The world of Tzu Chi (Vol.111)

2019 • 06 46 Home for the soul In 2017, Koi Chin was elected as one of the Sunshine Ambassadors for the Cancer Support Group. She has to spend a total of four hours commuting both ways between her house in Puchong and the Tzu Chi Kelana Jaya Community Centre in order to attend the Group’s activities. Yet, she found the tedious commute worthwhile as it enables her to spend time with the cancer patients and bask in the spirit of mutual support and encouragement. She would feel sorry for the cancer patients who had expressed their intentions to contribute to society, but were held back by their physical limitations. At the same time, the patients’ heartfelt wishes reminded her to cherish every opportunity to serve the greater good for as long as her health permits. Now, Koi Chin not only dedicates herself to recycling work and the Cancer Support Group, but also involves herself in home visits to needy families, promoting Jing-Si products in shopping malls, imparting wholesome values at schools as a Great Love Mother, and preparing meals for the labourers working at the construction site of Tzu Chi International School Kuala Lumpur. She never hesitates to lend a hand wherever help is needed. Koi Chin’s daily schedule is packed to the brim, yet she relishes a hectic routine as indicative of a fulfilling life. She feels more content with each passing day, as evident in her increasingly frequent displays of smiles. She derives joy from serving a charitable cause – an ideal way of life she has longed to pursue. In 2018, Koi Chin travelled to the Jing Si Abode in Taiwan to be certified as a Tzu Chi Commissioner. The occasion also granted her the opportunity to meet Master Cheng Yen up close. She confessed to theMaster that she regards herself as merely a small cog in the larger wheel of Tzu Chi, but vowed to give of herself to the best of her ability nonetheless to keep the wheel turning, besides pledging eternal allegiance in following the Master’s footsteps on the Bodhisattva Path. The Master responded with a gentle reminder to her to persist in committing to virtuous deeds, which moved her deeply. “I’m grateful to the Master for bestowing me with the Dharma name ‘Ming Xun’ ( 明洵 ). The characters of my birth name in Chinese are composed of various elements of nature (as symbolized by Chinese radicals), but lacks a radical that represents ‘shelter’, implying not having a place to call home. The character ‘Xun’ ( 洵 ) in my Dharma name has an outer radical depicting shelter, so it feels as if the Master has offered me a home, a sense of belonging,” she surmised. Not all who wander are lost, as Koi Chin’s predicament demonstrates. After stumbling aimlessly through the former half of her life, she has finally found refuge for her weary soul in Tzu Chi. From now on, she is poised to chart her own course for the remaining half of her life, and all that matters is a life lived to the fullest. Participating in activities held by the Tzu Chi Cancer Support Group and home visits to needy families reminded Kang Koi Chin to not take her relatively blessed life for granted. eople