SINGAPORE: UK Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran will perform for a second night in Singapore, after overwhelming demand for tickets to his first show.
Promoter AEG Asia on Thursday (May 11) posted on Facebook about an hour after ticket sales opened that Sheeran’s Nov 11 concert was sold out. It also announced a second show would be added on Nov 12.
Tickets for the second show are already available on www.sportshubtx.com, but limited to four tickets per transaction.
DISCONTENT OVER TICKET SALES
However, as early as 11.30am, users who had tried to buy tickets on the SportsHub website were reporting on Facebook that Day 2’s tickets were sold out too. Others complained about the way the show’s organisers had announced the second concert.
Facebook user Evone Han wrote: “I don’t understand why SportHub would choose to announce Day 2 sales via FB comments instead of making an official announcement. It is obvious that you guys already knew that there will be a Day 2 sales way before, Viagogo release Day 2 sales before you even announce. If you can’t even manage the virtual waiting room, how about at least try to give us all a fair chance to purchase our tickets.”
Given the demand, tickets for Sheeran’s first show are being touted on third-party sites – but at a premium. There have been offers circulating on online marketplace Carousell, with some advertising two pairs of tickets for as much as S$4,000 – up from the original price of between S$108 to S$248 for a ticket.
One Carousell user, for instance, was selling Cat 1 tickets at S$2,200 for four or S$600 for one – up from the original price of S$248 per ticket – with a “guaranteed best view of Ed Sheeran”.
One wouldn’t think that taking continuous punches to the head without dodging in a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) competition is the best way to victory.
But ‘One Dragon’ Shaolin monk Yi Long thought otherwise.
Footage of the MMA-trained fighter taking hit after hit by opponent Brad Riddell resurfaced on the internet again. The clip had already made its rounds back in November 2013.
Yi Long, 30, is a Chinese amateur fighter who prides his Kung Fu style on his self-claimed “Iron Chin” and “Qigong Iron Shirt” techniques, according to CANBike.
It is no wonder he received seven full-weighted punches to his jaw, one after another, without flinching a single muscle.
His “Iron Chin” definitely withstood his opponent’s assaults causing his challenger to fatigue.
Online users have compared Long’s fighting style to that of animated character Homer Simpson, who, in one episode, chose to stand still and let his opponents fight him till they exhausted themselves.
— A2B Marcus Burrows (@A2BWalsallTaxis) May 10, 2017
But some weren’t so convinced by the monk’s “Iron Chin”.
Soon after the several hits, Long finally retaliated, serving his exhausted opponent with a few punches and trying knee-kicks.
Unfortunately, the Shaolin monk was declared loser when the referee raised Riddell’s arms after winning by an unanimous decision.
And that is not all.
A spokesman from the Shaolin Temple released a statement that Yi Long has no affiliation with the spiritual group: “Yi Long, who was billed as the No. 1 Shaolin Kung Fu monk, is neither a Kung Fu monk of Shaolin Temple, nor could he be named as the No. 1 Shaolin Kung Fu monk at all.”
While it is apparent that Yi Long is capable of some Kung Fu skills, we think he needs to work more on his defenses.
SEATTLE, United States: Singapore budget carrier Scoot is setting its sights on operating at least three to four long-haul routes within the next two to three years, according to its CEO Lee Lik Hsin.
In an interview with Channel NewsAsia on Thursday (May 11), Mr Lee revealed that travellers can expect Scoot to announce one new long-haul route by this year, followed by another in 2018. He declined to name any specific destinations but hinted that the airline will not be limiting itself to Asia.
The company later said it is exploring Honolulu, Hawaii, as a possible destination, after reports stating it could fly there by end-2017 emerged.
Mr Lee was in Seattle where Scoot is set to pick up a new 787 Dreamliner on Friday (Singapore time) from American aircraft manufacturer Boeing.
File photo of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner factory in Everett, Seattle.
This will be the 14th in Scoot’s all-Dreamliner fleet, but the new plane comes with an added feature – crew rest bunks.
“The first few aeroplanes that we took did not have the crew rest bunks and so could not be deployed on the long-haul routes per se,” said Mr Lee. “With this, we clearly signalled our intention that we want to be in that space, to fly long-haul routes in our network.”
MAXIMISING EFFICIENCY
Last August, Scoot announced its first long-haul flight to Europe with the opening of a Singapore-Athens route, which is set to begin next month.
In an update, Mr Lee said the current take-up is “quite healthy” – with about 70 per cent of the seats sold so far within the first few months of operation.
When asked why the frequency of the route is being reduced from four times a week, to three in mid-September and down to two in October, he said this had been planned from the start to take into account the peak summer months and the lull during winter months.
He noted that efficiency will be maximised during the lull months by finding other routes where the frequency can be increased instead.
In the case of the Athens route, Mr Lee said this is balanced by increasing the frequency of flights to Sapporo, Japan, where winter is a peak travel season.
HANDLING THE COMPETITION
The CEO also claimed that the low-cost carrier is not making any adjustments to its long-haul route plans just yet, despite aggressive moves from competitors such as Norwegian.
The Scandinavian budget carrier announced in April that it will be launching a non-stop service between Singapore and London. Reports have also suggested that Norwegian intends to introduce routes between Singapore and Paris, Rome as well as Scandinavia.
But Scoot, which is the low cost arm of Singapore Airlines, said plans for its growth has always been “fairly aggressive from the start”.
Besides the 20 aircraft in its fleet, which it will soon have, Mr Lee said there are plans for Scoot to further boost the number of planes it operates by tapping on new aircraft ordered by Singapore Airlines (SIA).
In February, SIA placed a US$13.8 billion (S$19.5 billion) order for 39 aircraft from Boeing.
“The recent SIA order … will help us as well because there’s some flexibility within those orders to convert into Scoot aircraft,” Mr Lee explained.
“I think we are going to rely more on the parent company because they have the purchasing power and economies … if we are to go out and buy five to 10 aeroplanes, we probably wouldn’t get a very good price.”
MADRID – DJ Robert Miles, known worldwide for his million-selling dream-house track “Children”, has died aged just 47 after a months-long battle with cancer, the online radio he founded said Wednesday.
“Robert passed away peacefully last night after a courageous battle with stage 4 metastatic cancer over the last 9 months,” OpenLab, which also broadcasts on traditional airwaves in the Balearic islands of Ibiza and Formentera, said on its Facebook page.
“Throughout it he was strong, determined, incredibly brave and did everything he could to fight this horrendous disease,” it said.
“Robert was more than just an artist, he was a pioneer, a creator, an inspiration, a son, a father, our friend.”
Spanish media reported he had died in Ibiza where he lived.
The Italian producer and composer, whose real name was Roberto Concina, began his career DJ-ing in clubs and on the radio in northern Italy before being catapulted to worldwide fame in the 1990s with “Children” for which he won a Brit award.
He later collaborated with other famous artists such as Nitin Sawhney, and worked on projects including the music of the film “The Bourne Identity” starring Matt Damon.
He also founded OpenLab, an online radio station that broadcasts alternative, electronic and experimental music, and that has morphed into an online community that also showcases cutting-edge visuals.
JAKARTA – The public are being asked to name a rare albino orangutan rescued in the Indonesian part of Borneo island, with conservationists saying she has become an “ambassador” for the threatened species.
The white-haired, blue-eyed Bornean orangutan was saved in Kapuas Hulu district last month from villagers who had been keeping her in a cage.
The Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation, which is caring for the critically endangered ape, says it is the first time in its 25-year history that it has taken in an albino orangutan.
The group said the five-year-old remained “physically fragile”, had a parasite infection and was wary of humans.
BOS said they wanted to find a name for her that was “worthy of her special situation”.
“She has become an ambassador for her species and therefore we are asking the public to help us name her,” said a statement from the group late Tuesday.
The orangutan is being cared for at BOS’s rehabilitation centre, which is home to almost 500 orangutans.
Normal Bornean orangutans have reddish-brown hair.
The Bornean orangutan, which along with the Sumatran orangutan are Asia’s only great apes, is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as “critically endangered”.
Around 100,000 are estimated to live on Borneo, which is divided between Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, down from 288,500 in 1973. Their numbers are expected to shrink to 47,000 by 2025, according to the IUCN.
Their habitat has shrunk dramatically as the island’s rain forests are increasingly turned into oil palm, rubber or paper plantations, and they are sometimes targeted by villagers who view them as pests.
People are asked to send suggested names for the albino orangutan to the email address name@orangutan.org.id or by using the hashtag #albinoorangutan on social media. A winner will be announced on May 15.
CENTRAL KALIMANTAN, Indonesia – The health of a rare albino orangutan saved from captivity by environmentalists less than two weeks ago is improving, said Indonesian veterinarians at the quarantine facility where the five-year-old is being kept.
The pale-haired, blue-eyed female was rescued after being held captive by local residents in Central Kalimantan, where rampant deforestation has endangered the lives and habitats of dozens of species.
“We are still re-observing the condition of her skin and eyes. Overall she has been showing good progress over the last 10 days,” veterinarian Arga Sawung Kusuma said.
Although she is not yet at an ideal weight, she has gained 4.5 kg (9.9 pounds) and is feeding on various fruits, and drinking sugar cane and milk regularly, marking a significant improvement in appetite, he said.
Orangutans, considered critically endangered by the World Wildlife Fund, usually have brown or orange hair and dark eyes. They are native to Indonesia and Malaysia.
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Thailand is drawing students from all over the world, keen to study ‘engaged Buddhism’ and its social benefits.
Behind the Dhammakaya sect controversy currently raging in the minds of Thai Buddhists lies a centuries-old question: how to deal with “greed”?
In this new age of globalisation, capitalism and consumerism, Thai Buddhism is evolving in different ways to remain relevant to people. Among the most successful is Dhammakaya, though its critics say the sect has gained its popularity both here and abroad through commercialised teachings that play on desire for reward rather than cultivating compassion and empathy for others.
“Dhammakaya Temple focuses on donations – the more money you give, the more [positive karma] you receive. Many people have gone broke because they believe in this and many other distorted teachings,” Phra Paisal Visalo, abbot of Chaiyaphum’s Wat Pa Sukato in the Northeast, lamented earlier this year.
MCU has over 25,000 Buddhist monks (both male and female), laymen and laywomen.Photo: NATION/RACHANON INTHARAGSA
Yet many Buddhist scholars see an alternative way forward, believing that “socially engaged Buddhism” can help to light the way in our era of globalisation.
“Modern Buddhism can provide the key to challenges in our globalised and capitalist world,” stressed Professor Phra Brahmapundit, rector of Mahachulalongkornrajavidhalaya University, Thailand’s premier Buddhist educational institute.
“Thailand entered the middle income era a few decades ago. Many people have misconceptions about consumerism and capitalism. They think that earning more money and consuming more will make us happy. In terms of engaged Buddhism, we do not reject donations.
But instead of simply collecting, we have to focus on how we spend the donated money so as to benefit society.”
Three monk-reformers
Another way Thai Buddhism has dealt with the demands of an increasingly affluent society is with meditation and dharma retreats. Their popularity among the middle class means more and more people are using Buddhism to navigate their everyday lives and jobs.
Pioneers of this trend were Luang Por Chah Subhaddo in the Northeast and Buddhadasa of Suan Mokkh Temple down South, whose idea for public meditation retreats has become an important way of practising religion in Thailand.
Luang Por Chah (1918-1992) founded two major monasteries in the Thai Forest Tradition and was also instrumental in establishing Theravada Buddhism in the West. Beginning in 1979 with the founding of Cittaviveka (Chithurst Buddhist Monastery) in southern England, the Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah has since spread across the West.
Buddhadasa (1906-1993) is internationally renowned as a Buddhist reformer and recognised among the World’s Great Personalities by Unesco. Nowadays the Buddhadasa Indapanno Archives at Suan Mokkh in Bangkok is an education centre for Thai and foreign Buddhist scholars and practitioners.
More recently the socially conscious abbot of Wat Pa Sukato temple in Chaiyaphum, Phra Paisal Visalo, has used Facebook to bring Buddhist ideas and training to the new generation of young, curious-minded netizens.
Improving society is also the focus at Mahachulalongkornrajavidhidalaya University (MCU), though the teaching here is more formal and institutionalised. A key lies in the intensive vipassana course, which is popular among master’s students, who practise insight meditation for seven months so as to achieve a peaceful mental state.
“Many of our students are nurses and doctors,” Rector Phra Brahmapundit explains. “They use these practices alongside modern treatments, and many adapt insight vipassana and breathing techniques to help terminally ill patients.”
Newly ordained female monks receive their first alms from family and friends at Songdhammakalyani monastery in Nakhon Pathom.Photo: AFP
Spread of women in Buddhism
Though not officially recognised, Thai female monks have played a big role in making Buddhist relevant for the masses, opening their monasteries for retreats and making socially engaged dharma a cornerstone of their practice.
There are currently only about 100 female monks practising in Thailand – compared with some 300,000 males in the Sangha.
Yet thanks to Theravada ordinations carried out in Sri Lankan temples, the number of Thai bhikkunis has been growing. They are now scattered across Chiang Mai in the North, Yasothon in the Northeast and Songkhla in the South.
The 73-year-old abbess, of Songdhammakalyani monastery in Nakhon Pathom, the Venerable Dhammananda, was ordained in Sri Lanka in 2003. She made headlines last year when she was barred from paying tribute to His Majesty the late King Bhumibol at the Grand Palace as the Thai Sangharaja Council of Elders does not recognise female monks. Dhammananda lodged a petition with both the National Human Rights
Commission as well as the Thai Committee on Unfair Gender Discrimination, which have yet to announce their findings.
“It’s a small number but we’re spreading – we have bhikkhunis in 10 provinces now,” Dhammananda told The Nation in 2012. She now divides her time between her religious commitments and writing on the history of bhikkhunis in Thailand.
Theravada Buddhism became the state religion of the Sukhothai Kingdom 800 years ago, flourishing from seeds planted in Suvannabhumi by travelling Indian monks. In the 19th century, King Chulalongkorn the Great (Rama V) enshrined Buddhist education by founding a dharma school at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in the Grand Palace grounds.
What became the MCU has retained “dharma” as the core of its curriculum and, as Thailand’s oldest Buddhist university, is now spreading its wings.
Thailand’s global melting pot
“The 60 years of teaching experience means we are now ready to offer education worldwide – which is why we launched our vision to become a global centre of Buddhist education,” the rector says.
The main campus is located on 322 rai in Ayutthaya’s Wangnoi district, a handy 30 minutes’ drive from Bangkok, from which rise 11 buildings – the Tripitaka Museum, Rector’s Building, Library and Tech block, guest accommodation, dining hall, lecture rooms, halls of residence, temple, Maha Vajiralongking Conference Hall and Somdej Phra Phutthacha Vipassana Dhura centre.
MCU offers a four-year bachelor’s degree on Buddhism as well as master’s programmes in Buddhist studies, Pali studies, philosophy, dharma communication, vipassana meditation, educational administration, public administration, and life and death studies. The master’s programme is taught in English while the university offers a PhD in Buddhist studies in both Thai and English.
MCU now maintains 11 campuses and 16 Sangha colleges along with seven affiliated institutes in Thailand and abroad – Mahapanya Vidayalai in Hat Yai, Dongguk Chunbop College in South Korea, Taiwan’s Ching Chueh Buddhist Sangha University, the Buddhist College and the Brahm Education Centre in Singapore, Sri Lanka’s International Buddhist Academy, and the Dharma Gate Buddhist College in Hungary.
“The attraction for international students is a curriculum that focuses on study of the Tripitaka in the Theravada tradition and the Pali language, plus offering them the chance to practise meditation as a core subject,” the rector explains. “The rest covers the application of Buddhism to modern science.”
“The university’s success is founded on applied dharma. We don’t just focus on studying texts; we teach our students how to apply Buddhist teaching to the modern world. When our graduates return to their countries, they can apply the dharma to challenges of social development.
“That is why attract many students from many different countries. Right now there are 25,000 students enrolled on our BA, MA and PhD courses in various faculties.”
Of these, 1,400 are foreign students studying for master’s degrees and PhDs. They come from 20 countries, including Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, America, Britain and Hungary.
Among them is a group of monks from Myanmar, where opportunities for higher education are limited.
Three years into his studies here, Myanmar monk Zanaka, 31, is busy preparing his thesis “An analysis on solving social conflict with special reference to the Mahanidana Sutta (‘Great Causes Discourse’)”.
“Here it is different from Myanmar, where Buddhist education is mostly in the local language. Here we study in English, which gives us better opportunity to communicate in the globalised world. We meet monks from other countries, so we can share Buddhist knowledge and current affairs from our own countries with each other. After I graduate, I hope to support my country by helping cultivate a peaceful society for the next generation,” Zanaka explains.
Fellow monk Astin Kesara, 30, also aims to use the contemporary dharma he has studied here to help improve the situation back in Myanmar.
“Here we can absorb current Buddhist thinking in English. We also learn more about the different traditions – from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Learning alongside monks from different countries can help forge strong connections. With these connections and globalisation, I want to help create a strong Buddhist community in my country that improve things for the religion and the general community in Asia.”
Fellow student Ethumalpiliye Sumanathero is aware MCU has a branch in his homeland of Sri Lanka, a country renowned for Buddhist education, but he prefers to study in Thailand to broaden his experiences.
After seven months here, the 27-year-old Theravada monk says he has absorbed a wider spectrum of Buddhist teaching.
“Before studying here, I had little knowledge of Mahayana and Vajrayana [Tibetan] Buddhism. Now I have learned so much about these traditions. I have also learned more about vipassana meditation,” Sumanathero says.
“Without such experience, I wouldn’t be able to achieve my goal of educating a new generation back home about Buddhism in the modern world.”
Mahachulalongkornrajavidhidalaya University,Thailand’s premier Buddhist academy, aims to be an international hub for Buddhist studies by 2027.Photo: MCU
Plan for international hub
By the end of this year, the college will have accommodation for 1,000 students, taken up mostly by monks from Buddhist countries.
“Not only do we train them in meditation, modern science and Buddhism, but the programme is in English,” says the rector.
“We believe that after they return to their countries, they can spread the word and boost interest in Buddhism worldwide.
“Right now we focus on English [but] we plan to use other languages of instruction, like Chinese and Japanese.”
A Mahayana programme taught in Mandarin will launch this year, he adds. Along with the “hardware”, the university is also forging the software. In 2011 it initiated the “Common Buddhist Texts” project to create the first online source in English of the Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana canons.
Meanwhile on Saturday the university unveiled the opening phase of its “Union Catalogue of Buddhist Texts” – the first comprehensive English-language source of the major texts of the Pali, Chinese and Tibetan canons – to mark Visakha Bucha Day.
“It’s as big as the bible,” the rector says, adding that the next section in English, Chinese and Japanese should be published in five years.
“By the next decade we hope to be operating as the Buddhist study hub in Asia, with full-scale programmes in Thai, English, Chinese, Japanese and Tibetan.”
The words are uttered with a quiet conviction that modern Buddhism has a crucial role to play in our globalised world.
Thailand’s oldest Buddhist university
King Chulalongkorn the Great (Rama V) began studying Buddhism as a youngster, eventually ordaining as a monk for 15 days in 1873 at the age of 20.
Known for his progressive policies, King Rama V was successful in bringing a peaceful end to slavery in 1905. He initiated enormous reforms and modernisation of state law, civil organisations, education and religion.
In 1887, he founded a dharma school at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha with the purpose of establishing a major educational institute for Buddhist monks, novices and laypersons. The school was soon moved to Wat Mathat and renamed Mahathat College.
In 1898 he oversaw and sponsored the first Thai translation of the Tripitaka. One thousand copies of the “The Printed Tipitaka Edition” were produced at a cost of 1 chang apiece and distributed to Buddhist temples in Thailand and abroad.
Four years later, King Rama V issued the Sangha Administration Act of BE2445 (1902) to establish a common standard for the monkhood. The Sangha Supreme Council was granted authority to settle all disputes and conflicts, and was divided into regional, provincial, district and sub-district levels. The Sangha Act also enshrined Rama V’s vision of equal opportunity for all in education, whether laymen or monks. The Act states that abbots and high-ranking monks are responsible for supporting education.
This synchronised with the 1898 announcement of formal education for children upcountry. Temples were responsible for educating children, and monks were to be in charge of teaching. School textbooks were printed on dharma and other subjects.
