Full-Time: William Chua (Welcome!!)
Below is a short bio on William Chua… I got the blog team to interview William. Read on to see why there’s a blog post about him!
And my heartiest and warmest welcome to William to our Kechara. Wake up with altruism, work with altruism, think with altruism, get ‘angry’ with altruism, act with altruism and end your day with altruism. Altruism is the goal of our spiritual practice. Altruism is the goal of Kechara. It is my goal. William cutlivate this quality and the rest of your life will be different, unique and beneficial. I wish you well and I wish you the best from my heart.
Tsem Rinpoche
(Written by the Blog Team.)
A Monash University graduate, a degree holder in Commerce and Statistics, 9 years of experience in the Insurance industry, General Manager of Hong Bee, founder of online clothing store Oui Man… and now, the latest full-time member of Kechara!
William Chua was brought up in a comfortable home on the beautiful island of Penang. Thus far, his life has consisted of corporate work, global traveling, parties, family holidays and the odd temple visits here and there. Having all sorts of luxuries at hand, why would someone who isn’t your typical animal lover agree to become Kechara Animal Sanctuary’s very 1st full-time employee??
From Monday the 17th of October, William Chua will be in charge of KAS’s administration work, coordinating new projects, organizing road shows… and really, anything that needs to be done in this department!
The first time that William ever saw Rinpoche was in The Star paper. It was an article entitled, “Model-Monk”. This concept of a monk who was also a model intrigued William as he was fascinated with the idea that a monk could be so good looking! However, after reading the article, he casually left it at that.
Call it coincidence if you will, but in the next few months, his good friend and her mother started getting more involved with Kechara. Now his friend, Phng Li Kim, is the CEO of Kechara Media & Publications (KMP) and her mother, Datuk May is now the President of Kechara House! Being highly intelligent people, William knows that they’re both not the type of people who would jump into something blindly.
Initially, William didn’t think much about Li Kim and Datuk May’s attraction to Tsem Rinpoche and Kechara. However, as time went by, he started to see steady changes in both his friends. He saw improvements and changes that made them better people, saying: “Datuk May is more patient. There is a very apparent difference in the two of them. For them to talk about Rinpoche so much… and to constantly talk about something they believe in, I guessed that there was something in there. So I checked it out more.”
2 years ago, he became a Kechara member. As he was based in Penang back then, he got involved with Kechara Soup Kitchen (Penang) and the weekly Setrap pujas held at Kechara Paradise Penang. Since joining Kechara, he feels that he has gradually become more mindful of himself and his actions.
He likes Kechara as it is “modern, different, not your normal Buddhist organization that you’ll find elsewhere and it suits my lifestyle”. Having been to quite a number of temples previously, what stood out for him in Kechara was the sheer number of young people. He says that when the Dharma talk ends, there is still an unending list of other activities to participate in – the Dharma practice doesn’t stop.
As mentioned earlier, William is not an animal person. He describe himself as someone who doesn’t go “Ohhh! That’s so cuddly”, upon sight of a dog. So why join KAS? “Because it’s an area that I can contribute in. I’m not particularly an animal lover, but because I’m not, I feel that it’s a good way for me to practice kindness… because this is not normally an area where I would devote my time and care towards. Also because it’s a good cause.”
When asked what the biggest personal change he has seen in himself since joining Kechara, he says that it’s how he has turned vegetarian. A lot of his friends are very surprised as he used to love his meat, especially during his ‘body-building days’. However, as an avid reader of Rinpoche’s blog, he had saw this blog post where Rinpoche had asked his blog viewers to watch every video and to comment on each one. After doing so, he felt that it was time to turn vegetarian.
“There are alternatives; you don’t need protein from meat. A lot of people know, but they close one eye towards it. I was one of them, I chose not to know. I wanted to know what was exactly happening in the meat industry. To me, it was time to know.”
We would like to welcome William into the Kechara family. Welcome to your spiritual home!
On some of his many travels.
William (far left) with his 3 Dharma friends.
William with Li Kim (CEO of KMP) and his 3 friends.
William with Li Kim (left) and Tengku Nina Mansur.
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Dear Rinpoche,
Very happy to let Rinpoche know that today, after we have completed our weekly Saturday DS puja @ Kechara Penang Chapel (Jalan Seang Tek), William shared his personal experiences working with Rinpoche. He shared how he met Rinpoche and Kechara, what he has done over the years, and some of his personal experiences/feelings. In addition to what has been written above, he told us that he was the PA to Su Ming before, he was working in Ladrang most of the time, and how he served Rinpoche’s food. He also went on to say that often, he has to drive Rinpoche around too 😉. In his own words, he shared that, at that period he felt ‘fulfilled’ and whatever Rinpoche did, it was training for us all. William also mentioned how privileged to have received Dharma teachings from Rinpoche directly. I saw the happiness in William when he shared those stories about his days with Rinpoche. Pray that William will have a long and healthy life to continue his spiritual journey (especially leading the Penang group for many more years to come), and also pray that he will meet Rinpoche again and again for many lives until enlightenment.
Regards,
Jacinta
P/s: Those attendees were Tang KS, Choong Soon Heng, Siew Hong, Jordan, Mien Shuen, Huey, Siew Bee, and Jacinta.
Welcome to Kechara family, William!!! You have overcome your fears and comfort zone to take up this position because you care and you know its for a good cause! We are proud of you. Congratulations for making the right choice! May you be blessed by The Three Jewels!
Dear William,
Hope you can benefit many mumus that you meet along the way and the raise the level of animal care across the country. There is much to do for KAS 🙂
Dear William, Congratulation and welcome to the Kechara Family. I rejoice for you 🙂 Big hug..!!
Dear William
Congratulations, I rejoice that you are taking your dharma practice to another fulfilling level.
Dear William,
Welcome to Kechara 🙂
William, congrats and rejoice
Helloooo my twin brother! 🙂
I’m sure that you’ll find your spiritual journey here in Kechara a fulfilling one!
Willian is a quiet person, but he always smiling in front of people. He didn’t talk and seldom talk but he is very lovely and friendly! I am so happy he become full-time Dharma worker. Very happy for him.
Dear William,
Congratulations for taking a step forward in your spiritual path. I believe when you’re focused out to bring benefit to others, the sense of purpose is more meaningful and long lasting. Welcome to Kechara Animal Sanctuary!
William William William…. Congratulation! Welcome to the big family of Kechara!
Thank you for giving your time and effort to KAS. May your spiritual journey starts from here.
Hi William, welcome to our Kechara family.I rejoice in your kindness and conscientiousness by becoming vegetarian.Also your interest in dharma and being a regular in the lamrim class.
Wonderful, William that you are taking Dharma as your life. I rejoice for you and wish you the best on your spiritual journey.
Welcome to Kechara family.
Congratulations! Brother William gave me the impression of a stable and humble person; he quietly went about his duties at KP Penang with dedication – a great role model. All the best, William!
Welcome! Will you be based in SunwayMas?
I am based in KMP for the moment.
Congratulations William! I’m really happy for you! =D
Dear William,
Welcome to Kechara Family, you are always close to us, but being Full time means you want to bring your spiritual practice to the next level.
I rejoice and Welcome!
Dear William:
Welcome to Kechara Family! With you in the family, we can do so much! Let’s do it!
Welcome!