On 2nd July 2019, amongst his busy schedule, New Zealand Police Deputy Commissioner Wallace Haumaha led a team of Police officers consisting of Canterbury Police District Commander Superintendent Lane Todd, New Zealand Police Principal Advisor Inspector Rakesh Naidoo, and Acting Sergeant, Canterbury Police Andrea Williams, on a visit to Fo Guang Shan (FGS) South Island. They were warmly welcomed by Chancellor of FGS Institute of Humanistic Buddhism (FGS IHB) Venerable Miao Fan, FGS New Zealand Abbess Venerable Manshin, FGS South Island Minister-in-charge Venerable Jue Xi, Venerable Zi Sui and Buddha’s Light international Association (BLIA) South Island members.
Abbess Venerable Manshin first led Deputy Commissioner Wallace and entourage for a tour of Fo Guang Yuan (FGY) Art Gallery Christchurch, the Buddha Hall, the Library and other sections of the Temple. They were later shown the video on the ‘Coffee and Chocolate Festival’ held 2 weeks ago at the Temple. After the video viewing, the visitors were visibly impressed with the tremendous response shown by the public and regretted missing this exciting and colourful Festival and they were full of praises for FGS South Island for bringing colour and joy to the people of Christchurch through this ‘Coffee and Chocolate Festival’.
Deputy Commissioner Wallace remarked that he is often mentally stressed by the mountain of cases he must deal with daily and would like to visit the Temple whenever he has the opportunity to come to Christchurch. This is because the peaceful and tranquil ambience of the Temple will allow him to relax and recharge himself and return afterwards to better serve the people. Before leaving, Deputy Commissioner Wallace thanked Abbess Manshin for her care and concern, making him feel the warmth of Humanistic Buddhism.