Page 18 - Wesak as a Public Holiday and Its Social Psychological Significance

Wesak as a Public Holiday and Its Social Psychological Significance

Chapter 2:
Chapter 2:

The Sri Lankan Connection
The Sri Lankan Connection

In Malaya, the call to make
Wesak a public holiday actually
started in the 1930s. According to
Dato’ Khoo Leong Hun （邱隆汉）,
8
the call was first made by Ven K.
9
G u n a r a t a n a ( 1 8 9 1 - 1 9 6 4 ) o f
Mahindarama Temple, Penang (Fig. 7).
The same account was mentoned in
an article by Lim Teong Aik （林忠忆
9
）as well as in the publication of
11
Mahindarama Temple .

Ven K. Gunaratana arrived in
th
Penang on 20 July 1926. He was not Fig. 7:Ven. K. Gunaratana, delivering a
the chief monk of the temple when he speech during the Budhdist flag raising
arrived. It was therefore unlikely that he ceremony held at the Mahindarama Temple
would have made the call at that time. It is on the historic occasion of Wesak 1949.
more likely that he made the call after he
became the chief monk of the temple in

8. Dato' Khoo Leong Hun (1927-2020) is the son of Khoo Soo Jin J.P. His mother passed away after delivering
him, and he was brought up by his uncle Khoo Su Ghee. Soo Jin and Soo Ghee are twin brothers. In 1950, Khoo
Leong Hun accompanied his father and other Buddhist leaders to attend the inaugural World Fellowship of
Buddhists conference held in Kandy. After the conference they proceeded to India for a pilgrimage to holy
places. According to Khoo Leong Hun, they had to walk through paddy fields and villages to those holy places
as there were no roads leading to those places then. Khoo Leong Hun was active in the World Fellowship of
Buddhists through out his life, and was Hon. President of World Fellowship of Budddhist before his passing
away in February 2020. Among those who witnessed the formation of World Fellowship of Buddhists in 1950,
he was the last to leave this world.
9. Ven K. Gunaratana (1891-1964), was Chief High Priest of Malaya and Singapore from 1955-1964. After his
passing away, the position was inherited by Ven. K. Sri Dhammananda of Brickfields Buddhist Temple. He was
the only Singhalese monk who could preach in Hokkien. A road near by Mahindarama Temple was named after
him.

10. See Lim Teong Aik, Wesak Public Holiday, Silver Jubilee Souvenir Magazine of Malaysian Buddhist
Assocition, 1984, pp-54-57. See also Chinese literature: 林忠忆，卫塞公共假期，马佛总银禧纪念特刊，
1984， 54-57页.
11. Mahindarama Buddhist Temple 85 Years of History (1918-2003) Mahindarama Dhamma Publication,
Penang, 2004, pg. 40.

Chapter 2: The Sri Lankan Connection Page17