SIAN CHAY LOVE AND CARE CHARITY DINNER – Mr. Raymond Chua
SIAN CHAY LOVE AND CARE CHARITY DINNER
Message from the Organising Committee Co-Chairman
Mr. Raymond Chua
Treasurer, Sian Chay Medical Institution
What is love? Many people are asking. Sometimes even I myself asked the same question. It is a very good question, whilst a difficult one. The love between men and women can be described as love, so can the love between mother and child. It seems that all good things in the world could be explained using “love”. At the same time, this seems also an extremely difficult question to answer. The love between men and women, as well as that between mother and child seems too restrictive…………..Then what really is love? This is such a difficult issue!
Love, requires the giving of oneself! Such is the true essence of love. In 1901, a group of benevolent people started a project to provide free medical treatment and medication to the disadvantaged group, and in order to continue with this act of love, Sian Chay Medical Institution was established, and this is universal love at its best. For more than a century, Sian Chay upholds its original goal, ie to offer free TCM consultation and subsidized medication to the poor and needy, regardless of race and religion. This is universal love. Universal love is about reaching the state of the universe and sympathizing with humanity, and this precisely is “compassion”. Chairman of Sian Chay Dr. Toh Soon Huat often says: “Charity is about putting your heart & soul into everything you do. Compassion is mercy and sense of pity at its extreme.”
The true essence of mercy is well expressed in the “formless three wheels” concept advocated in Buddhism, which is neither a transaction nor a business deal. Charity is essentially an attitude, and is not based on the mood of an individual. It tells people to be perceptive so as to see more things and be kind enough to give generously. It is a sort of spirit, a vision, a kind of foresight. It has to reach the bottom of the heart, through a complex matrix of filtering, and enables one to understand that the true meaning of love is “to give unconditionally”. The means through which giving is executed is to allow people to know, that each portion of love needs to be transmitted personally by the individual.
As far as I am concerned, charity is not just about donating money. More importantly, we need to spread the spirit of love through “trust, action, attitude and conduct”, and call upon more people to join us. This is because love needs to convey warmth, deliver the spirit, and transmit the heart-to-heart sentiment. We hope that all of you can help to convey Sian Chay’s platform to more people, to enable them to know about Sian Chay and could guard over it, so that Sian Chay can improve over time.
Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the guests tonight because the infinite love emitted from your hearts has given Sian Chay a more bright night sky.