contributed by Ji Yun, translated from Chinese by Nan Ouyang,10 June 2020

The Buddhist College of Singapore (BCS) has long been one of the most important Buddhist education institutions in Singapore. Since its establishment in 2005 and beginning operation in 2006, BCS has been in operation for more than a decade. The unprecedented pandemic brings double impact to the institution.

Because of its nature as a Buddhist college, BCS has been directly affected by the pandemic as other religious institutions have. In the initial stages in Singapore, the three major kinds of places affected by the pandemic are traditional Chinese medicine stores, hotels and convention centres, and religious gathering institutions. The contracted cases in these places account for 25% of overall cases, like scenarios in other countries around the world. Hence, since the end of March 2020, the Singapore government has halted all the gathering activities in public spheres, including those in religious institutions. This policy has had a huge impact on religious communities in Singapore.  

BCS financially depends on Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery (KMSPKS) in Singapore. Hence, any impact on the monastery will indirectly influence the operation of the BCS. For KMSPKS, the most important events throughout the year include the following days: the New Year of the Gregorian Calendar (January), the Lunar Chinese New Year (January or February), the Clear-and-Bright Festival (April), Vesak (May), Ullambana (July or August), Water and Land Puja (November or December). The celebratory activities on these festivals not only bring enormous economic benefits to the monastery, but also serve as important channels to maintain relationships between the monastery and its followers all over the year.

These activities ensure both the daily operation of the monastery (including BCS) and the reciprocal interaction between the institution and the believers. Among all the activities, the most important four festivals are Clear-and-Bright, Vesak, Ullambana, and Water and Land Puja. Due to the complete closure of Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery since March 27, Clear-and-Bright and Vesak become the two most impacted festivals by the pandemic. Based on the current condition, it is very likely that Ullambana Festival in the seventh lunar month will be celebrated with limitations or even cancelled. All these will severely impact the monastic activities of Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery and adversely affect its economic status.

Buddhist Monks at Kong Meng San Phor Kark (source: Kong Meng San Phor Kark Facebook home page)

As far as the author knows (the daily operation of BCS is independent of its affiliated monastery), KMSPKS has adopted online activities to minimise the negative impact of the pandemic. For example, the annual Chanting Service for Delivering Ancestors on Clear-and-Bright Festival was no longer open for the public, but was participated by monastic masters only behind the door this year.

Moreover, the monastery streamed the service on Facebook, so that the believers could participate in chanting simultaneously and still became part of the religious liturgy via social media. Throughout the period of closure, it is required that all those who plan to visit the monastery for essential business, including monastic operations and cremation services or other government-sanctioned services, should obtain approvals.

The monastery also enforces strict precautionary policies, such as testing temperature and tracking contacts of visitors. As a house of worship, the monastery always advocates the followers to observe the following principles, “Observing one’s duty, protecting oneself well; improving one’s cultivation relentlessly, praying for blessing sincerely, and wishing the elimination of the coronavirus as soon as possible.”

BCS has suffered greatly from the pandemic for two reasons. First, all the students at BCS are from foreign countries, including China in East Asia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia in Southeast Asia, and Sri Lanka and Bangla in South Asia. Since the epidemic started during the period of school holidays in Singapore when most of the students went back to their home country, they have been blocked outside before returning to Singapore, except a very few students remaining here.

Besides, among the faculties and staff at BCS, a portion of them are working pass and permit holders from foreign countries, so their return to Singapore is also restricted. Secondly, BCS recruits students every other year, and this year (2020) happens to be the year of recruitment. BCS originally planned to recruit a number of students enrolling in a bachelor’s degree program and some in master’s degree program, but the outbreak of the pandemic exerts great negative influences on recruitment this year.

In responding to the Singapore government’s call against the pandemic, BCS has asked the staff and teachers in non-essential departments to work-from-home. Since the Circuit Breaker was enforced, BCS has followed the trend in higher education to substitute traditional in-person teaching with online teaching. All these measures have facilitated the normal operation of teaching activities. However, since the pandemic continues without a clear turning point yet, what BCS’s next response is depends on the developments of the pandemic in the future.

Overall, as non-production institutions, KMSPKS and BCS have been greatly impacted by the pandemic in the realm of religious and teaching undertakings. Given the severity of the pandemic and the extent and the depth of its influence, the impact of this pandemic on the monastery and the college has been probably the most serious since World War II. We hope the Singapore government, residents, as well as all the communities, could hold hands together, defeat the pandemic as soon as possible!

 

Dr Ji Yun 紀贇 obtained his doctorate degree on literature from Fudan University in 2006. During his doctorate period, his research was mainly about Buddhist literature, including different versions of Chinese Buddhist canon, Buddhist biographies, and religious anthropology. His monograph named A Study of Biographies of Eminent Monks by Huijiao in the Liang Dynasty was published in 2009 by Shanghai guji publication house based on his doctorate dissertation. He joined Buddhist College of Singapore (BCS) in 2006. Since then, he has focused on the study of and teaching multiple fields of Buddhism, such as Buddhist literature, history of monastic institutions, Dunhuang Studies, and Buddhist art. Now he also holds the position of Deputy Dean and Chief Librarian at BCS. He has published extensively on academic journals. For more details, see the link: https://www.bcs.edu.sg/offices/academic-office/

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the blog editorial team or the Asia Research Institute.

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