Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch
ORASHKB and author
110
Vol. 1 (1961)
ISSN 1991-7295
The Association's clinic at 117 Wanchai Road is a small-scale operation which dispenses Western medical treatment on the school premises every Sunday to 120-150 patients. No charge is made, drugs and injections being completely free. The Association now has in view a much larger project in the field of medicine, namely a HK$3,000,000 hospital to be constructed, it is hoped, at the end of Cheung Sha Wan Road (off Castle Peak Road), Kowloon. Half a million dollars has already been pledged; a government subsidy of another half a million dollars, plus a free grant of the necessary land, is under negotiation; and, once plans have been firmed up, the Association expects little difficulty in raising the remaining million and a half dollars from Buddhist laymen. It is to be a public hospital of 150 beds, of which 30 will be entirely free, with priority for refugees. There will also be an out-patient department for treatment of the poor families of this heavily industrialized area. The Medical and Health Department of the Hong Kong Government will control the standards in the same way as for other private hospitals, but the actual management will be the responsibility of the Buddhist Association. The plan is to incorporate a nursing school, where graduates of the various Buddhist primary and secondary schools can be placed for nurses' training. The medical staff will be recruited from among locally qualified physicians, e.g., graduates of the Hong Kong University Medical School. The physicians now acting as advisers on this project are prominent in the profession in Hong Kong: Drs. F. I. Tseung, Renald Ching, Peter Fok, T. Y. Li, David Wong, and Sir S. N. Chau. Three of them are Buddhists.
2. HONG KONG AND MACAU REGIONAL CENTRE OF THE WORLD FELLOWSHIP OF BUDDHISTS 世界佛教聯誼會港澳分會
This acts as the "foreign relations" arm of the Hong Kong Buddhist Association (with which it has an interlocking directorate rather than a formal connection). It was established in June 1951 to discharge four specific functions:
(1) to organize delegations to represent Hong Kong and Macau at future World Buddhist Fellowship Conferences (the first Conference had been held in Ceylon, June 1950)
(2) to assist and entertain foreign Buddhists visiting Hong Kong and Macau
(3) to answer inquiries from abroad about Buddhist activities in Hong Kong and Macau
Macau has one large Buddhist monastery, the Po Chai Chi, which is classified as Ch'an and has about 20 monks (this is a monastery often visited by tourists, since the first commercial treaty between China and the United States was signed there in 1844). There are also a number of hermitages (perhaps a dozen), most of which are said to be chai tong. One, however, the Kung Tak Lam, serves as a study centre, where lectures are given by well-known dharma masters. The Macau Po Kok Buddhist Association, founded in 1949, also fosters Buddhist studies. At least one primary school is operated by a Buddhist nun with the support of devout laymen.
Buddhism does not seem as vigorous in Macau as it is in Hong Kong, the most obvious reasons being its small size, limited wealth, and extreme exposure to political pressure. Furthermore, the influence of the Catholic Church has been paramount there for four hundred years. This has necessarily reduced the potential strength of the lay Buddhist movement.