Reported in The Star Dec 03, 2009
OVER a thousand devotees gathered at Dewan Sri Pinang in Penang to celebrate Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s 84th birthday on Monday.
Themed ‘84 years of Love in Action’, the grand celebrations organised by the Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centres of Penang included vedic chanting and bhajans, a blood donation drive, a Balvikas drama and multimedia presentations.
State Town and Country Plan-ning, Housing and Arts Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said Sai Baba’s teachings that advocated love and respect among people of all religions and cultures were pertinent in a multi-faith country like Malaysia.
Wong lighting the jyothi. With him is Ravendran.
Organising chairman G. Raven-dran said: “We strive to be a genuine spiritual movement and believe that love is the fuel for our spiritual progress. Our centres’ activities enable our members to live according to the five universal values of love, truth, peace, non-violence and righteousness.
“We’re also dedicated to ser-ving all of mankind, regardless of race, religion or creed.”
Ravendran added that the centres relied solely on contributions from well-wishers.
There are currently over 1,200 centres in 114 countries worldwide, whose members are from of all walks of life.
On a related issue, Wong re-marked that there were insufficient places of worship in the state at the moment, and as such, the government was considering implementing a policy requiring all new projects to allocate certain areas for the construction of places of worship for all faiths.
