Wilson Lau New Media

I have picked all the relevant leads so far from my subscriptions to del.icio.us feeds. Here are the possible story leads that I plan to follow up for my final project “changes in Buddhist organisations and their activities in Hong Kong since the handover”:

Radio broadcast - started in August 2006, Metro Radio’s financial news channel broadcasts this programme from 11 to 12pm every Sunday. This progamme invites speakers to discuss the exploration of Buddhism and Buddha’s teachings through observations of small things and matters in our daily life. I think this is worth looking at as it is a radio broadcast programme that reaches a wide audience. And the information I may be able to gather from the hosts of this programme should reflect the changes in attitude towards Buddhism among the local population.

To follow up on the trends in Buddhist academic studies in Hong Kong, I will look at this discussion group formed by the current students of the HKU’s Centre for Buddhist Studies. This site  keeps me updated on the issues of concern to the centre’s students. I will follow up on theposts by the students and arrange interviews with them in future. Information gathered should help me to build up the part on the new developments of Buddhist academic studies in Hong Kong.  

 As for reporting on the activities organised by local Buddhists’ organisations and monasteries, I have received this tagged site run by the Po Lin Monastery  from my del.icio.us feeds. This well-maintained site is frequently updated and has comprehensive information on the latest Buddhist activities in Hong Kong and on the mainland. This tagged site of the Hong Kong Buddhist Organisation supplements the information from the Po Lin’s site.  In addition, I got this tagged site the Buddhist Compassion Charity Fund from the feeds. This organisation has a regularly updated list of Buddhism-themed activities for adults and children taking all over Hong Kong. The organisation  publishes a monthly magazine and its site runs articles from local Buddhists. I believe it is a valuable source to get a better understanding of Buddhist activities in the city.

 Apart from the academic studies of Buddhism and the public attitude towards Buddhism, I would like to explore Buddhists’ organisations contribution to social welfare. This tagged site of the Buddhist Hospital should be a good start. This community hospital was founded by the Hong Kong Buddhist Organisation. The organisation also has a branch The Hong Kong Buddhist Organisation Youth Centre  which organises extra-curricular activities for underprivileged school children in Hong Kong.