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A Cultural Exhibition Helping People
Combined report by Kaohsiung and Changhua News Groups, Formosa
(Originally in Chinese)
[Kaohsiung/Changhua] To share Master’s wisdom of living in harmony with all beings in nature, our Kaohsiung and Changhua Centers held two brilliant cultural exhibitions. From January 9 to 19, Golden Year 7 (2010), the Lake Amoura Noble Wilds Visual Exhibition was held at the Kaohsiung Municipal Social Education Center; and from February 26 to March 14, the Eden on Earth—Protect Our Home with LOVE joint art exhibition was held at the Fuxing Granary in Changhua County. Both events featured Master’s precious photos taken at Lake Amoura, to impress the viewers with the beauty of Lake Amoura and the nobility of the wild animals living there. Also on exhibition were Master’s art creations and top-selling animal-related books. The central messages conveyed at both events were: “Love the Animals” and “Be Veg! Go Green! Save the Planet!” In Kaohsiung, on the first day of the event, Deputy Magistrate Ye Nan-ming of Kaohsiung County, Magistrate Zuo Bo-yuan of Changhua County, many government officials as well as personages from the cultural, art, and educational circles participated in the opening ceremony. It was especially encouraging to see the administrative leaders of both counties pay great attention to the “Go Veg to Stop Global Warming” campaign. In his talk, Deputy Magistrate Ye immediately instructed the EPB to promote serving nutritious, vegetarian lunches in all the schools in Kaohsiung County. Magistrate Zuo also announced good news in his speech which was from the beginning of March, all elementary and high schools in Changhua County would start to implement the Meatless Monday campaign by serving vegetarian lunches. At the Changhua opening ceremony, Master spoke through videoconference, reminding everyone to recognize the nobility of the animals, and thanked them for helping to save the planet. At both events, the guests not only gained much knowledge, but also were entertained with interesting activities. Tour guides were arranged to explain the meanings behind Master’s creations. In Kaohsiung County, many kindergarten, elementary school, and junior high school teachers were impressed by the profound meaning and educational value conveyed by the themes of this exhibition. Many of them registered with the convener to bring their students for group visits. Therefore, in addition to explaining the pictures, our fellow initiates also arranged storytelling, drawing, mud moulding, and other interesting activities for the children. In Changhua County, our Association members organized bird talk explanations, calligraphy demonstrations, drama performances, dances by students, lovely animal moulding sessions, health and global warming seminars, interactive singing, and other events, to give the guests a more complete and profound experience of why it is so important to cherish and love the animals God has created for us here on Earth, as well as to protect and preserve our precious planet.
By Taipei News Group (Originally in Chinese)
[Taipei] To celebrate Earth Day on April 22 as well as to advocate eating more vegetables and fruits to mitigate global warming, the Taipei EPB, in coordination with spiritual groups as the Tzuchi Merit Association, Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Foundation, and The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association, held a “Go Veg to Stop Global Warming” event on April 17 and 18, Golden Year 7 (2010). It was entitled “YES 417 – Let’s Get Together to Protect the Earth and Love Our Home,” held at the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Square. The event featured activities that included vegetarian cooking demonstrations, a Green Lifestyle exhibition, family relations enhancing programs, global warming films, and a midnight prayer gathering, inviting everyone to love the Earth by adopting the plant-based diet, by making every effort to save energy and reduce carbon emissions.
On the first day at the opening ceremony, Taipei City Mayor Hau Long-bin, who himself is a professional dietician, presented a display and spoke about the benefits of raw organic vegetables. He also shared that, after eating more vegetables, his blood lipid level, cholesterol level, and body weight had all gone down, and he was feeling much lighter and more energetic. Mayor Hau appealed to everyone to support the “Love Our Home by Going Veg!” campaign because eating more vegetables is the fastest and simplest way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
With support from many religious groups, this grand vegetarian carnival had become very colorful and diverse. There were 94 booths, and our Association members from various parts of Formosa came together to serve a variety of local delights in vegan style. Some of our fellow initiates even came from foreign countries to demonstrate exotic vegan cuisine. At the venue, they distributed about 20,000 copies of SOS Global Warming informative material, encouraging people to go vegan to save the planet. On the evening of April 17, our group members gathered at the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Square to hold an overnight meditation session under the starry sky, praying for the planet and sentient beings.
Report compiled by Formosa News Group (Originally in Chinese)
[Formosa] With appeals from the government, enterprises, and the elite from all circles, more and more people each day are joining the “Be Veg to Save the Planet” force. Especially important are the leadership and motivation from the government, as many of their administrative departments and schools are supporting the “Meatless Day” campaign. Some large corporations and business firms also have added lots of delectable vegetarian delicacies to their cafeteria menu to encourage their employees and the general public to eat more plant-based diets. The Formosan Government is the key facilitator behind this fast-growing wave to “Be Veg to Save the Planet” movement. The Ministry of Education issued notices to county and city governments, urging them to promote serving nutritious, plant-based meals at least one day every week in all elementary and high schools nationwide. In addition to improving the health of the students, it will also teach them, by example, to respect and to love the planet. Yuan’s legislative department also passed a resolution recommending that all educational institutions, under various municipal governments, support the “Be Veg and Reduce Carbon” campaign by establishing one “Meatless Day” every week. Showing excellent leadership, the Yunlin County Municipal Government acted promptly, so the other government departments and schools in their area would also follow suit. All elementary schools in Yunlin County have, from the second half of last year, advocated the “at least one meatless day each week” movement. The Guilin Elementary School in Guhang Township at present has included three meat-free days a week. About half of the teachers and students eat plant-based meals every day. All the children in that school are familiar with the concept of saving the planet by being veg. When their principal suggested treating a few students who had done well on their winter vacation assignments with a beefsteak dinner, they politely declined, saying, “We do not want to eat meat. We want to save energy and reduce carbon emissions.” For the field trips in this semester, the person in charge of the program originally planned to provide students with hamburgers, but they unanimously objected and told the teachers that they didn’t want to do anything harmful to the Earth. Apart from Yunlin County, the elementary and high schools in Hsinchu County, Hsinchu City, Miaoli County, Taichung County, Changhua County, , Chiayi County and Jinmen County have been providing one vegetarian meal every week for their students. Chiayi County is going to make every Friday the “Go Green, Reduce Carbon, Healthy Vegetarian Day.” In addition to those areas, Keelung City, Taipei City, Taichung City, Nantou County, Tainan County, Tainan City, Kaohsiung County, Kaohsiung City, Pingtung County Ilan County, Hualien County, and Penghu County are going to launch their “Meatless Day.” The Mayor of Kaohsiung City even personally recorded a voice message stating the importance and impacts that observing at least one meatless day each week will have on protecting the environment. The announcement will be aired publicly to all citizens throughout the city via speakers mounted on waste management vehicles. As for non-governmental institutions, more and more companies and businesses are supporting the “Be Veg! Go Green! Save the Planet!” idea. The Chida Aluminium Manufactory has been serving vegetarian meals one day every week for more than six months. As early as in 2003 during the SARS epidemic, the Universal Container Terminal Company had started serving plant-based dishes in their staff cafeterias. After six years, the health condition of their employees has improved noticeably. Besides eating meatless lunches while at work, these people are also becoming more accustomed to preparing veg food at home. There is even more good news! The Taiwan Advertising Council, a non-profit organization consisting of some 62 enterprises and individuals, recently funded and produced a 30-second advertisement—“Eat Less Meat! Save the Earth! Save Formosa!”—and since April 1, has started airing it on various major television channels. They have also printed relevant posters, which are being displayed in more than 10,000 shops that are showing their support for this campaign. We thank the Formosan Government for their enlightened leadership,
and our fellow initiates for their continuous efforts in advocating the
plant-based diet to mitigate global warming. May the day soon come when
everyone on this beautiful island is a proud, compassionate vegan!
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Numerous
major media in Formosa reported on the event. Taipei City’s EPB
commended our Association members for their earnest support. At the venue,
some 5,000 citizens signed the “One Vegetarian Day Each Week—Love
the Earth” campaign declaration. Fellow initiates were very much
encouraged and were very grateful for Master’s blessings.
