World Tipiṭaka for Malaysia & Singapore 2010

The World Tipiṭaka Pilgrimage to Kuala Lumpur
World Tipiṭaka Presentation for Malaysia & Singapore
7 May B.E. 2553 (2010)

Tipiṭaka Acceptance Speech
by John Soh,
Buddha Dhamma Mandela, Singapore

Your Excellency Dr. Tana Duangrat, the Ambassador of Thailand to MalaysiaAmbassador Suchitra, Special Envoy of the World Tipiṭaka Project from Thailand
Honorable Ladies M.L. Anong and Vichandra
Patrons of the World Tipiṭaka, Ladies and Gentlemen :

The Pāḷi Tipiṭaka is for we Buddhists the font of our religion. It is where we get our ethics, our world view and our philosophy from. Each Buddhist Culture reads the Tipiṭaka in their own language or at least in their own script. But with Buddhism now spreading to the West there is a need for an accurate and reliable edition of the Tipiṭaka in Roman script.

Of course the Tipiṭaka has been published in Roman script before but all these editions have various errors or drawbacks. For example, I was looking at the first volume of Fausboll's edition of the Jataka published in 1877 by the Pali Text Society and noticed that it has four pages of corrections and additions and that when this volume was reprinted in 2000 these corrections and additions had still not been included in the text.

This is not to disparage the dedication and hard work of earlier scholars but merely to point out that there is still room for improvements. And this edition in Roman script definitely is an improvement. Indeed it is a work of the highest order and a truly magnificent monument to Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana in whose memory this gift is made to our and other societies and institutions, and to Mrs. Maniratana Bunnag, the founder of the World Tipiṭaka Project. In preparing this new edition advanced computer-controlling procedures have been used in several dimensions to ensure complete accuracy such as, double-cross checking, from the revision stage through to the artwork, layout and printing.

Most importantly, in the World Tipiṭaka Edition, the Pāḷi text with special diacritical marks has been printed by using an open-standard typeface which is user-friendly and easy to copy into any electronic format for references. I noticed also that the layout, design, binding and paper used in each volume are all of the highest quality. This new edition of the Tipiṭaka is not just a major achievement from the point of view of Buddhist scholarship,it is also aesthetically pleasing, which is only appropriate for an edition of the sacred scriptures.

In our society it will be treasured and used. On behalf of the Buddha Dhamma Mandala Society of Singapore we would like to thank Col. Suradhaj Bunnag, and all the Patrons for all the help you have given us and other recipients.

May 7, 2010