging to the Burmese tradition. A long corridor, decorated on both sides with beautifully painted drawings depicting the life story of the Buddha, leads to the main shrine hall. After paying reverence to the Buddha, sessions of photo taking continued. The Burmese temple is very well landscaped with greenery and fish ponds. The picturesque garden was well decorated with various statues and fresco of the Buddha's past.

The Sima hall, the new extension housed one of the tallest standing marble Buddha in Penang. Behind the main statue were rows of smaller statues representing Buddha of various countries such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, Burma, China, Korea, Japan, Afghanistan and India. Some of the children were blessed by the resident monks with the sprinkling of holy water and sutta chanting. The children were guided by their teachers in identifying the various countries of origin through the fashion of the robes and the different forms of hand gesture.

The rotating alms bowls located in the center of a small pond were the attraction of the visitors to the temple. The children had fun throwing coins into the bowls which had labels such as happiness, harmony, health and success in exam. If one should succeed in landing a coin in the bowl, what one wished for as labeled on the bowl might materialize. One might view this as being superstitions; nevertheless, the novelty of throwing a coin in the bowl did generate a lot of fun.

Before returning home, the group proceeded to Fort Cornwallis and a meal was served under the shady trees in the esplanade play ground. On the whole, the children will benefit from the temple visit through gaining some basic impression of the rich heritage of Buddhist art and architecture and the rudimentary knowledge of the various traditions of Buddhism.