Untitled Document
     
 

Poh Ern Shih - a Limited Company without Shares:

 

POH ERN SHIH (“PES”) is a Private Limited Company registered under the Companies Act in 1950 but is a Company without shares.  Therefore no individual person can claim to have a proprietary interest in PES.  The Members of PES instead sign a Guaranty to cover the debts of the Company limited to $10 each.  Members elect the Board of Directors to manage the Temple. Under its Memorandum & Articles of Association, no Member and no Director of PES is permitted to draw any Salary or Income or to benefit directly or indirectly in any way from PES.  If he does so, his liability to Creditors and PES becomes unlimited automatically.

 

Poh Ern Shih - a Charity:

 

Furthermore, PES is the 9th Charity in Singapore to apply for registration under the Charities Act and therefore its official Charity Registration Number is 9. As a registered Charity no Director is permitted to draw a Salary or to benefit directly or indirectly by virtue of his office.  If any Director breaches this rule, he is liable to prosecution. As a Charity, Poh Ern Shih is required to donate 80% of its net Dana & Collections each year to other registered Singapore Charities retaining the 20% for its opening operating expenses in the upcoming year.  As a Charity, PES must also file its AUDITED Financial Statements with the Commissioner of Charities.

 

Poh Ern Shih – Audited Financial Statements:

 

As a registered Limited Company: 

a) PES must have its annual Financial Statements duly Audited.

b) PES has to file its audited Financial Statements each year with the Comptroller of Income Tax

As a registered Charity:

c) PES has to file its audited Financial Statements each year with the Commissioner of Charities

  

     
 
 

Poh Ern Shih – Bank Reserves & Assets:

 

Since 1950 to the present day, PES has no substantial Bank Reserves because of the annual 80% donation rule in the Charities Act. The Temple freehold land & building is registered in the name of PES.  In the early 1950’s the Founder and Sole Donor of the Temple land and building, the late Mr. Lee Choon Seng, also donated a large complex of pre-war rental Semi-detached and Terrace houses located at the junction of River Valley Road/Oxley Road to PES – using the rent to cover the holding and operating costs of the Temple which had very few Buddhist devotees in those early days.  After the lifting of the Control of Rent Act the complex was completely renovated and upgraded and the rentals therefrom are contributing substantially to the Gross Revenue of PES.

 

Religious Advisor:

 

Venerable Sek Faa See who has been associated with PES for over 30 years, is our Religious Advisor.  He is also our Chief Celebrant Bikkhu at our monthly Chanting of the Ksitigarbha Repentance Sutra on the 9th day of each Lunar month (10:00am – 12:00noon).

 

Dana to Monastic Celebrants in Sangha Dana Box only:

 

As PES does not encourage the public offering of Cash Dana in red packets by devotees to the Sangha in the temple premises, we request that you place your Dana in the specific Sangha Dana Box labeled prominently as such. We also discourage the practice of a fixed fee charged by some members of the Sangha for being invited as celebrants at prayers & festivals, and therefore PES will only invite Sangha members who will be prepared to share in the General Dana received by PES for the Festival (i.e. one-third each to the Buddha, the Dharma, & the Sangha). Cheques are then issued to the Sangha for ALL the proceeds from the Sangha Dana Box and one-third of the proceeds from the General Dana Boxes. 

   
 

Pureland Cultivation & the Ksitigarbha Dharma Door:

 

Since its inception, the Temple has promoted the Cultivation of Pureland Chanting with particular emphasis on the cultivation of the Ksitigarbha Dharma Door of Thanksgiving (to the Triple Gem, the protectors of the Republic & our Ancestors), Transfer of Merits (to the preceding), Alleviation of Suffering of all Sentient Beings, & Repentance for our present and past sins.  We therefore chant the KSITIGARBHA REPENTANCE SUTRA on the 9th day of each Lunar month and the KSITIGARBHA SUTRA on every Sunday. As a result of the foregoing Dharma Door our Annual Donations to Charities have leaned heavily in favour of those charities dedicated to Palliative Care of the Elderly and the Dying as well as charities dedicated to improving the lives of our very young who were born physically and intellectually challenged, operated by ALL 4 major religions (Muslims, Hindus, Christians & Buddhists)

 

 

Pureland Sutra Chanting in English:

 

Due to increasing numbers of English-speaking devotees turning to Buddhism, PES offers the following:

 

a)      Ksitigarbha Sutra in English on Sundays at 9:00am

 

b)      Amitabha Sutra in English during the 7th Lunar month and 3 weeks before Amitabha’s birthdate

 

c)      Shurangama Mantra in English on Saturdays (7:00am) & Sundays (8:00am)

 

d)      Medicine Buddha Sutra in English 3 weeks before Medicine Buddha’s birthdate

  
 
 

Huayen Dharma Door:

 

Ever since 2000, PES has invited the Sangha to lead us in the chanting of the FLOWER ADORNMENT SUTRA (Huayen Sutra) and ALL net proceeds therefrom have always been donated to Charities.

 

Every Thursday evening, we chant the FLOWER ADORNMENT REPENTANCE SUTRA (Huayen Repentance Sutra).

 

Meditation:

 

Every Thursday night is dedicated to Group Meditation Cultivation – each participant is welcome to join and meditate in the school he is accustomed to.  PES however draws its Meditation inspiration from the SOTO-ZEN School.

 

Staff:

 

We have the following salaried Staff positions in PES:

 

a)      Caretaker & Chief Cook

b)      Reception & Telephone Operator

c)      Gardener (this is currently not needed as the Temple is now undergoing Rebuilding)

d)      With the expanded size of the new Temple, we will need to recruit more permanent staff
 

Financial Matters:

 

All donation boxes must be opened in the presence of at least 2 Directors with the assistance of such Members or volunteers as may be recruited and the amount duly certified by those involved.

 

Night Chanting at Funeral Wakes:

 

Night Chanting at Funeral Wakes are available ONLY to the immediate family members of the Deceased who are devotees of PES. NO FEE is charged to the family of the deceased except for the cost of the bus charter.  The family of the deceased is free to make voluntary donations directly into the Temple donation boxes.

 

No Vendors:

 

No Vendors are permitted to sell their wares within the Temple compound.

 

No unauthorized Fundraising permitted:

 

No Fund-Raising of any kind is permitted within the Temple property unless duly authorized in writing by the Directors. No Fund-raising for any Foreign Charity is permitted within the Temple premises unless duly authorized by the Commissioner of Charities AND the Directors.

  
 
 

Volunteers:

 

In the last 55 years, the Temple has relied very heavily on its devotees who volunteer their services from time to time and on an ad hoc basis.  As of now, there is a central core of volunteers/devotees who are involved in the following identifiable areas:

Kitchen & Food preparation and cooking

Chanting Instrument Ensemble

Chanting Celebrants

Sutra & Prayer Accessories purchase & preparation

Flower Arrangements

Daily mopping and general cleaning

Bookkeeping Services

Purchasing Department

Banking

Monthly Printing & Mailing of  Newsletters

Fund-Raising Information

Fund-Raising Projects

Rebuilding of the new Temple

Rental & Maintenance of PES properties

Delivery of Vegetables and Fruits to other Charities

Opening of Donation Boxes, Counting the Collections, & Certifying same

Chanting at Funeral Wakes

 
 

Poh Ern Shih – JHS Montessori Kindergarten at 332 River Valley Rd:

 

The Directors, believing in the Montessori Method for Pre-Schoolers aged 18month – 6years and noting that most private MOE-registered Kindergartens are openly sectarian and very expensive in Singapore and well beyond the reach of most parents and realizing that the Single-Parent Syndrome is on the increase exponentially in Singapore, set up the above non-sectarian MOE-registered Kindergarten.  It is priced to reach out to pre-schoolers from the less fortunate families in offering the following economic Incentive Schemes:     

  

a)      An outright Economic Subsidy of $100p.m. to ALL parents

 

b)      A PES Interest-free loan of $100p.m. on a “payable when able” basis

 

c)      No extra charges for any of its Extra-Curricula-Activities so that no child in our pre-school will feel the stigma of being left out due to financial constraints of the parents.

 

Poh Ern Shih – JHS Childcare Centre at 322 River Valley Rd:

 

Because MOE does not permit Kindergartens to admit children below 3 years of age, PES started up the above MCDS-registered Childcare Centre to stimulate children under 3yrs old with the Montessori materials and methodology.  The Childcare Centre also has the same Incentive Schemes as the Kindergarten PLUS we offer a Special After/Before School Discount Package for children who are already registered at our above Kindergarten.

 

Poh Ern Shih – Trustee of Toh Guan Tong Temple at 264 Joo Chiat Place:

 

Toh Guan Tong Temple was also founded by the late Mr. Lee Choon Seng as a Buddhist Place of Refuge for women and PES is the Trustee of that temple.

  
 

Yours in the Dharma,

Lee Boon Siong

Honorary President/Director

 

Copyright © 2005 - 2009 Poh Ern Shih Charity ( Registration Number: 009 )

Last modified December 31, 2008

Hosted by Oryon Networks