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Malaysia

Students Bring Parents to the Vegetarian Diet

By Penang News Group (Originally in English)

[Penang] Persistent efforts by The Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association to promote the vegetarian diet in schools have been rewarded with young people convincing parents of the need to abandon meat-eating to stop global warming.

After watching a Supreme Master Television video on this theme at Zhong Hua High School in Penang, a student went home and suggested that they should stop eating meat. Her mother, Ms. Mandy Chee, visited the television website and realized the growing crisis. Both mother and daughter became vegetarians and Ms. Chee, very much impressed by our organization, even showed interest in learning the Quan Yin Method of meditation. As founder of the Butterworth Kiwanis Club, she arranged for the Penang Center to hold a “Go Veg, Be Green, Save our Planet” seminar in two schools in Butterworth, in July of Golden Year 5 (2008).

The first seminar was held at Zhong Hua Primary School on July 14, with more than 300 pupils taking part. Most of the participants were surprisingly aware that the best way to curb global warming is by way of vegetarianism. The students asked for about 150 copies of the “Save Our Planet” DVD. Two days later, a parent mentioned to Ms. Chee that her seven-year-old child told her to become vegetarian.
Ms. Mandy Chee, founder of the Butterworth Kiwanis Club (left); Mr. Cai Huazhong (right), headmaster of Zhong Ling High School; and Mr. He Wenda (second left), vice headmaster

The second seminar was held the following day at Zhong Ling High School. More than 2,700 students attended the seminar in three sessions. When they watched the video on factory farming, they were choked by the cruelty toward animals and some were even moved to tears. Some of them wrote a 200-word commentary after watching the documentaries and reading the SOS flyers. The students also requested many copies of the “Save Our Planet” DVD. The school supervisor emphasized the environmental damage caused by the meat industry and the suffering of our animals, saying that meat eating is the main cause of the world food crisis. Some students said that they would change to the vegetarian diet, while others agreed to reduce their meat intake. Ms. Chee suggested that the school begin to offer vegetarian food options in its cafeteria.

Fellow initiates are happy to have served society and to know that Master’s love and blessings were behind the success of the seminars. They look forward confidently to conducting a new round of seminars.