Street collections for the Sichuan and Myanmar disaster relief have started since May 25, 2008. Groups of Tzu Chi volunteers were seen soliciting donations at different venues and timings across the island almost everyday. Many companies and business dealers also supported the campaign by initiating internal fundraising within their companies and placing donation box in their outlets. In addition, several Buddhist monasteries have entrusted the donations made by their monastic members and devotees to Tzu Chi. Tzu Chi volunteer distributing donation box and fundraising poster at one of the food courts owned by Food Park Group. Vendors were also informed about details of the relief fundraising.

Fundraising effort reaches every corner: Tzu Chi volunteers soliciting in one of the neighborhood wet markets.

Tzu Chi people were invited to UMC Singapore on May 27 to lead a prayer session as part of the Opening Ceremony of its Long-term Recycling Programme. Picture shows UMC staff listening attentively to the recorded speech of Tzu Chi founder Master Cheng Yen.

Sheng Siong Hypermarts: Beside the donation box are fundraising poster to catch customers’ attention.

June 2: Venerable Guo Jun and two of his followers meeting the staff of Tzu Chi Foundation.

Representatives from POP (Psychology of Potential) Workshop Pte. Ltd. visited Tzu Chi office on June 3 to donate monies fundraised by the company.

The global “Great Love from Tzu Chi to the Suffering in China and Myanmar” fundraising campaign kicked off on May 18, 2008. To date, a total of 72,000 person-time of volunteers in 28 countries have taken to the streets soliciting donations for this cause. Many too have heeded Master Cheng Yen’s call to practice vegetarianism (so as to abstain from killing), and to lead the mass to pray piously for a disaster-free world.

Street collections in Singapore have started since 25 May 2008 with groups of Tzu Chi volunteers soliciting donations at different venues and timings across the island everyday (except on Wednesdays and Saturdays as these are fundraising days for charity organizations and schools). No matter if the donation is a large bill or a single coin, the volunteers bow ninety degrees in gratitude. They take to the work with a humble heart, and show sincere respectfulness to all passersby. Their efforts were paid off with many generous souls inserting their blessings to the boxes they were holding.

Feeling the urge to help those in need, local companies and businesses too have participated in the fundraising campaign through connections with either the members of the Tzu Chi Entrepreneur Association or Tzu Chi volunteers. Besides initiating internal fundraising within their companies and placing donation box in their outlets, they also invited Tzu Chi people to their companies to lead their staff in praying for the sufferings and spread words about harboring sincere piety.

Companies that have initiated internal fundraising included Super Bean International Pte. Ltd. (leading chain soya bean F&B retailer in Singapore); Blum & Co. (fashion company); UMC Singapore (local branch of leading global semiconductor foundry UMC); Sheng Siong Supermarket Pte. Ltd., Chang Cheng Mee Wah Coffee Shop, Koufu Pte. Ltd. (food outlet), Food Park, and Q Bread, among others. Some of these companies have also volunteered for donation box placement at their outlets.

In addition, business owners of vegetarian stalls, restaurant outlets and retail stores had also offered to adopt Tzu Chi’s donation boxes and placed them together with the specially designed posters at their outlet’s hotspot to solicit donations from their customers. To this day (June 3), there are already 140 large and small enterprises taking part in this relay of love.

Among them, Sheng Siong Supermarket Pte. Ltd. had taken up 50 donation boxes and all are placed at the cashier desks of its 21 outlets island-wide.  Sheng Siong has over 3000 staff, of which a fair number of them hailed from China and Myanmar. The staff initiated a fundraising campaign recently to help raise fund for the relief of the two countries’ disaster victims.  The management, in turn, responded with a dollar-for-dollar matching for the money raised to double the effort. On May 27, Mr. Lim Hock Chee, Managing Director of Sheng Siong, presented the S$50,000 raised to the Singapore branch of Tzu Chi Foundation in support of the China and Myanmar fundraising campaign. Funds raised through the donation boxes will also be funneled into the same purpose.

In conjunction with the opening ceremony of its long-term Recycling Programme on May 27, the management of UMC Singapore invited Tzu Chi people to its premise at Pasir Ris Drive 12 to lead a prayer session, hoping that by making collective prayers, the community in the company could help bringing a harmonious and peaceful atmosphere for the society. Mr. P. W. Yen, the company’s vice president, kicked off the fundraising campaign initiated by his staff the same day by a $10,000 donation. He went on sharing his views on environmental protection and called on his staff to eat vegetarian at least once a day to help reduce the environmental burden our planet is facing.

The Tzu Chi Foundation is one of the five organizations that have obtained the Fundraising Permit for Foreign Charitable Purposes issued by MCYS (Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports). Numerous kind souls, community groups and organizations, though restricted by the permit application, have chosen to entrust the funds raised through their staff or members of the public to Tzu Chi.

On May 26, Venerable Xian Xiang of Tse Toh Aum Buddhist Temple invited staff of Tzu Chi Singapore branch to collect the money raised during the temple’s charity fair and fundraising on Wesak Day and entrusted the fund to Tzu Chi for the relief of the Sichuan and Myanmar victims. The collection was immediately arranged on the following day.

On the same day on May 27, Venerable You Wei, the founder of Di Zhang Lin Monastery, visited Tzu Chi to make donations for the same cause. The Venerable explained that the decision was made out of his will to show support for Buddhist endeavors.

Venerable Guo Jun, the abbot of Phou Tai Kok Temple, too made a trip down to Tzu Chi Foundation on June 2 to present a sum raised by his temple. Speaking of his recent preaching tour across the world, the Venerable mentioned that the scenes of Tzu Chi volunteers soliciting donations on the streets really caught his eyes. The long-term disaster recovery plans that Tzu Chi made had also convinced the Venerable that it is a right decision to put the monies in the hands of Tzu Chi people.

Be it in the business world, the religious circle or among the ordinary people, the Singapore community’s ardent responses to the two massive disasters were indeed heartwarming. We sincerely hope that the contributions and compassion from all around would reach the survivors as soon as possible through the hands of Tzu Chi relief team in this relay of love made possible by all.