The second half of 2017 is here! Half of the year had gone in just a blink of an eye, which means more challenges are waiting for me to conquer one by one. I attended Wacana Conference held by Nalanda Buddhist Institute Malaysia in conjunction with its 10th anniversary, at Saujana Hotel, Subang Jaya, Selangor. The theme of the conference was- The Buddha's World: Discovering the Essential.
The registration form was put up online two months prior the conference, we were a little hesitated because we couldn't decide whether to go or not. After much discussion, our former president, Hon Pong, encouraged us that all of the current committee of Sunway University Buddhist Society should go to the conference. Unfortunately, the registration closed a week earlier before deadline due to the massive response. Our chance almost blew off but since I'm the correspondent (aka, the secretary), I managed to get all of us in!
The day has came, I woke up as early as 6.00am. I put on the SBS' attire, paired with my trustee light blue jeans and a pair of Sketchers sneakers, I'm ready to go! I was the first one among the committee to arrive Saujana Hotel. The members of Nalanda Buddhist Institute welcomed me with opened arms, I already had breakfast at home so I was still stuff but I'm saving all that space for lunch time later. I searched high and low but none of the committee members were there, time for us to go in if I waited longer. Not long after I entered the ballroom, one by one the committee members started to slip in.
Just in time for us to welcome the monks and venerable, we started the conference with a short verse of prayers before proceeding. A total of 637 people attended the conference. Wow, what a huge crowd! The speakers on the stage said: "Brothers and sisters in the Dharma, we are gather here today to rediscover our concepts in Buddhism and the teachings of the Buddha," I tried to concentrate throughout the conference, turned out I almost dozed off because the air conditioner is too cold, like the ones on campus.
At 11.15am, it's lunch time! We had a hard time finding a seat as most of the rooms were packed up. We finally found one table at the Mutiara Wing. Before eating lunch, we had to say a short verse of prayers. I still left a little food on my plate, I wanted to finish up but I was too full, my tummy was super happy. Chia Tee said:"Katelyn, if you can't finish your food don't force yourself." The boys, Hon Pong and Yee Tang told me to finish up. Bro. Ajit came over to check on us, "How's everything so far?" Chia Tee and I told him that the conference was like having lectures on campus. "There's another forum for you guys to attend later. It's time to head back to the ballroom soon, I'll see you guys at the forum later," Ajit said before leaving.
On my way back to the ballroom, I bumped into a few VIPs- Datuk Charlie Chia and Uncle Vijaya. Nalanda Youth Choir Group sang Buddhist hymns to entertain the guests before the Nalanda Award. A short video was presented to the guests to show highlights and achievements that Nalanda had been throughout the 10 years. Five forums are held during the afternoon session of the conference. We were under Forum 4- Empowering the Youth, which is appropriate for us. Youths like us need to a stage and platform for us to shine because our voices and thoughts were not heard.
Tea time at the fountain view- it was so relaxing! The incessant sound of the water, calmed your mind down. I took a few pictures. One final bell has rung, time for us to head back to the ballroom for the closing ceremony of the conference. All speakers of the five forum summarised their presentations, a last prayer was recited and Wacana Conference 2017 had come to an end.
A photo opportunity at the fountain view is a must to wrap up our day. I'm looking forward to the next conference. I'm sure my knowledge on Buddhism will expand after this.
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