Veteran Chinese monk Sik Kok Kwong, who was highly respected by the Hong Kong community for his devotion to Buddhist charity work, passed away on 16 November at the age of 95.
Ven. Kok Kwong. From hk.news.yahoo.com
Venerable Kok Kwong (Jue Guang) was born in Liaoning in 1919. At the age of 10 he was already determined to become a monk, and was ordained in 1930. He came to Hong Kong in 1939, but left in 1940 due to the Japanese invasion. Returning in 1945, the Venerable began his charity work, which he continued for more than six decades.
Soon after his return, the Venerable founded the Heung Hoi Ching Kok Lin Association, a Buddhist charity organization that runs institutions such as old people’s homes and schools. He was also a founder of the largest Buddhist organization in the community, the Buddhist Association of Hong Kong, which operates more than 40 charitable bodies, including hospitals, schools, old people’s homes, youth centers, childcare centers, and cemeteries.
Venerable Kok Kwong is also widely admired for his openness in promoting interfaith dialogue among the major religions in the community. He actively participated in the program “Dialogue among Six Major Religions,” which takes the form of biannual seminars attended by leaders of the six major spiritual traditions in the community, namely Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam. The first seminar took place in 1978. As well as attending the seminar, the leaders jointly issue New Year Greetings, and also organize activities addressing senior and social welfare and children’s moral education.
Additionally, Venerable Kok Kwong played an active part in promoting exchanges among Buddhists in different parts of the world. From 1962, he attended the General Conferences of the World Fellowship of Buddhists on several occasions, and was the president of its Hong Kong Regional Centre. He was also honorary president of the Korea Buddhist Association and vice president of the World Buddhist Sangha Council.
Venerable Kok Kwong did not shy away from politics. In 1984, he accepted an invitation from the Beijing government to attend the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the future of Hong Kong, and in 1985, attended meetings of the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee held in Beijing. In 1992, he became one of the Hong Kong Affairs advisors appointed by Beijing, and in 1995, became a member of the Preparatory Committee for the HKSAR, which was set up to implement work related to the HKSAR’s establishment.
The Venerable was particularly instrumental in convincing the Hong Kong government to legislate the Buddha’s birthday as a statutory holiday, in 1999. Since then, the fourth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar has been a public holiday. He took great pride in this accomplishment, and once said, “Our success has also inspired Buddhists in Macao and Taiwan to strive for the same legislation.”
In 2009, when asked during an interview to name the most memorable events in his life, the Venerable said, “The development of Buddhism in Hong Kong over the past 60 years can be summarized in four characters: 弘法利生 [lit. ‘preach-Dharma-benefit-beings’] . . . Important events include the Buddhist Assembly in Celebration of the Return of Hong Kong, the Buddha’s Birthday becoming a Public Holiday, the Buddha’s Relics coming to Hong Kong, Purification and Praying Ceremony for Hong Kong people during the SARS year [2003], and the reception of the Buddha’s finger and national treasures of the Famen Temple in 2004.”