佛总声明四大要点(文告)-In English

 Proposed columbarium at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, Penang － Stamford Raffles By The Sea Sdn Bhd (SRBTS) is urged not to misuse Buddhism for commercial purpose

The proposed columbarium at the former Shih Chung School has given rise to much controversy lately. Likewise, the Buddhist community is also not pleased with the manner of Buddhism being misused, and this has tarnished the image of Buddhism. Malaysian Buddhist Association , being the headquarters for unity of nation-wide Buddhist organizations, together with representatives of other Buddhist organizations wish to make following statement in order to uphold Buddhism :

(1) Nation-wide Buddhist organizations are strongly against the misuse of Buddhism by the commercial firm for material gains.

(2) We understand as stated in the approved plan that the said land will be used for Buddhist Institution-cum-columbarium (Bangunan Institusi Buddhist dan Dewan Memorial Kulumbarium). Since it is labeled as a Buddhist Institution, why it is that the columbarium is not truly a pure Buddhist one but it also includes memorial facilities for other religions (exluding Islam)? In our opinion, Buddhism has apparently been misused as a commercial object.

(3) We are strongly against any connection between the commercialized columbarium and the Buddhist history and culture.

(4) If SRBTS is keen in promoting Buddhism, kindly disclose the backgrounds of its Board of Directors and major shareholders for showing its good intention. Please also clarify how this project will ‘co-ordinate’ Buddhist related activities and ‘administer’ Buddhist organizations.

Again, we solemnly advise SRBTS not to misuse Buddhism for commercial purpose and also not to commercialise the columbarium in the name of Buddhism.

资料提供：马佛总 2/7/2003