Liow: Good values a must

KUALA LUMPUR: MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai has urged the people to adopt good values and the spirit of kindness, sharing and compassion to build a caring community.

These values, he said, were lost along the way as people sought to build a life for themselves in a society that was becoming more materialistic and self-centred.

Furthermore, Liow said the spread of racism and discrimination by extremists recently had caused racial tension among people of different races and religions.

“Let us all propagate good values and remember the timeless teachings of Buddha about being loving, kind and giving, as well as promoting harmony and unity,” he said.

Liow also reminded that caring in the community was a partnership effort where everyone worked together to find ways of helping the less fortunate.

“A strong bond is made when we consciously choose to give a part of ourselves to those in need,” he said at a Caring and Sharing programme organised by Buddhist Maha Vihara here yesterday.

The annual event, which is held to mark Wesak Day celebrations, is aimed at promoting the spirit of giving back to the society.

Some 1,000 orphans, old folks and the handicapped of all races were invited.

Chief High Priest of Malaysia Venerable Datuk K. Sri Dhammaratana said he was pleased to see the crowd gathering to share the Wesak spirit, putting aside any stereotype or inhibition that they might have.

At a press conference later, Liow urged the people to donate organs to give a new lease of life to those affected, saying that the country was in need of organs for transplant.

“Organ donation can help many people, helping the blind see this beautiful world,” he said.

He hoped Malaysians would follow the example of the Sri Lankans in becoming organ donors.

At the Caring and Sharing event, Sri Lanka High Commissioner to Malaysia Ibrahim Sahib Ansar presented four pairs of corneas, which were donated by its people to the Buddhist Maha Vihara for the purpose of helping the needy.

Sri Lanka is one of the largest cornea providers in the world, said Ibrahim, adding that the country had donated a total of 60,000 corneas to patients from more than 50 countries such as Pakistan, Egypt and Japan over the past few decades.

“Our late president J.R. Jayawardene was also an eye donor,” he said.