ASIA
PACIFIC
ECUMENICAL NEWS

12 May 2010

A Christian and a Buddhist join hands to build communities of peace and reconciliation in Sri Lanka

SINGAPORE (APEN) – An inter-faith program initiated by two religious leaders based here could improve the quality of life of a community in Sri Lanka.

Reverend Yap Kim Hao, renowned Asian church and ecumenical leader, who is also chairman of the Chen Su Lan Trust and venerable Dr K Gunaratna, the Sinhalese Buddhist monk, and a spiritual advisor to Maha Karuna Society (Society for great kindness), have launched a project which is likely to benefit the people in the northern Sri Lankan town of Vavuniya.

Reverend Yap Kim Hao decided to join hands with the venerable monk Dr Gunaratna after seeing his earlier work in relief, rehabilitation and peace building. He believes that the Buddhist monk is apolitical and is honestly interested in the work of reconciliation and peace in Sri Lanka.

“His credentials as far I know came from his $ 2 million Singapore Red Cross rehabilitation project after the tsunami in 2005. I visited the site where he built 90 houses and a community center for the fishermen and for the wider community in Hambantota in Sri Lanka,” Yap Kim Hao told APENews.

The monk has sent container load of supplies to the rehabilitation camps and hospitals in Vavunia.

I was so impressed with his work that I decided to support him, Yap Kim Hao said.

Dr Gunaratna has a history of doing humanitarian service in other countries, including Myanmar.

He also has the credibility with the government and the Buddhist leadership in Sri Lanka.

“I have been with him in my three visits to Sri Lanka in the last few months and can vouch for that,” Yap Kim Hao noted.

Their efforts to set up a centre for service and reconciliation in Vavuniya began immediately after the war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE), which came to an end in September last year.

The project was launched on 1 February this year in Vavuniya, where the majority of the population are Tamils.

The foundation stone laying ceremony for the Chen Su Lan Foundation Centre was held on half an acre of land donated by the Sri Lankan government.

Many influential people in Sri Lanka, including Mr Namal Rajapaksa, Member of Parliament, Mrs P M Charles, government agent and the Vavuniya district secretary, and Mr S N G Nathan of the Tamil National Alliance party, who is also the elected Mayor of Vavuniya and Chairman of the Urban Council, and others were instrumental in getting the land from the government.

The inter-faith leaders in Vavuniya are excited about having an innovative education and peace centre which they feel could be used to further the cause for peace and reconciliation.

Yap Kim Hao and Gunaratna feel that the centre should be managed by the leaders of the local inter-faith group. This will give them another opportunity to work together to render community services, initially, through education of English and computer skills.

The centre is being set up with the hope that there will be more interfaith relations and dialogue programs.

It is also proposed to be the base for educating the public about the different faiths and promoting activities leading to religious harmony, reconciliation and peace.

The breaking of the ground and the foundation stone laying ceremony was attended by Major General Kamal Gunaratne, commander of the 53rd division of the Sri Lankan army and currently in charge of the Internally Displaced Persons of the program and security of the area.

The two religious leaders from Singapore had met him in Vavuniya during their first visit to Sri Lanka immediately after the war. In Sinhalese culture, Buddhist monks are treated with great respect. Even generals and other high military personnel greet the monks in the customary manner of kneeling before them and bowing with clasped hands each time they meet and leave. This was something a church leader like Yap Kim Hao from Singapore cannot forget.

After a few days, they met General Kamal again at the larges Buddhist pagoda in Anuradhapura. There, under the historic Bodhi tree, which came from a sapling of the original tree where Gautama Buddha had his enlightenment, they prayed.

For Yap Kim Hao, “it was an inspiring moment.”

“An epiphany for me to be praying with my Buddhist friends under the tree of enlightenment,” Yap Kim Hao who is the first Asian bishop of the Methodist Church in Malaysia and Singapore remarked.

Mr S N G Nathan, Mr Senaratne, police chief in the area, Mr Upul Balasuriya and Ms Geetangalee, political leaders were among those who attended the formal launching of the centre in Vavuniya.

Religious representatives of the Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim faiths were also present to chant, offer prayers and bless the occasion.

The leaders of various religions have been engaged in dialogue in Vavuniya and “we intend to intensify the program and provide further interfaith education,” according to Yap Kim Hao.

He said that as a form of community service, we will first offer education in English and computer skills to students irrespective of their race or religion.

The center is expected to be an interfaith and intercultural center for peace and unity, and for teaching English language, information technology and other skills to the community.

“It will be a place of intersecting and interaction between the different religious groups in the community to be led by the leadership of the respective faith communities there,” Kim Hao said.

The education centre is a base and we need to explore how best we can make use of it to continue efforts for reconciliation and service to the community, the Christian leader added.

The needs are extensive and we have to use limited resources to address the crucial ones, according to Kim Hao

During an earlier visit to Sri Lanka, Kim Hao and Gunaratna supplied computers for the internally displaced persons in a rehabilitation camp in the town. Chairs and sanitary facilities were also made available to them which are now being put to good use at the rehabilitation camp.

During that visit, they also got an opportunity to visit a camp where the former LTTE combatants were undergoing re-education. There were 458 teenagers between the ages of 13-18 who were adjusting to the new situation. Kim Hao and Gunaratna felt encouraged that many of them were released to start a new life, when they visited the camp again after a few months.

As part of their garnering support from an international community, the Singapore-based leaders met some concerned people on the sidelines of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) general assembly held in Kuala Lumpur from 15-22 April.

Gunaratna went from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur for a few hours to have informal discussions with the Sri Lankans and others attending the assembly about the project, and sought their support and solidarity.

Kim Hao was already present at the general assembly as a former general secretary of the CCA.

He said: The civil war between the Sinhalese and the Tamils has ended. But the “survivors have to set their hearts on relief, rehabilitation and reconciliation for continued peace and harmony in the land.”

“War-wearied, the people are looking for whatever assistance they can be provided to start life from scratch and to restore their livelihood. They were made the wretched of the earth. The process of reconciliation is desperately needed to help one another to realize their hopes for a peaceful future.”