DISCOVER the Road to Financial FREEDOM!

Bogus Buddhist Monks has started surfacing in these past few year!

Thanks to kind and Generosity of people who stay and visited here.

I am working around the Kuala Lumpur Golden Triangle, where thousand of foreign visitor would do their shopping here.

The appearance of Bogus Buddhist Monks is Not Uncommon Sight here!

Their Modus operandi is very simple and they work in a Group!

What I notice they will Only approach foreign tourists as local people hardly would entertain them.

First they will tried to hand over a charms or amulet and a booklet for the foreign tourists to write donation amount on it. Being caught unexpected surprise, they maybe willing give out the donation.

Asking for a Donation is a Lucrative Business!

If we refer to the Vinaya Pitaka (Code of Discipline) laid down by Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, Monks and Nuns are Not Allowed to handle ‘gold and silver’ or, in today’s scenario is called Money.

A Buddhist Monk never beg for any Money.

Normally Monk will spend most of their time in Temple to serve the devotes need.

But in this case you will see this Bogus Buddhist Monks love the crowded place like the Lot 10, KLCC,  MidValley, Berjaya Times Square, Bukit Bintang, Sungei Wang and other places of interest.

It’s recommended tourist visitor guide can highlight this Bogus Buddhist Monks activities here.

Giving Donation is definitely a Good Deed and would bring A Good Karma.

The problem in this case is it may falls on wrong hands.

Maybe we can implement a “Police Monk ” like in Thailand to curb this Bogus Buddhist Monks activities.

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Swindlers in saffron robes cashing in on people’s generosity

Stories by TAN KARR WEI

BOGUS monks are roaming the streets of the Klang Valley, cashing in on the generosity of the people to make money.

These imposters can be seen going from table to table in restaurants in the commercial areas, and even approaching people at the public car parks.

According to Buddhist Chief High Priest of Malaysia, Venerable K. Sri Shammaratana, monks who begged for money are violating the Buddhist code of ethics. The alms bowl is strictly meant for food.

According to the owner of a coffee shop in Damansara Utama, who asked not to be identified, the imposters would make their rounds at the various eating places in the commercial area at various time.

“You won’t see them at a specific time. Sometimes they come at about 10am, sometimes they target the lunch crowd,” she said.

Charming: A man clad in a monk’s attire selling amulets to a tourist in Bukit Bintang.

There were also reports of such monks stationing themselves at the morning and night markets.

StarMetro also observed the movements of these spurious monks at the busy Bukit Bintang area on a Saturday afternoon.

A man wearing an ankle-length saffron robe with a cloth bag on one shoulder was seen taking a breather outside the Lot 10 shopping centre when a security guard motioned him to move away.

He then walked across Jalan Bukit Bintang and stopped at the junction just in front of the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.

The man, in his mid-30s, targeted only foreign tourists and would not even bother to stop locals who walked past him.

He seemed to be holding a small amulet in one hand and trying to sell it to the foreigners.

After about 20 minutes, he then walked back to the area in front of Lot 10 to sit down for a short rest.

Two other men dressed in saffron robes and blown pants were also seen walking along Jalan Bukit Bintang and turned left onto Jalan Sultan Ismail, between Lot 10 and Sungei Wang.

They then turned into Jalan Bulan 2 and headed down a staircase meant for a basement parking floor.

After about five minutes, they emerged from the stairwell, dressed in casual clothing – both were wearing caps and T-shirts.

Making rounds: A man dressed in a blue robe with long beaded necklace asking for donations from table to table along the busy Jalan Alor.

One was still wearing the light brown pants while the other was in shorts but still wearing the shoes and socks that went with the monk outfit.

They were seen going into a supermarket to purchase some groceries.

According to Sungei Wang Plaza security manager Azahari Abdul Hamid, whose team has conducted investigations of their own, there are also women who dressed up as Buddhist nuns.

“We do not allow them into our mall to ask for donations,” he said.

Azahari believed that most of these people were foreigners who entered the country with tourist visas and had used various tricks in operating their racket.

“We have seen them in the Bukit Bintang area, trying to sell charms and amulets to the tourists, at RM5 a piece. When the tourists agree to buy it from them, the monk would bring out a book from his bag and the victims end up paying a higher price for the charm,” Azahari said.

He said that on one occasion, his security personnel confronted two fictitious monks inside the mall after receiving some complaints.

“We checked their bags and they had about RM1,000 inside. They also had valid passports as well,” he said.

Azahari said that besides buying groceries, his guards had also seen these counterfeit monks changing into casual clothes and heading into the mall to buy expensive items like mobile phones.

Damansara Utama police station deputy head Sjn Mejar Jipa Langob advised the public to contact the police if they felt that the monks were not genuine or if they were being harassed.

“We can then check to see if these people are locals or if they had the proper documents. They are not supposed to solicit money from people in public areas,” Jipa said.

Sources The Star

Imposters using religion to cheat

THERE are people who will resort to all sorts of tricks and frauds to make a fast buck, including using religion to swindle people.

The presence of bogus monks and fake nuns in the streets of the Klang Valley trying to deceive the generous and gullible is one good example.

Quick change: These two men wearing caps were dressed in monk robes about 15 minutes before this picture was taken. They managed to change into casual clothes and proceeded into a supermarket to purchase groceries.

To masque as a monk, complete with a sling bag and an alms bowl in hand, is a simple task as most of the required materials are easily available in the neighbouring countries like Thailand and China.

A saffron robe can be bought for just RM200 and it takes only a few tries to get the outfit perfect.

Lately, some women are also seen in the streets and at the markets dressed in white as Buddhist nuns or sila-rhan, as they are popularly known.

Like their male counterparts, they stand at busy street corners with a pious and reverence look, equipped with strings of prayer beads and amulets chanting religious verses.

Such a racket started some 10 years back and had worsened in time as Malaysia was seen as an easy getaway for syndicates eyeing to make fast money.

Such a situation may not have gone on for so long if only the Buddhist devotees know that the real monks are not allowed to beg for money.

Buddhist Chief High Priest of Malaysia, Venerable K. Sri Dhamma-ratana remembers the practice of going out of the temple was only during his college days, when they were divided into groups from cleaning halls and shrines to collecting alms.

“Not all of us get to go out, only a small group each time, then we have to bring the food back and share it with the rest, There’s also a group who has to cook just in case what we bring back was not enough for all,” he said.

Dhammaratana said that compared to the Buddhist countries like Thailand and Myammar, monks in Malaysia had never been sent out to collect alms, and he had never been out of the Buddhist Maha Vihara to do so since his arrival in Kuala Lumpur in 1980 from Sri Lanka.

According to Dhammaratana, the practice of collecting alms is part of Buddhism which he teaches during the temple’s annual novitiate programme, where participants have the chance to feel how it was like to collect alms.

“They don’t have to go out, but we will inform the participant’s relatives and family to bring food on the given day to offer it to them,” he said.

They are everywhere: Some bogus monks show up barefooted just to attract attention and sympathy from the public.

Dhammaratana believes that the counterfeit monks were all from syndicates who bring the lay people from the north to beg in the city, after seeing how easy it is to collect alms from the people who gave generously.

“The temples and Buddhists organisations tried to stop these fictitious monks from cheating the public but it is not easy,” he said.

“We have sent out newsletters, posters but the people are ignorant, they don’t bother to read,” the 60-year-old Dhammaratana said.

He said the Brickfields police used to call him to help identify the bogus monks but he could not tell if they were real or bogus.

“They also speak different languages and none of us understand what they were saying, We gave them clothes to change and they were let off,” Dhammaratana said.

According to Rev Bamrung from the Thai Buddhist Chetawan Temple in Petaling Jaya, Malaysians should not only think of doing good by giving donations but also find out who exactly who they are giving it to.

“People feel they have no time to visit temples, so when they see a monk walking, they would donate. Some even take pity on those who go around begging barefooted, as they felt it is a need to give them money out of pity,” he said.

Bamrung said that during his trip out of the temple once, a devotee rushed over to offer him money but he declined the offering and advised him to visit the temple instead.

Bamrung, who studied Buddhism in various parts of Thailand as was ordained in Kedah, said that collecting alms was still practised widely in Thailand.

“In Malaysia, we don’t practise it at all as most temples have caretaker preparing food for us daily, there is no need for us to go out,” the 37-year-old monk said.

Asked if Thailand had imposed guidelines for its monks, Bamrung said the monks in that Buddhist country were allowed to go out of the temple in the morning, usually between 7am and 9am.

They are also free to conduct blessings for homes of devotees or visit their friends without bringing the alms bowl out as it was only meant for food.

Bamrung said that as opposed to Malaysia, all Thai monks carry an ID card which had the name of the temple they belonged to and who ordained them, hence making the job of identifying them easier for the authorities.

He remember once a monk was caught begging around the bars at night and was caught red handed by the police.

“The monk said he was doing the patrons a favour as he felt they have no free time to visit the temples. The police sent him to his temple and he was de-robed by the chief abbot that night itself, as a punishment to him as it was seen as an embarrassment to other monks,” Bamrung said.

“If the public is serious on donating to the monks, they should go to the temple to do it,” he said.

Buddhist Maha Vihara president Leslie Tilak said that the scandalous issue had been a difficult one to solve because many people still continued to donate blindly.

“It is difficult for the police to build a case against these swindlers and imposters as they did not force the people to give them money. It is handed to them voluntarily,” Leslie said.

“If there’s no demand then there would be no supply,” he said.

Sources The Star