Sik Kwang Sheng () is the current vice president of the Singapore Buddhist Federation, the abbot of

Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery The Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery (also the ''Bright Hill Pujue Chan Monastery'') (), is a Buddhist temple and monastery in Bishan, Singapore. Built by Zhuan Dao in the early 20th century to propagate Buddhism and to provide lodging ...

, and the founder of the Buddhist College of Singapore.

Early life

Effectively bilingual, Kwang Sheng was educated in

Victoria School Victoria School (VS) is a government autonomous boys' secondary school in Siglap, Singapore. Established in 1876, it is Singapore's second oldest state secondary school. It offers a six-year Integrated Programme, which allows students to skip t ...

. He was ordained as a monk in 1980 and became a disciple of Ven

Hong Choon Hong Choon (; 1907–1990) was the second president of the Singapore Buddhist Federation and the second abbot of Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery. Early life Hong Choon was born in 1907 in Jinjiang, Fujian province, China. In 1922, he was ...

(宏船法师). Kwang Sheng reportedly suffered from

tinnitus Tinnitus is the perception of sound when no corresponding external sound is present. Nearly everyone experiences a faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely quiet room; but it is of concern only if it is bothersome, interferes with normal hearin ...

, for which he sought treatments.

Career

Kwang Sheng has been the president of the Singapore Buddhist Federation since 2006, and became the sixth abbot of

in 2004. He has helmed KMSPKS since 1995 as its chief administrator, and founded the Buddhist College of Singapore in 2005. Past appointments include the president of the Inter-Religious Organisation in Singapore, the chairman of the

Maha Bodhi School Kampong Ubi, also known as Ubi Estate, is a subzone located in the planning area of Geylang in the Central Region of Singapore. It lies within a somewhat rhombic piece of land bounded by Airport Road at the north, the Pan-Island Expressway at ...

Management Committee,

Manjusri Secondary School Manjusri Secondary School (MJR) is a co-educational government-aided secondary school in Ubi, Singapore. Named after the bodhisattva Manjusri, it was established by the Singapore Buddhist Federation in 1982 and affiliated to two primary school ...

Management Committee and the

Mee Toh School Punggol, alternatively spelled as Ponggol, is a planning area and new town situated on the Tanjong Punggol peninsula in the North-East Region of Singapore. The town directly borders Sengkang to the south and shares riverine boundaries with the ...

Management Committee. Some other entities that he sits on with honorary appointments include Singapore Buddhist Free Clinic and

Bright Hill Evergreen Home Bright may refer to: Common meanings *Bright, an adjective meaning giving off or reflecting illumination; see Brightness *Bright, an adjective meaning someone with intelligence People *Bright (surname) *Bright (given name) *Bright, the stage name ...

, which is named after Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in educational administration on May 1 2011 by

Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU) ( th, มหาวิทยาลัยมหาจุฬาลงกรณราชวิทยาลัย, ) is one of two public Buddhist universities in Thailand, as well as being the oldest Budd ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

in recognition of his outstanding contributions towards

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. Kwang Sheng is also an avid Buddhist musician and has co-produced several bestselling albums such as ''Reverence'', ''Buddha Smiles'', ''Collection of Buddhist Songs'' and ''

Om Mani Padme Hum ' ( sa, ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ, ) is the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. It first appeared in the Mahayana ''Kāraṇ ...

''. In 2014, Kwang Sheng became the first non-

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

religious leader in Singapore to make a donation to the Aid to

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

n Refugees in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

(Asrit) initiative.

References

External links

Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwang Sheng Living people Singaporean religious leaders Singaporean Buddhist monks Chan Buddhist monks Victoria School, Singapore alumni Singaporean people of Chinese descent Year of birth missing (living people)