Sri Lanka: Day 5 (Piliyandala)

Back in January, my wife and I, along with several friends from the Nandaka Vihara Meditation Society, including the Chief Abbot, embarked on a journey to Sri Lanka. My initial intention was to document our experiences throughout this land, but various distractions caused me to pause my account at our stay in Nuwara Eliya. I shall now carry on from where I left off. I had concluded my last story with the following observation:

Finally close to midnight, we arrived at the Grand 7 Hotel & Restaurant, where much to our surprise, we found the hotel's kitchen still open. And the bigger surprise was that we were served a full dinner with all the works. The kitchen staff were still on duty to wait on us. We felt guilty that we were unable to finish all the food before us. Such a heavy meal at this time of the night. How could we hope to finish the food and then go to bed? Anyway, we were thankful for the big rooms and the comfortable beds to lay our heads. Tomorrow, in Piliyandala, another day of journeying would await us.

We dragged ourselves awake at about 6.30am with barely five hours of sleep because breakfast was at 7.30am. It did not surprise us to discover that we were the last to arrive for our morning food. The rest of the group, including the monks, were already tucking into their food. the only available space for me at the long table was next to a monk. I never felt so uncomfortable before, seated next to him. Can I stretch my arm across his plate to get some food, I wondered? Ah, never mind, lah, I needed to eat anyway. And very, very soon afterwards, everyone had stopped eating while we were the only ones left still munching on breakfast.

Nuwara Eliya was the only place in our itinerary where our group did not visit any Buddhist temple or monastery in Sri Lanka. Here in Piliyandala, our visits to these holy places resumed. First stop of the day was to the Polgasovita Vipassana Meditation Centre to invite their Chief Abbot, Meetalawe Vineeta Mahãthero, to Penang. Likewise at our second stop, Sri Kalyana Dharma Ashramaya, another invitation was extended to their Chief Abbot, Pahalavitiyala Janãnanda Mahãthero. 

In Buddhism, seniority among the monkhood is measured by the number of annual vassa, commonly known as the Rains Retreat or Buddhist Lent, that a Theravadin monk has completed. Vassa spans three lunar months between July and October, during which monks engage in intensive meditation and scripture study. Seniority determines their arrangement during activities such as at mealtimes, with the most senior monks at the front of the line and the recently ordained monks at the end. The Chief Abbot of a monastery is typically, but not necessarily, the monk with the most vassa. Other qualities, such as spiritual attainments and leadership skills, also play a role. However, once accepted as a Chief Abbot, seniority remains important. Ego has no place in a monk's life, so a Chief Abbot from one monastery with fewer vassa than a Chief Abbot from another monastery must still show respect to the latter. Witnessing this hierarchical respect, I was moved when Bhante Dhammasubho from our Nandaka Vihara prostrated himself before the two more senior Sri Lankan Chief Abbots, and only then was he invited to sit beside them in their respective monasteries.

A gift from Bhante Neluve Aranagavesi

Of the three Buddhist temples we visited, I felt that the most impressive was the Dhammadhura Monastery, in no small part due to the finger-licking lunch experience that we fêted there. Truly, one of the most memorable. The place was filled with Buddha statues and exquisite Buddhist artifacts. My breath was taken away when we entered an inner sanctuary, impressively decorated with Buddhist treasures, where homage was paid to their sacred Buddha relics. Outside, the quiet charm of several well-maintained areas provided a serene environment for contemplation, with various Buddha statues serving as the focal points.

But all too soon we had to leave in order to continue with our journey around Piliyandala. We were taken to the University of Sri Jayewardenepura next where we sat through a 45-minute presentation by Ishini Thamodya, a third-year Archaeology undergraduate of the Department of History and Archaeology. The most important lesson from her was the distinction between archaeology and history. Whereas history is written by people and often reflects their interpretations and biases, archaeology provides factual records derived from physical evidence, offering an objective glimpse into the past. Archaeology uncovers artifacts, structures and other physical remains, which allow us to reconstruct past cultures and societies without the distortion of personal opinions.

Another journey criss-crossing Piliyandala brought us to the home of one of Sri Lanka's renowned wood carvers, Dias Weerasinghe, in a suburb known as Thumbowila. The roads were narrow and lined with high walls on both sides. Yet, the driver skillfully navigated the bus through these tight passages and successfully led us to Weerasinghe's house. His living room and front porch were filled with finished and unfinished wooden images of Buddha in all sizes. We spent some time here as our visiting monks wanted to commission him to create a Buddha statue for the Nandaka Vihara. we were tempted to pick up a Buddha image to bring back to Penang, but having already received one from Bhante Neluve Aranagavesi at the Polgasovita Vipassana Meditation Centre earlier in the day, we decided against bringing home yet another religious item.

Leaving Thumbowila at about 4:30pm, the bus took us on our final journey of the day to the seaside town of Negombo. Our destination was the Club Hotel Dolphin, which we discovered to be a relatively posh seaside resort. As we drove northwards, we noticed a distinct change in the roadside scenery. The Buddha statues were gradually replaced by statues of Jesus and various Christian saints. Where once Buddha statues adorned the roadsides, there were now Christian religious figures. Initially, I had hoped to reach the hotel by 6:30pm to catch the sunset over the ocean, but the journey was long. By the time we arrived, the sky had transitioned from an orangey-red to a deeper red. I practically ran to the seaside, thinking I would be alone, but was surprised to see Bhante Dhammasubho and Richard already walking back towards the lobby. Undeterred, I stayed behind for several minutes and managed to capture some fabulous shots of the darkening sky.

Upon returning to the lobby, I found the registration process nearly complete. A refreshing non-alcoholic welcome drink awaited me, signalling the thoughtful hospitality of the hotel. Soon after, each of us was outfitted with a plastic identification wrist tag to ensure seamless access throughout our stay. Dinner followed, and we were escorted to the hotel's restaurant, where we were pleasantly surprised by the lavish buffet spread awaiting us. After dinner, we were guided to our rooms. Long walk, but the porters were on hand to  bring our luggage around. As for the room itself, it was spacious yet exuded a comforting homeliness. The highlight was undoubtedly the immense super king-size bed with promises of a restful night's sleep. The hotel's attention to detail was evident in the abundance of pillows, spoilt for choice but further enhancing the feeling that we were being truly pampered.

We could hear the waves breaking, but in the darkness, we couldn't determine how close we were to the shoreline. The French windows opened out to the swimming pool, but we couldn't see anyone using it in the darkness. Never mind, we thought, this was a place we could explore in the morning. Nevertheless, we ventured out to the lounge, where a band of Filipino musicians was just finishing their session and packing up. We sat around to take in the atmosphere and then decided to retire for the night. This was the first night we could actually lie down blissfully on the bed by 10:30pm. Unfortunately, it was also our final night in Sri Lanka.

Dhammadhura Monastery

With our tour guide, Ashoka

University of Sri Jayewardenepura

Wood carver

Club Hotel Dolphin

Homecoming

I speak for my OFA chess mates when I say that all of us had a wonderful time at yesterday's USM team chess competition. For the first time in many years, The Old Frees' Association managed to enter three teams for a single team event. Normally, we would struggle even to submit a team of five or six players. But for this year's tournament, everything seemed to fall into place. 

Gee, there's even an OFA T-shirt for everybody!

The process began last year when we managed to convince Liong Ing Kiat to join as an OFA member. Somehow, he found that the Bay Avenue annexe was a very convenient place. Then, he convinced Evan Capel to join and use the gymnasium facilities. With these two as the catalyst, suddenly there was a lot more interest from Ronnie Lim, Jonathan Chuah and Ooi Chern Ee. These few names constitute some of the strongest chess players that Penang and Penang Free School have ever had from the 1990s onwards. We had chess-playing players like Lim Cheng Teik, Low Han Boon, Chan Kean Sheung, Chan Wei Hsien and even Chuah Heng Meng readily agreeing to return to the chess board. Wei Hsien even made the trip from Singapore.

By the beginning of this month, we had already drawn up a list of our 12 players to fill three teams for the USM team event. When we heard that Jonathan had also joined the OFA, I insisted immediately that he must play if he was interested. I would gladly step aside for him to make it happen. And thus it came to pass that the OFA's first team was quite possibly the strongest that we have ever assembled with former national champions occupying three of the four spots. 

With a bit more luck, this team could have won the tournament except for a mishap in the sixth round when they lost narrowly to the eventual champion team. Nevertheless, the invaluable camaraderie forged between the OFA chess players can only be the start of many more collaborations and cooperation. After all, we are of one family, or maybe two families: the Gens una Sumus and Fortis atque Fidelis families.

I should also mention that we discovered another team of entirely Old Frees. I had referred to them as the unofficial OFA team. Two of their players are already members of The Old Frees' Association: Benjamin Chee is a Life member, and Vesyal is a Junior member. It is now our task to persuade the remaining two players to join.

OFA Autobots

OFA Barbarians

OFA Zugzwang

FTW - the unofficial OFA team

A 64-year-old puzzle

Did I say "a day well spent in Kuala Lumpur" yesterday? I most certainly did. Right after the conclusion of the Dr Wu Lien-Teh award ceremony at the University Malaya, my fellow travellers from Penang - Anwar Fazal and Hor Chee Peng - together with Ronald Quay who's from Kuala Lumpur, made our way to the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KLGCC) to meet up with someone I had gotten to know about nine days earlier and whom the others in my group didn't know anything about him at all!

Almost 12 years ago when I got into The Dr Wu Lien-Teh Society as a committee member, I saw two pictures on Wu Lien-Teh's funeral in January 1960. The first was of the hearse leaving his residence in Chor Sin Kheng Road. The vehicle was flanked on both sides by a group of Scouts from Penang Free School. Short of it being a State funeral, representatives of the PFS Scouts, Cadets, School Prefects, teachers and the Headmaster, the two Boards of Governors and Trustees had turned up in force to give the Grand Old Free a memorable final send-off. It was quite unprecedented and possibly, only Dr Lim Chong Eu's state funeral in 2010 could surpass the spectacle as the latter also had the PFS School Band turning up to lead the funeral procession.

The second picture from the funeral was supposed to show the grieving family members walking behind the hearse. This could well be the best angle for the photographer but alas, the mourners couldn't be seen clearly because just as the camera's shutter was pressed, one of the PFS Boy Scouts had moved into the frame in tandem with the hearse and almost entirely blocked off the grieving party. I can only imagine the photographer grinding his teeth and cursing his luck when he subsequently discovered that this was the best of his efforts! Despite this mishap, I suppose getting this picture of the partially blocked Wu family was still better than having no picture taken at all. But I'm surprised that no other picture of Wu Lien-Teh's funeral had surfaced publicly anywhere else. Surely the photographer had developed more than two pictures?

In the 12 years since knowing of the existence of these two pictures, I am even more surprised that everyone had simply accepted these pictures at their face value. Nobody I knew was curious enough to ask who was this PFS Scout in the picture! I must admit that it never crossed my mind either. Not until last month anyway. After I had met with a group of visitors from China, it struck me that, hey, who was this Boy Scout? On first May, I decided to pose this question in The Old Frees' Association's facebook page. I asked if anyone knew or recognised this young Scout from 64 years ago. This Scout looked like 16 years old in 1960. It was a long shot, of course, because the youngster could now be around 80 years old in 2024.

The results weren't immediate. It took six days before I received a positive reply from a lead. And in the natural course of my inquisitiveness, I was soon chatting through Whatsapp with John Wong Peng Chong. He hadn't seen this picture before but yes, he confirmed that the Boy Scout was him. And he was exactly 80 years old. He said Wu Lien-Teh was still a big name when he was at Penang Free School, and he considered it a big honour to have been one of the Scouts representing the School at the funeral. He recalled that from Chor Sin Kheng Road, the cortege turned right at the junction with Ayer Itam Road. Curious onlookers lined the route until the procession dispersed. But because this funeral was 64 years ago, John's memory of the rest of the occasion was hazy.  

As coincidence would have it, I had agreed back in February to join some of my fellow committee members from The Dr Wu Lien-Teh Society at an award ceremony in Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday. The timing was just perfect. I quickly informed the Secretary-General and the President of my efforts to track down the PFS Boy Scout, and he had been located in Kuala Lumpur. Would they like to meet him? Everyone said yes. Would John Wong be agreeable to meet us? He said yes too. So we decided to meet at the KLGCC where almost two hours passed by only too quickly for John, Anwar Fazal, myself, Ronald and Peng. As we headed home from Kuala Lumpur later, the one thought that went through my mind was that, yes, this was another piece of the Wu Lien-Teh jigsaw puzzle found. Finally, we had resolved the identity of the Penang Free School Boy Scout at the funeral of Dr Wu Lien-Teh on 25 January 1960. Definitely, a day well spent in Kuala Lumpur!