Page 112 - YBAM 50th Anniversary Souvenir Magazine
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hymns produced over the years were           World’ by Taiping Buddhist Society, ‘The                                           1.  Allow audience who could not          organising concert ‘Sadhu for the Music’.
               compiled  and published  as albums by        Gracious Flow of Dharma’ by Persatuan                                              attend the live performance to watch      Besides having the reputable  JSJG
               Fo Guang Publications,  including  the       Buddhist Universiti Malaya, ‘Sailing Notes’                                        and enjoy the performance.                as one  of the singers,  she also  invited

               nominee for  2003 best  album ‘Cherish       by Penang Beliefs Paramita Buddhist                                                                                          singers from various other organisations
               Affinities’ and 2005 ‘Sounds of the Human    Association, ‘Grow Up With Me’ by SMK                                              2. Increase the musical performances’     such as Bodhi Buddhist Fellowship
               World’ Malaysia memorial album ‘Listen’,     Triang Buddhist Society, ‘Appreciation’ by                                         longevity.                                Malaysia,  Asia Musical Production, and
               ‘Harmony’, ‘Passerby in  One’s  Life’,       Malacca Catholic High School Buddhist                                                                                        professional  singers such as Paul Wah,

               ‘Bodhi Tree’, ‘Who Is God of Prosperity’     Society, ‘The Way to Buddhahood’ by                                                3.  Reflect  the  boundless  potential  of   Christopher Lay, and Amy Wang, created
               and etc.                                     Black Note Music Production, ‘Ferry’  by                                           Buddhist hymns in propagating             a massive lineup of 60 performers. Apart
                                                            ‘Jie Jie  Dian  Music Studio’, ‘The Part                                           Dharma.                                   from Imee Ooi’s own songs, the musical
               Most of the Buddhist  hymns albums           Towards Nirvana’ by Butterworth Lay                                                                                          performance also gathered other English

               targeted youth and adults as their           Buddhist Society,  ‘Dharma  Walk’, ‘Hai                                         Imee Ooi established  IMM Musicworks         and  Chinese songs  in  Malaysia  from
               audience.  At that time,  Teoh Wei Kien      Chao Hui’  and ‘Mindfulness’  by  YBAM,                                         in 1997  which  focused on producing         Datuk Seri Dr. Victor Wee, Daniel Kwok
               and Imee Ooi worked together to produce      ’Home  Away from Home’ by Persatuan                                             Buddhist music and persenting Buddhist       (i.gemz), Lee Ying Chien, Teoh Wei Kien,
               the first children’s Buddhist hymns album    Pelajar Buddhist USM,  ‘Destiny in May’                                         classics in world music style. The music     Seng Tak Pin, Chai Yu, Wong Kem Beng,

               in Malaysia, ‘Child’s Bodhi Heart’ which     by Venerable Chi Chern and Chow Kam                                             composition by  Imee  Ooi  and her calm      and Dandelion.  This was undeniably  a
               received  good  market response.  A few      Leong, and ‘Venerating The Enlightened                                          voice brought to the audience the feeling    collection of the best Buddhist hymns in
               years later,  Teoh established Dashe         Ones’ and ‘The Sun’ by Dashe Production.                                        of serene, soothing, and pleasant, which     Malaysia.
               Production and published ‘Little Feet        These clearly demonstrated that Buddhist                                        is in line with the solemnity and dignity of

               on Buddha Land’  which had Venerable         hymns have played prominent role in                                             Buddhism.                                    Since ‘Hai Chao Hui’  establishment in
               Ji Zhe composed all the lyrics. Both         Dharma propagation.                                                                                                          2009, it  brought hundreds  of  Buddhist
               ‘Child’s  Bodhi Heart’  and ‘Little Feet  on                                                                                 After 2010, Imee Ooi continued to inject     choirs’ members all over Malaysia  to
               Buddha Land’ received recognition  from      Besides the live performance of Buddhist                                        new life and voice into the development      perform together.  Teoh  Wei Kien  lead

               Taiwan Wind Music and the albums were        hymns, Buddhist organisations  also                                             of Buddhist hymns. In 2015, she held her     the musical composition,  Venerable
               marketed globally.  The publication  of      started to produce VCD, DVD, and MV as                                          first concert ‘Sound of Wisdom’ and she      Chi Chern writes the lyrics, and  Yong
               children’s Buddhist hymns albums added       an alternative to promote Buddhist hymns.                                       formed a Buddhist male vocal group ‘JSJG     Chee Ken is assigned as the conductor.
               even more diversity to the local Buddhist    Some  of  the  significant  examples  were                                      Men’s Dharma Group’. Eight vocalists with    Organisations which participated regularly

               hymns.                                       ‘Siddhartha  The Musical’  VCD, ‘Above                                          huge experiences and diverse musical         are PJ Kwan Inn Teng Buddhist Hymns
                                                            Full  Moon’ DVD, ‘Princess  Wen Cheng’                                          backgrounds were meticulously selected       Class,  Taiping Buddhist Society Choir,
               The publication of Buddhist hymns albums     DVD by Musical On Stage Productions,                                            and trained by Imee Ooi. The vocal group     Dharma Drum Mountain Malaysia Choir,
               required substantial amount of resources.    ‘Praise  the  Tathagatas’ Concert  Series                                       is  a  rare  high-quality  talent  in  the  field   Persatuan Buddhist Malaysia Cawangan

               Nevertheless, the publications of Buddhist   VCD and DVD by Bodhi Buddhist                                                   of Buddhist hymns. Both Imee Ooi and         Bahau  Choir, Puchong  Pu Men Shan
               hymns were still going strong with different   Fellowship Malaysia, and ‘Melody of Truth                                     JSJG are definitely the pride of Malaysian   Tau Buddhist Temple Vocal Group, Ipoh
               genres and styles.  Some of  the notable     and Beauty’ MV by YBAM. The impacts                                             Buddhist hymns.                              Buddhist Social Welfare Society Beason
               publications  were ‘Sounds Of Serenity’      brought by the VCD, DVD and MV are as                                                                                        Choir,  Gabungan Persatuan Hakka

               by Guan Yin Foundation, ‘Hand in Hands’      follow:                                                                         In 2019, Imee Ooi created an even bigger     Negeri Sembilan Choir,  and Persatuan
               by IMM  Musicworks, ‘Buddha in the                                                                                           platform for Malaysian Buddhist hymns by     Buddhist Universiti Putra Malaysia Hymns
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                                                                                                                                            50 YEARS OF DHARMA PRO PA GATION     CO NTINUING THE MIS SION IN THE 5G ER A
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