New home for foundation

Story and photo by OH ING YEEN, The Star (Malaysia), Wednesday, December 31, 2008

THE Aloka Foundation has relocated to bigger premises in the Dana 1 Commercial Centre on Jalan PJU 1A/46 in Petaling Jaya.

Named the Aloka House, the three-storey unit was offered rent-free by kind benefactors. The top floor, which is used as a meditation centre, opens to the adjoining unit to provide a more spacious venue for meditation.

About 500 people turned up for the official launch of the new premises recently.

Monks from various schools of Buddhism, such as the Theravada, Tibetan Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism, were among the invited guests.

“This is a better and more strategic location for the community to come together. Our emphasis is on meditation,” Aloka Foundation director K.L. Lim said.

Aloka Foundation Malaysia spiritual director and founder Venerable Mahinda said that with the new premises, the foundation would be in a better position to achieve greater progress in its promotion of spiritual, educational, welfare and humanitarian activities.

The Aloka Emergency Readiness Team (Alert), formed in 2007, was the foundation’s effort to create awareness of the need for emergency readiness.

“With the new facilities, we will be able to better prepare the community to confront and manage crises. The ‘R’ in ‘Alert’ can stand for ‘readiness’, ‘response’, ‘relief’ and ‘rehabilitation’. For the time being, we are focusing on ‘readiness’ and educating people through workshops.

“It’s important for us to reach out to and get the co-operation of the different communities.

“We try to link up with other organisations as help is needed from every level for crisis management to be carried out effectively,” he said.

In an effort to be environment-friendly, lunch was served in tiffin carriers at the launch so that the guests can re-use the containers.

A total of 35 families had volunteered to prepare the vegetarian food.

Previously located in rented premises in Taman Seputeh, Kuala Lumpur, the Aloka Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 2002 to operate retreat centres and carry out programmes to promote educational, humanitarian and spiritual activities for the well-being of Malaysians regardless of race, creed or religion.

The foundation aims to launch another major project – Mitraville Mount Kinabalu, an eco-holistic health and spiritual sanctuary for people who want to explore their inner spiritual growth. Sponsor-ship for the Mitraville project is welcomed.

For details on how to contribute to the building of Mitraville, call the Aloka House at 03-7842 7001 or visit www.alokafoundation.org.

source: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/12/31/central/2896398&sec=central