Everyone is looking forward to the completion of a new Soka Centre at the current Wishart Road site at Telok Blangah; as well as the highly significant Mentor and Disciple Heritage Centre.
Preparations are underway for the existing Telok Blangah Soka Centre to be rebuilt to fulfil the expectations and requirements of the organisation and membership towards the future advancement and development of Singapore.
Opened 28 years ago on October 12, 1984, the Telok Blangah Soka Centre, or popularly known as TBSC in short, was the first Soka Centre to be built with the members’ sincere contributions. It was an important “castle of kosen-rufu” that was the centre for rallying and fostering the youths, with the formation of the SSA Youth Division that year. It was the training ground for SSA function groups, such as the Young Women Division hospitality group (Byakuren-White Lotus Group), the Young Men Division security group (Gajokai-Fortress Group), and the Women Division cleanliness group (Mamorukai-White Phoenix Group) to carry out their mission to serve the members. It was also the epic centre for SGS’s promotion of peace, culture and education, and the birth place where creative ideas for the first ever National Day Parade mass display performance by SSA in 1986, and community service efforts were cultivated.
Most important of all, TBSC holds memories for all as the centre that welcomed SGI President Ikeda on his first visit to Singapore in February 1988.
The two-storey association building will be rebuilt as a three-storey building that will house an auditorium, meeting rooms, and the SSA Mentor and Disciple Heritage Centre. This centre will feature the legacy of the three successive presidents of Soka Gakkai, an essential heritage that is and will always be the prime-point for SGS’s development. There is also a roof terrace, where the Kaneko Ikeda orchid garden will be set up to feature the exquisite Dendrobium Kaneko Ikeda orchids for members’ enjoyment.
Hence, members can look forward to the new Soka Centre that will stand proud as a centre built in honour of SGI President Ikeda and Mrs Ikeda, and a place where visitors can learn the mentor and disciple spirit that is the heart of the Buddhist practice.