2019 Activity and Event Highlights

This year, Members of Parliament, Provincial and Municipal Councillors came to Tian-Jin Temple to pray for the blessing of the Chinese New Year, ringing the peace bell and praying for a smooth and healthy year.

Now in its fourth year, the Tian-Jin Centennial Cup Calligraphy Competition has invited renowned calligrapher and painter Prof. Chun Chieh Chang and Mr. Shiu Chung Wu to join the judging panel. The Western Canada Chinese Calligraphy Association has also joined the competition as a co-organizer, making the event even more exciting and lively.

The theme of this year's event is "Water Lantern Release". Water lantern is a ritual of folklore and cultural activities, such as rituals to attract orphaned souls in the water to receive general enlightening. Tian-Jin Temple made a scenery of a river of water lanterns, which connected the panels with the model in a beautiful way, attracting many people to watch and learn. The Tian-Jin Formation Drum Troupe also performed and taught on the street, causing many people to try out the drums and signed up for lessons.

The Tian-Jin Temple Festival is held every spring and attracts many Chinese and Westerners to attend. There are stage performances expressing the essence of diverse cultures; Taiwanese snacks to satisfy the taste buds; folklore booths such as paper-cutting, candy painting, and balloon blowing that surprise adults and children; various parent-child games that are nostalgic for parents and joyful for children; and the Burnaby Library tour bus, children's game bus, and free Tim Hortons coffee cart, etc., which make it a good place to go for spring.

The Chinese Taoism Kuan-Kung Association in Canada was invited to attend the Burnaby Age-Friendly Community Project seminar held by BIPT again this year, and the participants came from various professional social service organizations related to the old age communities. The Association has been caring for our gray-haired friends for many years, comforting their helplessness; offering various community courses; and organizing community elderly afternoon tea, allowing the elderly to get out of their homes to meet friends, connect with the community and regenerate the value of life. The Association is the only unpaid service organization at the conference, and was unanimously praised for its selfless dedication to social welfare.

With the belief that people are hungry, Tian-Jin Temple raised 32,741 pounds of food in the spring and fall. Through the years of support and sponsorship, the Chinese Taoism Kuan-Kung Association in Canada/Tian-Jin Temple has become one of the major sponsors of the Food Bank of Greater Vancouver and the directors of the Food Bank came to express their gratitude to the Association.

The Chinese Taoism Kuan-Kung Association in Canada was invited to attend the InDonation Charity Foundation's inaugural Friendship Appreciation Concert on June 29 and received a letter of appreciation from Robert A Prasetya, Director/CEO of the Foundation, expressing his deepest gratitude to the Association for donating to the orphans in Indonesia so that they can live and learn in a better way. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to Robert A Prasetya, the Director/CEO of the Foundation, for his contribution to the orphans in Indonesia so that they can be better taken care of in all aspects of life and learning. Our mission is to promote unity and harmony among people regardless of race, religion, country, or region, and to do whatever we can.

On April 25, several members of the Association attended a panel discussion on Affordable Housing at the Burnaby Library, where people were able to discuss their housing visions. Jeffrey Yu, Executive Director of the Association with many years of experience in senior care, was one of the speakers at the seminar and introduced the "Development of Senior Care Institutions and Related Charitable Projects" to the public.

On March 21, International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Chinese Taoism Kuan-Kung Association in Canada was nominated by the Government of BC for the 2019 BC Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Awards in the "Organizations" category. The Association was nominated by the B.C. government in the "Organizations" category of the 2019 BC Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Awards. This award was established by the B.C. government in 2008 to inspire organizations that contribute their time and energy to community harmony. The Society will cherish this honor and continue to promote multiculturalism and social charity, and promote the spirit of "helping where we can" to the community.

Every year, Tian-Jin Temple collects blankets, scarves, mittens, socks, and other warming materials and makes 500 warming packs for Burnaby Warming, Vancouver East and our partner Burnaby Southside Community Church to help the needy in the community. TJ Living/ Vouver Outreach was invited by IAK Foundation Canada to help Burnaby Gilmore Leadership Class to pack up the packages to help low-income families. Master Millie Chen led several volunteers to donate hundreds of "warming care packages" and taught the elementary school students the meaning of helping others to do good. The Burnaby Fire Department also donated a sum of money for the purchase of necessities to be distributed together. We are glad that we all care for the community and sow the seeds of love, so that the society can be filled with love and warmth.

Tianjin Temple in Canada cares for communities. TJ Living/Vouver Outreach is a caring community organization that aids the community by distributing sandwiches several times a month. We would like to thank Mayor Mike Hurley for his support and encouragement of TJ Living's activities. He came to TJ Living to pick up the hundreds of packages and help promote this charity event.