Poh Ern Shih Temple

Based on the concept of liberating the spirits of the soldiers and civilians who were sacrificed during the Japanese invasion in World War II, the temple of Poh Ern Shih was constructed on the site of the bloodshed on Chwee Chian Hill.[3] It was established in 1954 as a modest single storey temple by philanthropist Lee Choon Seng (1888—1966), as one of the few Chinese Mahayana temples in Singapore dedicated to the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

Lee was born in Yong Choon county, Fujian province, in China. He joined his father in Negri Sembilan in his youth, before moving to Singapore to set up his own property business. He was very successful, and achieved positions of leadership in the local Chinese community. He was widely known as one of the co-founders of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), and was its acting chairman during the Japanese Occupation.[4] As one of the early Buddhist pioneers, Lee was also involved in the foundation of the Buddhist Publications Circulation Centre in 1933, and the Singapore Buddhist Lodge in 1934.[5]

Venerable Sumangalo (1903—1963) was born as Robert Stuart Clifton in a devout Christian family in Birmingham, Alabama in the United States in 1903. After receiving his Doctorate in Literature, he lectured on Buddhism in the United States before moving to Asia to further his study of Buddhism. In 1957, he joined the Theravada Order in Laos and received the monastic name Sumangalo, meaning "very auspicious". He then left for Malaya and later visited Singapore on a spiritual tour in late 1959 with another American Buddhist monk, Venerable Susiddhi. Through his efforts, a number of Youth Circles and Sunday schools were set up locally.[6]

In January 1959, he was invited to be the honorary abbot of Poh Ern Shih, thus becoming the first Westerner to be the abbot of a Buddhist temple in Singapore.[7] While in Singapore, he assisted Pitt Chin Hui in her translation of the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra from Chinese to English. He returned to Malaya and spent his later years at Penang Buddhist Association, where most of his Dhamma lectures were held. His lectures were later compiled in English and Chinese and are still freely distributed. Venerable Sumangalo passed away on 6 February 1963 and was cremated in Penang.[8]

Pitt Chin Hui (1906—1981) was born to a wealthy family in Guangzhou, China. She was the youngest child of the family, and was taken by her mother to Penang to receive her early education. In 1924, she sat for the Senior Cambridge Examination, and while waiting for the examination results she became an English teacher at the Fujian Girls' School. In 1927, she left for further studies at the Zhongshan University in Guangzhou. However, she terminated her tertiary studies and returned to Penang when her mother became seriously ill. While in Penang, she attended Dharma lectures by Venerable Taixu and his disciple, Venerable Cihang, at the Kek Lok Si Temple. Pitt subsequently became one of Cihang's disciples, and studied under him. She was responsible for setting up the Maha Bodhi School in Penang and Singapore (1946), to promote Buddhist education to the young. Along with her school duties, Pitt was also an active voluntary worker in the Buddhist community.[9]

In December 1959, Pitt embarked on the task of translating the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra from Chinese to English at Poh Ern Shih, so that it would be accessible to the English-educated. Venerable Sumangalo assisted Pitt in her translation tasks, as well as offering suggestions for improving the English version. In 1964, Pitt was awarded the Public Service Star—BBM (Bintang Bakti Masharakat)—by Encik Yusof bin Ishak, the First President of the Republic of Singapore. In 1973, she was appointed as Justice of the Peace by the Second President Dr. Benjamin Henry Sheares. Pitt Chin Hui was also a Vice-President of the World Fellowship of Buddhists. She died in 1981 while on a trip in India.[9]

Conscious that a large percentage of its devotees were in their 60s, the Honorary President/Director of Poh Ern Shih, Lee Boon Siong, a retired lawyer, grandson of the temple's founder, and its chief architect, strove to ensure that the temple was accessible to the elderly and those who use wheelchairs. A gentle driveway stretches from the gates to the upper levels of the temple, and every storey of the building has level flooring. The lavatory cubicles are fitted with easily reached "call-for-help" buttons, and the doors are designed so that they can be unlocked from the outside in the case of emergency.[10]

Solar panels installed at the rooftops of the temple as part of its eco-friendly design

The temple takes advantage of Singapore's abundant sunlight by having three different kinds of solar energy cells on its rooftop. They are the poly-crystalline silicon solar array, mono-crystalline silicon solar array and amorphous silicon solar array. Poh Ern Shih's water is heated by its solar panels, and its night lighting is powered by electricity converted from solar energy, With its breezy location, wind generators have also been erected to convert wind activity into electricity.[11]

The rainwater which falls on Poh Ern Shih is collected from surface run-offs and rain gutters and used to irrigate the temple grounds, as well as to generate electricity used for charging the batteries of in-house motorised wheelchairs. The electricity is produced by water from the highest floor of the temple passing through hydroelectric-generators. A purification system is also being installed, so that the collected rainwater can be filtered and made potable.[11]

In line with the aim to make use of renewable resources, the furniture in Poh Ern Shih for its resident monastics is made from bamboo. Bamboo is considered to one of the most ecologically friendly materials for use in home furnishing and flooring, because it can be harvested without felling the entire tree. There is therefore no need for replanting, and the bamboo is allowed to regain its full height again over about five years, ready to be harvested again.[12]

The second phase of the temple was completed in late 2008, featuring a new Main Ksitigarbha Prayer Hall as well as a Guanyin Meditation Hall with lapis lazuli statues and a 7-storey stupa.[13]