Daily Lessons from 10 October 2013 - Fake monk makes $2,000 a day

"Fake monk makes $2,000 a day - The New Paper Oct 10, 2013 SINGAPORE - In just a day, a man who passed himself off as a Thai monk pocketed $2,000. He had gone around Singapore selling religious pendants and begging for money from passers-by. Within six hours of hitting the streets, the man had already earned $800. He could even afford to take a three-hour siesta from 2-5pm before donning his robes to hit the streets again in the evening. Venerable Chao Khun Rian from the Thai Buddhist Temple in Singapore on Monday used this incident, which happened six years ago, to highlight how lucrative it can be for men passing themselves off as monks. At least five fake monks have been reported to the Singapore Buddhist Federation in the last two weeks, prompting the federation to call for a press conference on Monday morning. Singapore Buddhist Federation secretary-general Venerable Seck Kwang Phing and locally-based representatives from the Thai, Myanmar and Sri Lankan temples here addressed the problem of these imposters at the federation's building in Geylang. The Buddhist leaders showed pictures of alms bowls, emphasising that monks are not allowed to ask for money using them." It has been SHOWN people are MORE likely to give to the 'religious' person(s) and these incidents simply confirm this truism! Lessons for me are: 1. charity begins at home and while one may not be giving away much, it must be made known to the giver that he or she is promoting irresponsible giving!; 2. it is great that the Singapore Buddhist Federation and leaders of other temples in Singapore proactively managed this issue by calling a press conference to EXPLAIN and EDUCATE potential givers HOW they CAN give to the Buddhist temples instead of being unwitting accomplished to irresponsible giving!; 3. as for those who believe that they are being 'smart' to pose as monk to cheat givers to give, it is not unconceivable that they will get their just retribution since it is part of the belief of some Buddhists. If they are indeed SMART, they will do something else. Otherwise, who knows what will become of them in the future. To give is great. To give responsibly is even greater! Do it. And do it responsibly!