Vesak isn’t just another public holiday – it’s a day where Buddhists come together to commemorate the Buddha and his teachings, reflecting on the path to enlightenment and spreading love and compassion to all beings. In Singapore, Buddhist centres and temples are celebrating Vesak day as early as May 12th, many with the common theme of universal love and peace. We’ve rounded up some truly unique experiences that are sure to make this Vesak 2024 one to remember. So, whether you’re seeking inner peace or simply looking for a fun-filled day out by yourself, with your friends, and family, we’ve got something for everyone this Vesak.
Here are 6 Uniquely Memorable Vesak 2024 Experiences You Can’t-Miss:
Every year, hundreds of Buddhists of different ages would gather at Bright Hill Temple, a.k.a Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery, for the “three steps, one bow” ceremony.
It is a timeless tradition where gratitude and repentance intertwine with the power of determination and perseverance. Originating from the strenuous pilgrimages of ancient Buddhist monks, this ceremony has evolved into a meditative practice where devotees circumambulate the temple, bowing once every three steps while chanting mantras or the Buddha’s name. Each bow carries profound reverence not just for the Buddha but also for the boundless wisdom embodied by countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Starting in the evening and concluding at dawn the next day, the ceremony’s duration mirrors the arduous journey towards enlightenment, highlighting the paramount importance of resolve in surmounting challenges. With the breaking dawn marking the ceremony’s culmination, it symbolises the dispelling of ignorance along the path to enlightenment.
Register online or onsite to secure your spot, as tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, limited to two per person, while stocks last.
When: 21 May 2024, 5.30pm – 22 May 2024, 7am
Address: Kong Meng San Phor Kark See 88 Bright Hill Road, Singapore 574117 Starting point: Hall of Great Strength
P.S: Can’t get your slot at KMSPKS? You can do the devotional practice at Bukit Gombak Stadium too! KYCL Zen meditation centre too is organising the 3-step, 1-bow ceremony, graced by Minister of Culture, Ms Low Yen Ling on the 21 May (Tues), 6.30pm.
As we navigate through turbulent times, Vesak events such as the Mass Meditation Blessing for World Peace organised by KYCL Zen Meditation Centre stand as beacons of hope and unity.
Set against the backdrop of Bukit Gombak Stadium on Sunday, May 19 from 6:30 to 9:30 AM, participants will embark on a journey of inner exploration and communal harmony. New to meditation? Fret not. The session will be guided by esteemed Zen Master Dae Bong and Venerable Chi Boon, with a combination of walking and sitting meditation. Through the practice of collective meditation, attendees can tap into the profound potential within themselves to effect positive change, echoing the timeless wisdom of Vesak to illuminate the path towards a more peaceful and compassionate world.
Alms-giving is central to the Theravada tradition, where monks rely on lay devotees for daily sustenance and offer teachings in return. In Singapore, this tradition is uniquely upheld by Palelai Buddhist Temple monks, who continue the practice daily at various locations in the Eastern part of Singapore. Here, locals and visitors can partake in the sacred act of giving, fostering generosity, compassion, and spiritual connection. Especially during Vesak, this experience takes on added significance, providing a rare opportunity to engage with Buddhist teachings and the spirit of generosity firsthand.
First time offering alms? Selecting items that fit easily into monks’ alms bowls is ideal. Common offerings include cooked rice, packet drinks, fruits, snack packs, and similar items. As monks in this tradition observe the precept of not possessing money, it’s important to avoid offering cash directly to them. Instead, express your generosity through tangible items or consider making monetary donations at the temple’s office. The lay committee will allocate these funds to support the monks’ daily sustenance as needed.
When: 22 May 2024 (Wed), 8.30 – 9.00am
Venue: Palelai Buddhist Temple 49 Bedok Walk, Singapore 469145
This Vesak Day, Singapore Buddhist Mission and EtonHouse Nature Pre-School bring to you an inaugural Mindful Blossoms event , aiming to promote Mindfulness in children and families via an engaging fusion of play and learn.
The event will be held at EtonHouse Nature Pre-School, a campus nestled in lush nature with, who is passionate about promoting well-being in innovative outdoor spaces to promote learning in nature. Mindful Blossoms will be graced by Guest-of-Honour, Ms Tin Pei Ling, Member of Parliment, who is passionate about promoting well-being in families.
It is every parent’s wish that their children grow up healthy, wise, and blessed with merit. Fo Guang Shan in Singapore will host the Yulin Prayer Ceremony 【毓麟祈福】 on the weekend before Vesak Day, dedicated to blessing infants aged 5 years and below.
The ceremony, with “Yu” symbolising nurturing and education and “Lin” representing Qilin’er, aims to invoke blessings from Buddha and Bodhisattva for the well-being and protection of every newborn. Through this compassionate act, Fo Guang Shan extends its wishes for a bright and joyful future for all newborns under the loving guidance of enlightened beings.
Yamantaka Fire Puja is a revered ceremony of the ancient tradition within Tibetan Buddhism and is known for its transformative power. Held annually at the open space beside Aljunied MRT station, this event is a cornerstone of the Amitabha Buddhist Centre’s Vesak celebration.
The Fire Puja is revered as the king of all pujas due to its unparalleled potency in clearing obstacles on the path to enlightenment. Offering various substances through burning, each item holds specific significance, such as grains for strength, crepe grass for longevity, kusha grass for purification, and butter for wealth. These offerings symbolise different aspects of spiritual growth and success, making the Fire Puja a vital practice for devotees seeking blessings and guidance on their spiritual journey.
This year, devotees and students of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche have the opportunity to honor and pay respects to this remarkable teacher at the Memorial Altar. It’s a time to reflect on and commemorate the profound teachings and legacy he has left behind for generations to come.
There are more than 50 Vesak Day activities happening across the island. To explore more, check out the Handful of Leaves’ Buddhist Directory, a Buddhist directory that features events, activities, communities and temples in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
This list is just a starting point for celebrating Vesak Day. The most sincere offering we can make to honour the Buddha is the dedication of our practice.
Are you a vegetarian or vegan visiting Petaling Jaya or Kuala Lumpur? You’re in luck! These cities are home to a thriving vegetarian and vegan food scene, offering a diverse array of delicious plant-based options. If you’re searching for mouthwatering meat-free meals serving local Malaysian dishes, here are 5+1 must-visit vegetarian/vegan restaurants to add to your itinerary.
1. Savor of Life: Vegan Options – Kuala Lumpur
Credits: Savor Restaurant
Address: 38G, Jalan 28/70a, Desa Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Savor is a newly opened vegan restaurant in 2023 at Desa Sri Hartamas. Savor offers a fusion of local Malaysian, Italian, Thai and American cuisine. I was a frequent customer of Savor when they were doing food deliveries before launching their restaurant and I wanted to spotlight their vegan local Malaysian dishes.
They managed to create local dishes that I never thought were possible to be delicious when made vegan. My personal favourites are the Nasi Kerabu with “chicken” percik, Tofu masak 3 rasa and salted egg yuba.
Address: 12, Jalan B/1E, Pjs 8, 46050 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Nature’s recipe cafe has been around in PJ for many years, they are well known by locals and residents for their hearty vegetarian Malaysian dishes such as their vegetarian sambal petai. Their dishes are affordable and perfect for those craving for home-cooked dishes like nasi kunyit, laksa, vegetarian bak kut teh, vegetarian dim sum and more.
Address: Lot 609 E- Street, Lower Ground Floor, 1Utama Shopping Mall, Lebuh Bandar Utama, Bandar Utama, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Chin Swee Vegeciting is an award winning vegetarian restaurant that is located in one of the popular shopping malls in Petaling Jaya, 1 Utama. They are the first vegetarian restaurant in Malaysia to be awarded the World Top Gourmet Award in 2019. They pride themselves on their ‘atas’ Chinese/Japanese fusion ‘zi char’ plant based dishes. They have branches in Genting Highlands and Publika (Kuala Lumpur).
Address: 4, Jalan 28/70a, Desa Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan
If you’re looking for local vegan Malaysian dishes like vegetarian satay, nasi lemak, asam laksa, nasi goreng kampung and more, you should not miss out on The Vegan Place. If your company is not craving for local Malaysian cuisine but you are, they also serve pasta, burgers and Thai dishes.
Address: 19, Lorong Kurau, Bangsar, 59100, Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur
Although most banana leaf rice stores have vegetarian options, they are usually limited. If you’re looking for one that is completely vegetarian with a wider variety of vegetarian side dishes, you must not miss The Ganga Cafe.
This is a popular spot among vegetarians craving for healthier options of banana leaf rice, biryani and chapati. This restaurant is also located near a Nyonya restaurant called Baba Low’s, although they are not a vegetarian Nyonya restaurant, their cendol is plant-based and worth trying.
Average dish prices range from RM9 to RM28.
6. Young Sanna Mee: Not a vegetarian restaurant but has vegetarian options
Address: Various branches around Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, you can just google ‘Young Sanna Mee’ and find the one closest to you when you wish to visit.
This place is not a vegetarian or vegan restaurant, however they have a few scrumptious vegetarian dishes that I frequently return for. Whenever I come back to KL, I’ll always make a trip to Young Sanna Mee with my family for their Vege sanna mee with either their pumpkin or spinach noodles.
Their vege soup has a light yet flavourful soup that does not make you feel thirsty after drinking and the best part is the soup is refillable. The dish is hearty, warm and healthy. I haven’t come across this dish yet in Singapore hence it made its way to this list as a vegetarian-friendly ‘local dish’ to try in Malaysia.
Average dish prices range from RM18 to RM30
Whether you’re a vegetarian or vegan traveler, Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur have plenty of superb options for you. These five must-visit restaurants offer a variety of vegan and vegetarian dishes, ensuring you’ll find something delicious to satisfy your cravings while exploring these vibrant cities in Malaysia.
TLDR: Marry My Dead Body. With increased exposure and interactions, we can learn to reduce our fear and overcome our biases and prejudices towards people who are different from us. The power of love, compassion, and forgiveness is not to be underestimated; it can help us overcome our challenges and increase the happiness of ourselves and others.
Marry my dead body
Ming Han in a ghost wedding to ward off bad luck Cr: Netflix
Marry My Dead Body is a funny Taiwanese LGBTQ-themed movie that weaves in themes of love, compassion, and forgiveness. Some minor spoilers will be shared here, please proceed with caution.
In brief, the movie is about a straight homophobic and ghostphobic male cop, Ming Han, who was compelled to marry a male gay ghost, Mao Mao, in a traditional ghost wedding, to avoid a string of bad luck.
Through a series of hilarious interactions between the cop and the ghost, we see the relationship transform from intense animosity to tolerance, acceptance, and love. Below are three Dhammic lessons I glimpsed when watching the movie!
Cultivating Love for Difficult People:
What do you think when I mention Love? You are probably thinking of your past unrequited love aka crush, or if you are lucky, romantic love, yet the word love encompasses more than just romantic love. Psychologist Robert Sternberg proposes the Triangular Theory of Love, which consists of 3 components of love that includes 1) commitment, 2) passion, and 3) intimacy.
Love takes on diverse forms, like a tapestry woven with romantic love, companionate love, friendship love, and consummate love.
Romantic love ignites quickly with passion and intimacy but can fizzle without lasting commitment.
In enduring relationships, passion may dim, but companionate love emerges, where commitment and intimacy persist, transforming partners into best friends.
Friendship love is marked by heartfelt intimacy, yet it lacks the fiery passion and enduring commitment found in romantic relationships.
The pinnacle is consummate love in Sternberg’s theory – the trio of commitment, passion, and intimacy, a love that endures through time, keeping the flames of passion and intimacy alive.
Love conquers all may be a cliché that we often hear, but does it ring true in Buddhism? What does the Buddha have to say about love? The Buddha teaches and encourages us to cultivate love – specifically, in the form of Mettā or Lovingkindness.
Metta & the gay ghost
The cop & the ghost argue. Cr: Netlfix
In the practice of Mettā, besides finding it hard to extend lovingkindness for oneself, the other group of people we find challenging to practice with would be the “Difficult People” in our lives.
Similarly, in the movie, the homophobic cop has a hard time extending love, care, and concern to the gay ghost. The cop felt that he was tricked into the arranged marriage, plus, he embraces a more macho, no-nonsense approach to life, whereas the ghost appears to be more effeminate, and playful to his liking.
Nevertheless, after an extended period of interaction and understanding the challenges the ghost has to endure, he slowly opens up to the ghost. He is able to extend goodwill towards his adversary – the ghost.
I recall in one of Ajahn Brahm’s talks, he shared a technique on how to extend lovingkindness to a difficult person in our life. Ajahn Brahm encourages us to look at a person’s face and see if we can extend Lovingkindness to the person’s eyes, nose, ear, mouth, or other features of the face that are acceptable enough for us to extend our love towards.
Another cliché comes to mind, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!” The point here is to break the hard and challenging part of extending Mettā towards our “Enemies” into small bite-sized forms, and you may find the Mettā flows freely towards them!
Compassion for Others’ Suffering:
Suffering is inevitable in our daily lives, and when we are overwhelmed with our pain and losses, we may find it hard to extend compassion to others around us.
However, to alleviate our pain and suffering, sometimes, it helps to turn outward to others around us, and see how we can help those in need. In psychology, this technique would be called downward social comparison, whereby instead of comparing ourselves to others who are doing better than us, we would compare ourselves to those who are worse off than us.
By doing this, we can learn to 1) be grateful for the things going well for us; and 2) extend our compassion towards those in need.
When Ming Han, the cop, saw that Mao Mao was dealing with unrequited one-sided love with his boyfriend, Ming Han realized that despite having a different sexual orientation from Mao Mao, the desire to love and be loved is natural and universal.
This was observed when we saw that Mao Mao wanted to get married to his boyfriend, following the legalization of gay marriage in Taiwan. Mao Mao wanted to gain the legal recognition of marriage like other straight couples.
Finding common ground or values makes it easier to relate and connect to others in our lives. These tiny glimpses into the life of another allow one’s compassion to come forth easily.
For myself, when I am frustrated with my interactions with difficult people, I remind myself that they too desire happiness. Of course, our approach to achieving happiness may differ, but that does not mean that I have the right to stop them from pursuing their happiness.
Compassion helps to buffer against suffering in two ways, 1) by helping to neutralize and reduce the impact of negative thoughts that arise in our mind, and 2) by providing the inner-confidence to endure and overcome challenges that come up in our life, so both our heart and mind is steady and collected.
HH Dalai Lama further elaborates that compassion causes our brain to function better and brings inner strength, which serves as a source of happiness. For a person who has to deal with not only his own suffering but also the suffering of the Tibetan people, the Dalai Lama has a higher level of acceptance and compassion towards the suffering of others than I do.
Forgiveness is Always Possible:
I recalled in the Dec 2022 meditation retreat that I attended with Ajahn Brahm, I was having a challenging time practising. I tried my usual array of Mindfulness, Lovingkindness, and Compassion meditation, yet they all failed to calm my agitated mind towards the difficult person in my workplace.
Then, I remembered the Forgiveness practice that I learned with my Buddhist lay teacher – Jeff Oliver, and I downloaded his e-book – “Forgiveness of Everyone” to dive deep into the practice and I found that Forgiveness worked! I had immense gratitude to the retreat participant who asked a question about Forgiveness and to Ajahn Brahm for eloquently elaborating on the Forgiveness practice, which planted the seed for me to give Forgiveness practice another try during the retreat.
The power of forgiveness comes alive during the movie. It made me ponder, that sometimes, the key to letting go of a difficult situation or person in our life is by forgiving them.
In the movie, a poignant part is where the ghost’s father seeks forgiveness for his dismissive behaviour toward his son’s decision to marry his boyfriend.
The act of seeking forgiveness, despite not being able to interact with Mao Mao (the ghost) directly, helps to absolve the guilt of the father, and also for Mao Mao who was able to hear the love flowing from his father helped him to be absolved from his worldly attachment and be set free.
Mao Mao’s Father & the Cop interact as Mao Mao watches over Cr: Netflix
As viewers, through the backstory, we actually see that there was a big misunderstanding between the father and the ghost, resulting in anger and frustration in their already tense relationship.
Similarly in life, we may rightfully be upset with our friends and loved ones over their seemingly “wrong” behaviour, but we may be clouded with our own thoughts and fail to see the true reason why they may behave the way they did.
Hence, open communication and forgiveness may help smoothen our social relationships before they deteriorate. We do not want to wait until the inevitable (Death) happens, and we cannot mend our relationships.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if you are looking for a light-hearted movie to ease your mind off your daily grind yet want to gain some wisdom from watching movies, check out Marry My Dead Body.
Besides having a good laugh, you may discover additional nuggets of wisdom to better navigate your relationships in life and gain a better understanding and compassion towards LGBTQ+ individuals. Let us strive to help ourselves, and our fellow beings lead a happier and more compassionate life, in whatever small ways we can.
Wise Steps:
To increase our tolerance towards people of different values and experiences, try to read a short article or a book, or even talk to someone who has that lived-in experience, and see how your views and attitudes may change after a chat. Or you can try to practice sending Mettā first, before engaging with them.
Try to imagine yourself in a challenging situation in life who desires help and support from others. Similarly, others are also seeking relief from suffering. What small ways can we help those in need? Donating $1 or $2 to the tissue seller by the street is my small way of extending my compassion to those in need, how about you?
In dealing with difficult people in our lives, we may not be able, nor do we wish to seek direct communication with the other party. Still, we can use a tip from psychological research – write a letter to the other person, to express our views and forgive them. This may be the release you need for self-healing.
For those who self-identified as LGBTQ+ Buddhist or allies, you can check out Rainbodhi Singapore community, explore the website here or join the Telegram group for event updates here.
TLDR: Rachel explores Buddhist wisdom and mindfulness glimpsed from the movie Kammalink. The film takes you on a thought-provoking exploration of past lives, the path to enlightenment, and the pervasive issue of digital addiction.
Introduction
My first time watching Buddhist sci-fi was an amazing experience.
Let me tell you all about it.
So I won a pair of tickets to watch Karmalink as part of the Buddhist Film Festival held in Singapore biennially when my favourite Buddhist podcast I follow, Handful of Leaves, held a contest on Instagram.
Screen title, Credit: Karmalink
My friend and I had dinner at the food court in the basement before we headed upstairs to see the show.
I was very excited for it was my first time watching Buddhist sci-fi and before winning these tickets I never even knew this was a genre that existed.
The movie was set in Cambodia at a time when humans could be augmented with a nanobug in order to access an invisible digital realm. I thought it was admirable that the director, Jake Wachtel, who is an American, chose to put the focus on Cambodia front and centre, and am charmed by the fact that Khmer (with English subtitles) was the main language showcased in the entire film.
Movie Scene, Credit: Karmalink
I read a coupleofreviews that were top hits on the Internet, and perhaps they were not Buddhist practitioners, but they didn’t quite deal thoroughly with the themes of rebirth, the path to enlightenment and the evils of digital addiction that intrigued me throughout the movie.
So I thought I’d pen my swirling thoughts about it, a couple hours after the conclusion of the movie.
First up, rebirth.
On rebirth
So I thought it was interesting that it was a given among Cambodians that past lives were a thing.
It surprised me because even after half a decade of studying Buddhism, I still can’t quite wrap my mind around how rebirth works, even though I’ve sort of accepted that it does.
Growing up as a freethinker and later evangelical Christian, the concept of having past lives has never crossed my mind.
But it is slowly and surely seeping in, even though I still wonder how it works.
Next, the juicy bit on enlightenment, or how one gets there.
On the path to enlightenment
I thought it was fascinating that the nano bug was placed right in the centre of one’s forehead, where the “third eye” is supposed to be.
Third-eye Scene, Credit: Karmalink
It almost seems as if the movie was trying to signal that psychedelics were a shortcut to some of the effects enlightenment could produce but not the actual experience itself (more on that in the next section).
In the last third of the movie, there was a scene of the main character, 13-year-old Leng Heng, seated with eyes closed, cross-legged in a meditative posture beside neuroscientist Dr. Vattanak Sovann, in front of a bunch of Buddhist statues framed in pulsating neon lights.
Movie Scene, Credit: Karmalink
I thought it interesting that they were attempting to reach a state of “enlightenment” backwards, through the use of remembering one’s past lives through the use of the Connectome, a machine created to extract Dr. Vattanak’s past lives through a “pure mind” aka the boy Leng Heng.
Eventually, Leng Heng asks the machine to get rid of his falsely imprinted memories of Dr. Vattanak’s past lives in his brain (if you are confused now, please go watch the movie), and as the computer did, Dr. Vattanak attempted to stop it, causing the entire device to short-circuit, stopping both man and boy’s heart.
I thought it was interesting that the machine was sentient and attempted to continue to extract the memories out of the boy, who miraculously survived, and quoted how a tree must be pulled up by its roots (perhaps referencing the Alagaddupama Sutta?)
Past lives Scene, Credit: Karmalink
In any case, that was a long-winded way of me saying that I realised enlightenment cannot be obtained through machines, or through “false” means or “indirect” means.
One needs to apply right effort in moral conduct (sila), meditation/concentration (Samadhi), wisdom (Panna) as laid down by the Buddha in the eightfold path
Which brings me to my last and final point.
Digital addiction.
On digital addiction
I thought it was fascinating how in the entire movie, people augmented with nano bugs (the rich and the homeless), “saw” an invisible realm where they were constantly absorbed and swiping left and right, ignoring the reality that was happening right in front of them.
If that sounds familiar, yes, replace the nano bugs with mobile phones, and the scene is repeated daily in Singapore, on buses, trains, at homes, in hawker centres, restaurants, and more (and I am often guilty as charged).
It is most interesting how as doctors tried to harness tech for good, it ended up in the hands of those who used it to escape reality.
I thought it was admirable how the female researcher wanted to download and recover the memories of the protagonist’s grandmother whose brain was being ravaged by dementia(?) and remarked to my friend how that stood in stark contrast to the nano bug junkies in abandoned warehouses and cafes, hooked onto this drug of choice.
The parallel with drug use is clear, and I wonder if most of us, Buddhists included, are blind to the fact that our mobile phones and screen time are taking us away from the real world.
Having talked to friends in recovery, I understand that often, one is drawn to substances in an attempt to escape from one’s painful reality.
Perhaps the reason why most of us Singaporeans who are working adults have an undeclared internet addiction problem could be because we live in a society where individuals are often unable to pursue the dreams that lay buried, deep within their hearts…
Perhaps the reason why parents find it close to impossible to tear their offspring away from their devices is that children, from infants to teenagers, are not given agency over how to direct the form and type of education they desire even as they try their darndest to conform to the strictures of societal standards imposed by their parents, and it is in video games and texting that they can exert an ounce of control over their lives…
Perhaps the reason why the elderly lose themselves in dramas and Candy Crush is due to old gathering places being torn down, and the rapid digitalisation of the country is happening way too fast for them to comprehend, so in an attempt to catch up digitally, they use the phones offered to them by their adult children.
This makes them enter the lowest common denominator of watching videos and playing digital games for everything else is way too advanced for them…
All we can do as individuals is to silence our phones at mealtimes and to put our complete attention on our food, be grateful for it, and try to eat with awareness and contentment…
Take a day off to do a digital detox once a week, ideally on one’s off-day, where one can head to the beach, or the nearby park, get grounded, have a picnic, read a book, crochet, hang out with friends and instead of taking selfies, engage in deep and meaningful conversations with them…
Take time out each day to spend time meditating, even if it’s just 5 minutes on the bus, being aware of the texture of the seat underneath you, the sounds you hear with your eyes closed, or better yet, mindfully walking, noticing each footstep and the objects around you…
I think we could all slowly but surely, learn to lead a richer, more mindful and meaningful life.
Conclusion
I ramble too much sometimes.
This movie has definitely made me think and I’ll be discussing the above-mentioned concepts that jumped out to me with my friends in the coming days.
I’d give this movie a solid 5/5 for execution, cinematography, the incorporation of Buddhist concepts, putting Cambodia, its culture and its people front and centre, and the most intriguing storyline.
Good job Jake Wachtel, I look forward to watching the next Buddhist sci-fi film you create.
Wise Steps:
Schedule daily tech breaks for mindful activities
Connect with nature and friends during tech-free moments.
In 2023, 700k people pledged to try going vegan for a month. Will you join them in 2024? We are sharing a list of top vegan/vegetarian-friendly places to check out and support this effort to go meat-free in Singapore.
Long gone are the days when going ‘vegetarian/vegan’ meant eating miserably yellowish salad leaves for lunch. There are plenty of vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Singapore, whether you are seeking something meat-free for health, animal compassion/welfare, religious reasons, or the environment. We have left out the kopitiams and hawkers as these change quite a bit!
Here is the list of 12 plant-based places to eat across Singapore.
1. Warung Ijo: Indonesian
Image from: HappyCow
I personally never thought I could eat Indonesian food ever since I became a vegetarian. Warung Ijo is a Godsent (Buddhasent?). Their highlights include Kalasan Chicken Rice, Nasi Lemak Rendang, and Tempe Goreng. The vegetarian food here is also alliums-free and vegan-friendly.
Nyonya food typically has shrimp hidden in certain dishes making it tough for vegans/veges to find suitable dishes. Coco’s food provides an opportunity to enjoy the Peranakan side of life. Do try their Sambal Sauce with Petai Fried Rice, and Vegetarian Curry Monkey Head Mushrooms with Turmeric Rice.
Korean food is well known for its seafood and beef, Daehwa shows that you can get tasty food without the meat! Indulge in their Kimchi soup, bulgogi mushroom stew, Army stew, and vegetable pancakes! Enjoy your meat-free K-Drama-esque getaway there!
Leaf Corner is tuck away at Tai Seng/ Sembawang/ Jurong West with awesome Chinese food. Do try their Monkey Head Mushroom, Yam Ring, KL Hokkien Mee (I always go for that despite looking at the menu for 10 minutes to try new things).
I can’t really pin down what Grove Cafe offers in terms of cuisine. It is nicely nested in the heartlands such as Paya Lebar / Canberra / Northshore / Buangkok and offers food ranging from Lu Rou Fan to Nasi Lemak (highly recommended) to your traditional breakfast toast & Chee Cheong Fan.
SMU | Li Ka Shing Library, 01-21, Singapore, 178901
133 Canberra View #01-19
6. Zen Cafe: Cafe in a Temple
Image From: HappyCow
You can’t get any more closer to Zen, by dining at a temple. Located at level 1 of Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery. This cafe serves coffee, tea, smoothie, cakes, and moments of peace. The temple has many spaces to chill and meditate at for greater peace.
Tzu Chi always strikes me as a Dhamma Centric Humanitarian Organisation that is always intentional about their activities. Check out their book cafes at Sims Avenue or Yishun! It is really a tea place to chill and contemplate about life. Don’t expect a huge variety of bites there!
Vietnamese Pho is typically cooked in meat broth so this is a great treat to go meat-free! Check out their Kind Pho or Eat the Rainbow dishes to enjoy some warm soupy food on cold rainy days!
myVillage @ Serangoon Gardens 1 Maju Avenue #B1-03
9. D’life: Tze Char Vegetarian
Image From: Food Advisor Singapore
From Orchard to Beauty World, D’life has grown to 4 outlets in Singapore. They offer a huge variety of food from Asian to Western (though I’d recommend their Asian food more!). Do try their KL Noodle, Bak Ku Teh, and Creamy Abalone Mushroom.
MTR offers awesome South Indian food with very nice spices (you can of course choose non spicy too!). Try their Rava Idly or Masala Dosa. Queues can get long during lunch hours so do be prepared to develop patience there. It is worth the wait!
We found that Ling Zhi vegetarian may be quite expensive on the wallet and found this to be a good cheaper alternative! For mala lovers, do give their mala ‘fish’ a try. It is numbing but tasty.
Lotus | 103 Irrawaddy Rd, #02-07 Royal Square@Novena, Singapore 329566
12. Lian Xin 莲芯膳坊: Hidden Nomz in a temple
Affordable ‘wanton mee’ with Kopi. Image: Google
Located RIGHT next to Maxwell Mrt & at the basement of Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, this hidden gem provides awesome breakfast and lunch at an affordable price. It is ‘cai fan’ (pick your veges) style and there is plenty of seating after lunch hours. There is a nice Guan Yin statue there to pay respect too before and after your meal.
With a couple of uncle and aunties chilling there after lunch, the place is serene and great for work-from-cafe vibes. However, they close earlier than cafes! Do check!
Lian Xin | 288 South Bridge Rd, B1 Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, Singapore 058840
Any places we have missed that are yummy and affordable? Do drop it on our Telegram’s comment section!
TLDR: Ying Cong reviews the Guan Yin musical and explores the relevance of Guan Yin in today’s fast-paced and often tumultuous society.
“Guan Yin” is a name I hadn’t thought about in a long time. That’s why, as I cleared my head of work to prepare for the Guan Yin musical on Friday evening, my imagination stuttered.
Shifting my focus from the day-to-day challenges of business growth to the age-old tales of Guan Yin was like stepping from a bustling city into a tranquil ancient temple.
For the next three hours, Victoria Theatre would be my modern-day temple, a sacred space where these ancient tales would be retold.
A modern encounter
Like many millennials, my impression of Guan Yin is a distorted one, pieced together from fragments encountered in various temples and snatches of her story in movies and TV shows.
Guan Yin was a celestial figure featured in key moments of Journey to the West, a TV series I eagerly watched with my family over dinner in the early 2000s.
Other than that, my most light-hearted memory of Guan Yin was a scene in the 2002 movie, I Not Stupid, where the overzealous mother of an underperforming EM3 student prayed for her child’s academic success at the temple.
A scene from ‘I Not Stupid’ 2002
After eagerly stuffing some cash into the donation box, the temple staff informed her that as part of their digital transformation, the blessing papers for her son were now downloadable on guanyinma.com.
In various heartland Channel 8 dramas in Singapore, Guan Yin is the ultimate social safety net whom protagonists turn to for everything from financial to romantic help in their darkest moments.
My fiancée and I entered early and watched the audience stream in. It was, understandably, an older demographic – grandparents with their grandkids, groups of friends from various Buddhist groups, monastics associated with the musical producer at Dizanglin.
Out of insecurity of my patchy understanding of Guan Yin, I served myself a Wikipedia crash course on her origins. Like most figures with sustained history, the origin story is complicated and winding.
It turns out Guan Yin is the Chinese interpretation of the symbolic figure of Avalokiteshvara, who is an instantiation of the Bodhisattva. In Mahayana Buddhism, the Bodhisattva, out of compassion for all beings, chooses to remain in the cycle of samsara to alleviate their suffering.
From Royalty to Dhamma
Soon, the lights dimmed and the curtains drew. The live Chinese orchestra in the pits started playing, and we were greeted with an opening chant by a troupe of white-robed singers, tuned to a calming, angelic melody.
This ethereal singing is, happily, a fixture for the remainder of the show. The musical is split into 4 stories marking pivotal moments in Guan Yin’s life.
The first story describes her origin. Guan Yin was born as Princess Miao Shan. Somewhat reminiscent of Siddhartha’s growing up years, she came of age with scant attraction to the earthly allures of luxurious clothes and royal food, instead inclining heavily towards Dharma.
In a similar narrative twist, she rejected her father’s wish for her to marry royally, vowing instead to ordain. Her father was understandably enraged and punished her with menial chores, which she patiently endured. Finally, he relented, and she set off on her arduous path.
Through various sages, she learned of a vase up on a mountain that holds the key to her future. It turns out this was no Bukit Timah Hill, especially in the days before proper climbing gear. The treacherous uphill journey was infested with menacing beasts.
This was artfully depicted with evocative sand art projected onto the backdrop. With a brief wave of the artist’s hands and some dexterous tracing, the sand quickly outlined the dripping viciousness of a lion, a tiger and a viper.
Another sweep later, we saw the valiant elephant who rode in to defend her. When she finally found the sage with the vase, she pleadingly asked when she would be enlightened. The answer returned resoundingly – there are too many beings suffering for her to escape from this world.
Guan Yin’s Market Teaching
The second act is a much more light-hearted tale set in a bustling village market. She came this time with a basket containing live fish, intending to inculcate the lessons of compassion.
The villagers, tempted by the fish, wanted to buy it for food. Taking this as the spark for her teaching, she implored them to consider the pains of the fish when it dies for their plates.
Although somewhat chastened, the village men remained undeterred and expressed a desire to marry her. Smilingly but unfazed, she said she can only pick one – the one who can memorise all the chants she issued to them.
After a few rounds of increasingly longer brain-breaking chants, where initially overconfident contenders dropped like flies, an earnest and affable fisherman emerged as her groom.
Yet, while the villagers basked in the celebrations of the wedding, they found her dead, and decomposing faster than usual. Among this confusing turn of events, a monk appeared, and enlightened the groom that she was Guan Yin incarnated, and has come to share the teachings of compassion with them through the chants.
His duty from then on was to spread the teachings contained in the chants he had memorised.
War, death, and compassion
The third story opened with a chilling backdrop. In this story, the common folks were wilfully slaughtered in a war between nations, and the spirits of the innocent dead lingered in hatred, pain and self-pity.
Cast in a dim red light, the dancers writhed and howled in visceral agony. I could feel my fiancée tensing up in her seat. Also sensing the suffering thick in the air, Guan Yin manifested as a monastic, sat by the river near the dead, and chanted non-stop for 49 days to transcend the trapped spirits to a good rebirth.
The relief was palpable throughout the theatre as the howling ghosts calmed down, prostrated with profuse gratitude and spirited away peacefully, light as air.
Guan Yin Transcends Time
The last story connected Guan Yin’s story to the present. It tells of a Japanese monk who visited the Guan Yin statue in Wu Tai Shan. In a moment of desperate folly, he nabbed the statue, intending to invite Guan Yin home to palliate his mother’s ailments.
He then set off on a small boat into the ocean towards Japan. The seas were calm at first. The dancers who depicted the waves pulsed steadily with billowing white cloths.
Yet, with a thunderous strike, the waves leapt into wild rage, trapping him to the shores of an island.
Taking it as a sign from Guan Yin, he disembarked, and settled down. This island eventually became the site of the main Guan Yin temple at Pu Tuo Shan, which exists till today.
Pu Tuo Shan, Cntravel 2013
Guan Yin in TikTok land
As the curtains drew to a close, the essence of the stories lingered in my mind, weaving a tapestry where compassion stood as the timeless, yet often overlooked, thread.
It made me question the hierarchy of values I had unconsciously prioritised – where achievement and status are the celebrated protagonists, while kindness and compassion often find themselves relegated to the background.
Looking at our daily headlines and the trends on platforms like TikTok, it is striking how rarely compassion, as opposed to controversy or sensationalism, takes the spotlight.
The irony is poignant: we are often taught to be kind, yet society rewards us for worldly accomplishments. It is only in moments of burnout, when a sense of meaninglessness begins to shadow the relentless chase in our careers, that the whisper reaches a crescendo as a clarion call – compassion is not just necessary for a healthy society, but also a healthy mind.
Despite her selfless giving to the multitudes of suffering beings, Guan Yin herself has not once lost her inner sanctuary of peace.
Reflecting on this, the name “Guan Yin,” which had long been absent from my thoughts, now takes on a new significance. As I stepped out of the modern-day temple of Victoria Theatre, I realised that the age-old tales of Guan Yin are more relevant today than ever.
Wise Steps
Practice Daily Compassion: Incorporate small acts of kindness in your daily life, fostering a compassionate mindset inspired by Guan Yin’s teachings.
Reflect on Values: Evaluate personal priorities, questioning societal norms, and consider integrating compassion as a fundamental value in decision-making.
Share Compassion: Spread awareness by sharing the article or discussing it with friends and family, encouraging conversations about the importance of compassion in today’s world.
