Renovated Zu-Lin Temple reopens, donations given to 18 beneficiaries from various faiths

SINGAPORE - The Zu-Lin Temple handed out donations worth a total of $135,000 to 18 beneficiaries of different faiths in conjunction with the opening of its new temple and 33rd anniversary on Saturday. Among the beneficiaries were Jamiyah Singapore, International Sri Krishna Mandir and Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital.

After almost six years of renovation, the temple in Bukit Batok is twice as big as before and features an iconic 12m-tall bronze statue of the Goddess of mercy Guanyin.

Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, the guest of honour, hailed the temple for its generosity and commended representatives of the other faiths for attending the celebration. He said this kind of inter-faith engagement has become almost instinctive across all religious groups.

As a secular country, Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and people of other faiths live side by side peacefully and harmoniously in Singapore, he noted. This means different religious groups can come together to celebrate one another’s major milestones, charitable works and causes, said Mr Wong, who is also Minister for Finance.

He added: “We are able to enjoy this happy state of affairs only through many years of patient effort and hard work. Just look around the world and we know what we have today in Singapore is something precious and rare.

“So we should continue to make the effort, to foster more interaction between the races and religions, and widen the common ground we share together, so that we can build a more cohesive society we are all proud to call home.”