The third President and Vice President of the 2018 Buddha's Light International Association Young Adult Division — San Francisco Subdivision is born!
On October 28th, while various subchapters of the BLIA San Francisco Chapter held their Annual General Meeting, the SFYAD also had their President and executive committee election for the year 2018. 17 members voted on site, while 3 members who were unable to attend seized the opportunity to vote online. The attendance reached a 75% high, and with the display of faith and legacy, the entire electoral proceedings went smoothly.
This year’s election was prepared, planned, and led by Kee Heng Tiow, the leader of the English Reading Club. Kee Heng Tiow led the five electoral candidates, and collected their biographies, and their proposed plans for the YAD. The election went as planned. Katy Hsu, president of the San Francisco Chapter, came to the venue to provide support and care, and gave a speech. She wished that everyone will be able to share and continue the legacy of Humanistic Buddhism: what the Buddha taught, what is essential to human beings, what purifies, and what is virtuous and beautiful.
To let the members know more about the candidates, the six candidates expressed their vision for SFYAD for the next two years. The first candidate is the current YAD president and LinkedIn UX designer Selene Chew. She hopes to creatively infuse Buddhism into daily life and pass this on to younger generations. Second candidate Kevin Dam, a sophomore student at San Jose State University, wants to communicate Humanistic Buddhism to young adults with his professional experience at digital media. The third candidate is a sophomore student at San Francisco Community College, Edward Li. Edward will contribute more meaningful activities for SFYAD. Carl Ho, the fourth candidate, is a recent law graduate from San Francisco State University. Carl is willing to organize and strengthen the management and efficiency of the YAD. Benson Kwek, who works at Silicon Valley, is the fifth candidate. Benson wishes to discuss the Dharma through young adults’ perspectives, and its application to life. The sixth and final candidate is Qiulin Peng, who works on Artificial Intelligence data analysis in Silicon Valley. Qiulin wants the Dharma to grow within the hearts of young adults and train more successors.
To end, current YAD president Selene Chew has gathered the highest votes and was re-elected as the next YAD president, followed by Qiulin Peng, who was elected as the new vice-president. Venerable Miao Zhong, the guiding Venerable congratulated everyone for the successful election, and hoped that in the next year, YAD members will strengthen their foundation in Buddhism, and will be able to spread the faith and legacy of Humanistic Buddhism locally.
10月28日國際佛光會舊金山地區各分會的聯合會員大會，舊金山佛光青年分團也同時在三寶寺進行2018年度分團會長暨幹部改選， 17位團員在現場投票，另外3位雖無法出席但仍把握機會在網上投了聖神一票，讓本此團員出席率則高達75%，整個選舉過程順利圓滿，展現舊金山佛光青年的信仰與傳承。
此次選舉活動由英文讀書會帶領人蕭繼興居士帶領5位青年選務委員收集候選人資料與細心籌備規劃，選舉過程如法如儀進行。舊金山佛光協會許貴婷會長蒞臨會場關心及致詞，希望大家把佛說的、人要的、淨化的、善美的人間佛教真諦分享並傳承下去。
爲了讓大眾對候選人做更進一步了解，6位候選人各自抒發個人對青年團未來兩年的願景：第一位是現任團長Selene Chew就職LinkedIn UX設計師，希望更有創意地把佛法生活化並傳承給更年輕一代；第二位是聖荷西州立大學大二學生Kevin Dam，以專業的數碼媒體經驗傳達人間佛教給更多年輕人； 第三位是就讀舊金山社區大學的大二學生Edward Li希望為青年團辦更多有意義的活動；第四位Carl Ho，剛從舊金山大學法學系畢業，希望通過加强組織和擴大團隊，提高青年團的管理效率；第五位在硅谷工作的Benson Kwek想要通過年輕人的視角激勵他們討論佛法與生活應用；第六位是在硅谷從事AI資料分析工作的Qiulin Peng則希望佛法能在年輕人心中發芽成長，培養更多接班人。
最後，由現任團長Selene Chew以高票當選連任下一屆的青年團長，Qiulin Peng為新任副團長。輔導法師妙忠法師恭喜大家順利選出新任團長，期望青年們在新的一年加强佛學基礎，在本地把人間佛教的信仰傳承和弘揚出去。
