Miri Buddhist Society building undergoes upgrading works
MIRI: Miri Buddhist Society will hold a novitiate retreat programme, one of its biggest events, in early June this year and to ensure it runs smoothly several upgrading works on its building are ongoing to prepare for the event.
The upgrading works which amounted to RM57,000, include replacing roller shutter door from manual to automatic system, repainting walls and doors; replacing wall fans and the electrical wiring system in parts of the building for safety purpose.
The fund for the upgrading works was from Piasau assemblyman Datuk Sebastian Ting’s rural transformation project ( RTP) allocation while the contractor was selected through a tender process by Miri City Council ( MCC).
“We are thankful for the assistance from Piasau rep, Datuk Sebastian Ting as it had hugely helped us in improving our facilities,” said Cr. Gilbert Chin who is the society’s secretary recently.
According to Chin, some of the facilities such as the roller shutters had been used since 1984 and the manual shutters were a little rusty and heavy for daily use.
“The material used from the old days were heavy and many of our members who comprise senior citizens may not have the strength to pull it down.
Hence, replacing it with an automatic roller shutter system would make it easier for them to use. In addition to that, there are sensors installed with the shutter, which are very convenient for us,” said Chin.
Meanwhile, Chin said that they had appealed for RM200,000 funding to cover the expenses of the society’s additional rooms that were completed early this year.
“The overall cost for the additional rooms were RM320,000. We are in the midst of raising about RM120,000 from the public and we had appealed to Unit for other Religions ( Unifor) for the remaining RM200, 000. We are keeping our fingers crossed for good news from theSarawak government,” he said adding that the additional rooms will be used as activity and accommodation purpose during the novitiate retreat programme.
On a separate matter, the society has planned to renovate its praying altars after most part of the altars had been damaged by termites.
“The altars were built and used for the past 30 years. Even though we tried to solve the termite problem with pest-control service, it did not seem to last long. Hence, the committee members had agreed during the recent annual general meeting (AGM) to rebuild and renovate the altar using either fibre or metal.
“We are in the midst of preparing the proposal and will soon tender the proposal to relevant authority for funding,” said Chin adding that the estimated cost for the project is around RM350,000.