Overwhelming support at this year's Tzu Chi Great Love Charity Fair. (Photo by Douglas Lee)
All in all, there were 76 stalls being set up at the charity fair this year, among which 52 were vegetarian food stalls and 24 others selling Chinese New Year goodies, bonsai, potted plants and Mandarin oranges etc.
Besides promoting vegetarianism, the theme of the charity fair has gone further each year to include environmental protection. This year, for the very first time, a prominent corner was set up to promote Da Ai Technology eco-friendly fabric products. Tzu Chi Foundation (Singapore Branch) was the first outside Taiwan to lead the promotion and sale of the products, which are made of recycled PET bottles.
A Tzu Chi Humanity and Jing Si Books corner was also set up at the fair, bringing the rich Tzu Chi humanistic culture closer to the people. Around the venue, verses of Master Cheng Yen's Jing Si Aphorism can also be spotted either at the stalls, on the New Year couplets on sale, or little corners here and there.
For many volunteers of Tzu Chi Singapore, their annual Great Love Charity Fair did not start on 15 January though. Preparation started at least three months earlier, with volunteers busy preparing the New Year cookies, sourcing for food stall sponsors, placing orders for the charity sale products as well as settling the various logistic issues.
With the stringent health regulation in Singapore, volunteers who participated as stall owners handling food were required to attend a one-day intensive food hygiene course conducted by the Health Authority and pass a test before they could man the food stalls. 55 volunteers, among whom was 64-year-old Toh Kim Hong. With her wealth of experience volunteering in the kitchen, Sister Toh was determined to do her best for good cause even though she has not been in touch with textbooks for more than 30 years. The senior sat through the course and successfully passed the test to obtain her license to operate.
Recycle and reject disposable to save the environment
Answering to the calls on urgent action to tackle environmental issues, this year’s charity fair placed strong emphasis on promoting environmental awareness and conservation as well as vegetarianism.
Food sponsors were encouraged not to use Styrofoam boxes to bring their food items to the fair but substitute them with environmental-friendly packaging materials. As in the past, disposable utensils were not used. This year round, even disposable food containers were not provided for takeaways. Fairgoers were asked to bring their own food containers or purchase Tzu Chi’s eco-friendly food containers should they wish to take away food items.
The recycling committee has also managed to arrange for used cooking oil to be recycled by local clean energy company Alpha Biofuels this year, whilst volunteers came up with ideas to turn carton boxes into shopping bags at the goodies stall after last year’s event. It is a heartwarming sight to note this innovative creation used by fairgoers at the two-day fair. To be able to carry out this creation, the recycling volunteers at Tzu Chi’s Admiralty recycling point have painstakingly gathered the strings during each month’s recycling activity over one whole year which is then used to tie onto holes poked through both sides of the carton boxes to turn it into a carrier bag.
Jihad from Bangladesh, who came to Singapore to work three years ago, was happy to be tasked to do the job at the fair. Together with his co-workers, Jihad was quick to praise his boss, chief co-coordinator of the fair, Brother Sim Hee Chew and his wife, Chua Ah Suai who take good care of them in Singapore. They consider themselves very fortunate to be able to work for Brother Sim whom they looked upon as a gentleman.
At the far end of the fair, a prominent area was designated for the promotion and sales of Da Ai Technology eco-friendly fabric products, made of recycled PET bottles. Though not professional models, volunteers consisting of students from Tzu Chi’s youth group and senior volunteers professionally put up eight rounds of fashion show parade throughout both days to showcase the various products including T-shirts, scarf, aprons, and bags. The stalls were constantly packed with crowds who were amazed by the effort put in to turn trash into fabrics.
Vegetarianism as the most effective way to reduce carbon footprint
“Do you know that you can actually save Planet Earth by turning to vegetarian diet?”
Armed with three poster boards, the Singapore Tzu Chings (Tzu Chi’s youth group) were determined to promote vegetarianism as the most effective way to save the Earth. Going around table to table, they explained concisely why meat-eating is causing harm to the environment and how one could greatly reduce CO2 emission by turning vegetarian. With a vow to gather 100 pledges a day, they have definitely seen success over the two-day event garnering support from nearly 300 supporters.
Listening attentively to Tai Ming Han, a Nanyang Technological University graduate in Science and Engineering, who was passionate in his course of promoting meatless diet, Ms Joyce Chua readily signed her pledge of five vegetarian meals per week to save Mother Earth. She was also quick to encourage her meat-lover husband to cut down his meat consumption, not just for the Earth but also for his health.
“Our planet is sick! Look at all the natural disasters happening around us: the big flood in Brisbane and other places around the world. How can we simply ignore this? This is the least I can do,” said Ms Chua.
A collective effort to spread the seeds of Great Love
The charity fair is also a place for all Tzu Chi volunteers in Singapore to come together and encourage each other in working towards purifying minds and creating a harmonious society.
Sister Wang Li Jun, a TCM practitioner, came in to volunteer with her son, daughter and son-in-law. Although Sister Wang knew about Tzu Chi since young, as her mother (Dharma name: Jing Dun) is one of the pioneering Tzu Chi commissioners in Taiwan, she has only decided to follow her mother’s footstep after participating in last year’s Tzu Chi International Medical Association (TIMA) camp.
Whilst she was happily volunteering at the Jing Si Books corner, her son, Zhan Xiao Yan joined the youth group in the eco-enzyme making corner. Her daughter, Zhan Jing Ci, and Swedish son-in-law, Philip Von Meyenburg, decided to join the recycling volunteers going around the venue picking up trash on the floor. Philip was happy to be able to volunteer his little effort and remarked that through this action of bending down to pick up trash, he has learnt a great deal about humility and hopes for more opportunities to volunteer in the near future.
The two-day charity fair has successfully brought Tzu Chi’s humanistic culture closer to the public. For many, this is their first encounter with Tzu Chi Foundation and they were seemingly pleased to know about the Foundation and the good causes it advocates.
Mdm Lu Qiao Yun and her husband were among them. The couple lives in Loyang and use the Pasir Ris MRT whenever they go out visiting or shopping. Both have been attracted to the fair whilst passing by on Saturday, 15 Jan.
During their trip to Taiwan last November, they were delighted to have the chance to visit Jing Si Abode in Hualien (Tzu Chi's birthplace) through the introduction of their tour guide who is a Tzu Chi donating member.
Whilst being entertained at the fair's reception corner, Mdm Lu readily joined as a Tzu Chi donating member and wished that she could also volunteer given the opportunity. Coincidentally, she picked a Jing Si Aphorism at the reception which says, "Making vows without taking any action is like ploughing a field without planting any seeds. There is no harvest to reap, letting opportunity pass us by” – it seemed like a definite reminder to the Loyang resident that she needs to take her first step forward since Tzu Chi, being at Elias Road, is now in her reach.
To the volunteers' surprise, the couple returned on the second day, bringing their 18-year-old daughter along this time so that she too can immerse in the warmth of Tzu Chi humanistic culture at the fair.
With the collective hard work of all volunteers and warm support from the public, a total of 15,000 visitors came to the fair with a record total fund of about S$700,000 being raised this year. A strong 1600 volunteers’ man-hours were clocked to make all this possible.
Before the official opening of the fair, volunteers pray for the fair to be smooth sailing and for the world to be without calamities. (Photo by Wong Twee Hee)
Philip Von Meyenburg from Sweden says he's learnt a great deal about humility while volunteering for trash-picking. (Photo by Lim Chee Wah)
Volunteer "models" strutting down the makeshift runway showing off the range of garments made out of recycled PET bottles by Da Ai Technology Co. Ltd. (Photo by Chua Teong Seng)
Fairgoer Ms Joyce Chua signing her pledge for five vegetarian meals per week. (Photo by Lim Chee Wah)
Many fairgoers bring their own utensils like this “tingkat” in support of the call to reduce packaging waste. (Photo by Law Sook Fong)
Hygienic measures are observed strictly by the volunteers at each food stalls. (Photo by Khoo Chai Ling)
The black-and-white portrait of Tzu Chi's founder, Master Cheng Yen, displayed at the Jing Si Books corner along with a wide array of motivational books adds a sense of tastefulness to the fair. (Photo by Chua Teong Seng)
Volunteers who took up the role of food stall owner have to undergo a food hygiene course and an interview with the health officers in order to earn their qualification. (Photo by Low Hai Loon)
Used cooking oil was collected from each food stall and poured into Alpha Biofuels company's container for conversion to biofuel. (Photo by Lim Chee Wah)
This couple is impressed with the idea of turning carton boxes to shopping carriers. (Photo by Alex Tan)
Many are pleased to shop for Chinese New Year goodies and doing charity at the same time. (Photo by Wong Twee Hee)
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