Burmese Buddhist Temple | Venerable Kaw Wnta

Burmese Buddhist Temple at 14 Tai Gin Road

As mentioned in our other post, many from the Burmese community here often gather at common spaces like Peninsula Plaza, where they are able to find shops that sell things from home and people who speak a familiar language. But apart from these physical elements that can evoke a sense of their homes back in Myanmar, religion is another element that plays an important part in the Burmese community.

Myanmar is a religious country, where majority of the population are Theravada Buddhists. In our group's attempt to know more about the Buddhist Burmese here, who continue to practice their religion in a different country, we approached one of the monks at the Buddhist Burmese Temple, now located at 14 Tai Gin Road.

On 30th September, we had the privilege speaking to Venerable Kaw Wnta, one of the monks at the temple who gave us more details about how he became a monk and first came to Singapore and some information of the temple's history. On top of that, he was also able to provide us insights to some of the problems that the Burmese here face as foreign workers.

Venerable Kaw Wnta also told us that most Burmese migrants here, often working in low-paying and physically demanding jobs, seek answers for their problems and guidance through religion. It helps to cope with the stress and any unhappiness they face. He commented that many of the Burmese women working in Singapore as domestic workers often approached him for solutions to the problems of not getting enough food from their employers or their low wages that made life challenging for them, especially when many of them are responsible for remitting money home to their families.

In our next post, we will delve more into the interview with the Venerable and see what answers he has for us.

#interview #religion