HKBA distances itself from monastery in alleged marriage-for-residency scam

[Infantry]

Hong Kong Buddhist Association distances itself from monastery in alleged marriage-for-residency scam

One of city's top monks takes evasive approach when asked about scandal

PUBLISHED : Friday, 16 October, 2015, 12:33pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 17 October, 2015, 1:52am

Samuel Chan
[email protected]

Venerable Kin Chiu, President of Buddhist Association of Macau, chief elder of Po Lin Monastery, attend Buddha You Run press conference at the Po Lin Monastery Cultural and Education Centre in Lantau on Friday. Photo: Dickson Lee

Hong Kong's largest Buddhist group and one of the city's most influential monasteries have both attempted to distance themselves from a monastery embroiled in a suspected marriage-for-residency and embezzlement scandal.

A senior monk at Po Lin Monastery yesterday used Buddhist-speak by saying "answering questions would only invite trouble" as he tried to fend off media questions about the Lantau monastery's role in the affair.

Earlier this week, Mary Jean Reimer, one of the directors of Ting Wai Monastery in Tai Po, claimed Sik Chi Ding, the monastery's abbess, had transferred a portion of more than HK$5 million in donations to a bank account she controlled and set up for the monastery's renovation.

Reimer also claimed Chi Ding had admitted twice marrying mainland monks to help them secure Hong Kong residency.

"This is a troubling question," said Sik Kin Chiu, chief elder of Po Lin Monastery. "As monks, we have always tried to avoid any instances of trouble."

Mary Jean Reimer (left) and Sik Chi Ding. Photos: Sam Tsang, David Wong

Kin Chiu was responding to how the monastery verified the mainland monks' legal documents and whether the in-house monk said to have married Chi Ding had been punished.

Asked how a solution would be possible if one did not face the problem, the monk, 69, said: "By not answering you, I have resolved my trouble. But if I give you an answer, there will be trouble.

"The fact that you have trouble does not mean I have trouble.

"But if I had trouble then it would really be my trouble."

But Kin Chiu later said "the person of interest to media" - Po Lin monk Sik Yu Chee who was part of the second suspected bogus marriage - was "gone".

"Now there is no more trouble as far as Po Lin Monastery is concerned," he said, without specifying whether the person of interest left on his own accord.

Any monk or nun found to be guilty of serious offences would not be allowed to stay at the monastery, Kin Chiu added.

Ting Wai Monastery in Tai Po. Photo: David Wong

In a statement yesterday, the Hong Kong Buddhist Association said neither the Tai Po monastery nor its leaders implicated in the affair were its members.

The statement also noted the association's president, Sik Chi Wai, abbot of Po Lin, had never been a director of Ting Wai Monastery or received any money from it, contrary to some local media reports.

Expressing the association's "deep concern" about the incident, the statement said the city's Buddhist community was "extremely sad" to learn fellow Buddhists might have broken the law as well as the rules by which a Buddhist was bound.

"Chinese Buddhism does not allow monks or nuns to marry," the statement read. "Anyone who breaks such rules is subject to punishment by his or her monastery's abbot."

The statement added that it was difficult for the association to investigate or regulate the finances of any individuals or institutions within the Buddhist community.

It appealed to the public to be mindful of the background of charitable organisations and religious institutions when making donations.