Dam Village Festival

Dam village is located in Tay Tuu commune, Tu Liem district near Hanoi. The ancient Dam Village festival is celebrated once every 5 years from the 9th-11th day of the 3rd lunar month ( started yesterday ). Villagers in Dam village has been worshipping the Tam Giang idol for thousand of years and this festival is dedicated to honour and to pray to the idol. During the festival, a procession of the idol to the shrine is held and sacrifices made at the communal house. Other activities which are often held include boat race, releasing of pigeons and cock fighting.

( Dragon dance being performed to welcome the procession of Idol Tam Giang )
















( Villagers lining up to witness the Idol procesion )


( The procession with the Idol heading to the shrine )























( Releasing of pigeons ceremony held outside the shrine )
















( Procession has reached the shrine )

















( Boat races are one of the activities held during the festival )
















The night before the festival. Road leading to the shrine is lit up with lanterns )

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Former Buddhist

Name : Chew Chor Meng
Nationality : Singapore
Date Of Birth : 20th November 1968
Profession : Actor

He entered the entertainment industry via a talent contest back in 1990 and has become of the leading actors in Singapore. He is currently suffering from a incurable but not life threatening muscular disorder and has some mobility problems. He became a Christian in 2008 and says that his religion has given his courage to deal with his disorder.
























Name : Kitty Lai Mei Han
Nationality : Hong Kong
Date Of Birth : 16th October 1966
Profession : Housewife ( Retired Actress )

She was one of the leading actresses in Hong Kong's TVB back in the mid-80s right up to the 90s but has since retired from acting altogether. She was introduced to Christianity by her good friends, fellow actress, Teresa Mo Soon Wan and former beauty queen Shallin Tse Ning and is now a devout Christian.

Kitty Lai ( in red ) with her Christian friends

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Old Bodhisattva

Jian Tian-jin of Yilan County's Jiaoxi Township in Taiwan has 10-centimeter-long ears, with the lobes making up five centimeters of that size, and they can be pulled out to as long as 16 centimeters.

In fact, Jian's earlobes can be even pulled down to meet underneath his chin, astonishing onlookers who cannot resist touching them for luck.

Jian, now 71, said his earlobes were originally no different from anyone else's, but when he turned 60, they began to grow. Over the past 10 years they have clearly increased in size until they are now significantly larger than those of a normal person.

Jian said since his earlobes are so long, they actually move with the wind, creating an arresting sight. Because people have spread the word about Jian's lucky lobes, he is often approached on the street by complete strangers who want to pull his earlobes down underneath his chin in the hopes that it will bring them blessings or fortune such as giving birth to a baby or living a long life. Jian does not believe any of it, but he is willing enough to let people do it if they want.

A man once told him that he would do very well entering the government or business, or converting countless people as a Buddhist teacher, Jian said. However, he preferred to stay in the countryside to live a simple life. He eventually went to work for a local feed company until he retired.

Jian's neighbors said he is noted for his filial piety and public spirit, and he has received praise and won various awards for these attributes over the years. The plaques and certificates fill the walls of his living room. Although he has never truly been a high-ranking monk, Jian still likes to talk about Buddhism with others, and he has on occasion convinced them to take up the religion or do more good works.

Between this and his prodigious earlobes, Jian has earned the nickname "Old Bodhisattva."

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Buddhist Story : The Flies & The Wine Maker

Once upon a time in the busy capital city lived a ordinary person whose name was Mr. Wang. He made wine and he made a living out of it. Although Wang was an ordinary person, he was very compassionate. For instance, when he made wine there were many flies who were greedy of the fragrance of the wine. Thus they often fell down into the wine cask and nearly got drowned. Then Wang Wu would carefully drained the flies and dried them up with ash. When the flies woke up and were able to fly, he released all of them as a work of merit.

One thing that was worth praising was that this virtues did not end in five minutes. Instead it continued day after day, month after month and year after year. He persisted in his virtues without stopping.

One year misfortune came as someone lodged a false accusation against him. Wang was very worried as he saw the day of execution was nearing. "Honestly I am innocent, but what can I do?"

However, a miracle happened. When the executioner was just about to write the execution statement, suddenly there came millions of flies who risked their lives to seize the head of the brush pen. Therefore the executioner could not write anything. It would not have been extraordinary when it happened once. Whenever the executioner started to write, the same thing happened again and again. The officer then could not refrain from asking himself,

"What is happening? I have been an executioner for years and I have never encountered anything like this. Perhaps someone has laid an unjust charge against him? I’‘d better ask my superior to investigate the case."

Because of the flies’‘ rescue, Wang finally regained his life from ‘‘the gate of the hell’‘.

After careful investigation of Wang’‘s case by the superior,Wang was proven innocent and eventually he was released. From then on Wang went back to his normal life and lead a happy life.

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Thai Protest & Celebrities

After 6 weeks, the protest in Thailand is still going strong with no any sign of ending soon. However this post is not about the protest but rather Thai celebrities who got into trouble because of the protest.


The first case involved a popular Thai actress, Cherry Khemupsorn. About a week ago ( presumbaly before the bloody protest on April 10 ) , in an interview, a reporter asked her view on the ongoing protest in Thailand. She said that she supported the Reds because they were protesting peacefully without causing much chaos except for some traffic problems. She said she dealed with this problem by adjusting her life a bit to avoid going to the protest areas. For this comment, she was heavily criticized and bashed on Thai forums.


Last Friday, a multi coloured group of protesters gathered at the main army base to show their displeasure over the Reds protest. Among those who was present there was a popular Thai comedian, Thep Phongarm. Thep's presence at the rally did not go down well with the Reds. He was criticized by the Reds and one of the leaders even asked the Reds supporters to boycott the comedian.


Two innocent girls Faye and Faang from the popular girl group FFK were very fortunate to escape unscatched from what happened to their house last week. A grenade was thrown at the girls' house when they were asleep but luckily for them, the grenade failed to explode, just leaving a hole on the roof . If the bomb had exploded the girls would most probably have got injured or even died. The bomb was actually not targeted at the girls. Apparently the bomber ( presumbly from the Reds ) wanted to aim the grenade at the house of a senior officer of the military run television station TV5 who lived just next door to the girls' house.

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Students Seek Guidance From Monks

Yesterday more than 500 primary and secondary students attended a prayer and counsellling session in a temple in Hanoi, Vietnam. This program was designed to help the students prepare themselves mentally in their studies. The students were told that to excel in their studies, besides the hard work, they have to feel relax, confident and have an healthy state of mind. The program ended successfully after the students were blessed by the monks.

Registration time
















The students eagerly waiting for the program to start
















A procession leading the monks and students into the main shrine

























Monks giving Dhamma talk to the students























Question and Answer time















Teachers in meditating session















A teacher singing to her students





















Buddhist hymns singing time















The prayer session in progress

















Parents and relatives also prayed outside the main shrine
















Monks leading the students in Buddhist mantra chanting session



















Queing up to receive blessings and a gift from the monks




















It's lunch time
















The students enjoying their vegetarian lunch in the temple compound

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