5 years have passed since the youth group in Wat Ananda was renamed from the Ananda Metyarama Buddhist Youth Circle (AMBYC) to Wat Ananda Youth (WAY).  In the past 5 years, we organised a number of activities in line with our vision to propagate the Dhamma through spiritual friendship and practice-focused interest groups.  We organise a weekly service every Sunday morning in Wat Ananda where we invite different speakers to share the Dhamma and also for members to forge friendship during the service.  We also invited various Venerables to conduct meditation retreats and workshops.  While cultivating our own practice though attending talks and retreats, we also remember a key aspect of the Buddha's teachings of radiating loving kindness and compassion to the less fortunate.  As part of our community outreach programme, we organise quarterly community service to distribute rations and basic necessities to elderly from the low-income families.   Besides reaching out to the elderly, we also continue to show our support towards the young.  We took a more active role in supporting the activities of a group of young Buddhists called the Young Buddhist Chapter (YBC) who recently came under the guardianship of WAY. 

On our 45th Anniversary, we organised a lunch (on 13 Nov 2011) for members and friends.  It was a day for members to catch up with their old friends and also to network with new friends.  We were honoured to have the Thai Ambassador Mr Nopadol Gunavibool graced the occasion, together with Venerable Phramaha Rian(Secretary of Wat Ananda), Venerable Guang Pin of Singapore Buddhist Federation and other Venerables.   The programme started with a speech by Bro Andrew Sim, President of WAY, followed by a speech by Venerable Phramaha Rian and a slide presentation of WAY activities.  There were also performances by YBC and other young friends who performed and sang during the lunch. 

We are thankful towards Venerable Chao Khun, Venerable Phramaha Rian and all Sangha members of Wat Ananda for their support towards our activities.  We are also thankful towards other Dhamma brothers and sisters who have supported us in various ways e.g. by giving talks during the Sunday Service, volunteering at our activities, supporting and participating in our activities.  We would like to wish WAY another 5 fruitful years ahead as we work towards our 50th Anniversary.  Let's "Live the Dhamma" together for the next 5 years!

[L] YBC performing "STOMP" [R]  Young musicians serenading the audience with songs

[L] Offering lunch dana to the Sangha  [R] ~~ Happy birthday to WAY ~~