Li Ka-shing-funded HK$1.5b monastery with bulletproof guest rooms due to open
HK$1.5b monastery financed by Li Ka-shing is secure as well as serene
Surrounded by green hills in Tai Po under the merciful gaze of the world's second tallest Kwun Yum statue, a HK$1.5 billion monastery with bulletproof VIP rooms fully funded by tycoon Li Ka-shing will be opened to the public next month.
But the Tang dynasty-style Tsz Shan Monastery, which can accommodate about 400 to 500 visitors every day, will not entertain tour groups with a view to preserving its tranquillity.
From April 15, all public visits will be limited to individuals or charitable organisations registered under a booking system launched last week. No lunch is offered, nor are visitors allowed to bring any meat, alcohol or incense inside the sacred place.
The idea of building the monastery, which occupies an area of about 500,000 sq ft with over 60 per cent being green areas in the Tung Tsz hills, was initiated by Li in late 2003 in an attempt to realise his vision of promoting Buddhism in the city.
In an afterword to the book Building Tsz Shan, Li says he was deeply enlightened by the teachings in the Diamond Sutra that "all things are but a dream and an illusion". This inspired him to embark on the project with the aim of serving the community with Buddhist teachings.
Despite its many impressive features, including the 76-metre-tall, bronze-forged white statue of goddess Kwun Yum and an 18-metre-tall main temple for the Supreme Buddha Gautama, all eyes were on a two-storey dormitory building equipped with bulletproof windows and doors.