101 - Chan Khoon San 

Bro. Chan Khoon San was born on 8 August 1941 in Penang where he received his early education. After completing sixth form in 1960, he joined the Malayan Teachers College at Brinsford Lodge, UK where he underwent two years teacher training. On completion of the course, he taught briefly from 1964 to 1967. In 1968, he entered the University of Malaya and graduated with a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Chemistry in 1971. From 1971 till his retirement in 1996, he worked as a Research Chemist in a large plantation company. He is married with two grown-up daughters. 

After retiring in 1996, Bro. Chan went to Myanmar to pursue the intensive practice of Satipatthana Vipassana meditation under the guidance of Chanmyay Sayadaw Bhadanta Janakabhivamsa at Chanmyay Yeiktha Meditation Centre in Yangon. In 1998, he went for his second retreat at the countryside centre in Hmawbi, where he practised under the guidance of Venerable Sayadaw U Indaka. Since then, he has gone for regular annual retreats at Hmawbi practising under Venerable U Nyanaramsi and other instructors, during the cold season from December to February. For the rest of the year, he teaches Buddhism at various Buddhist societies in the Klang Valley. Since 1997, he has organized several Buddhist pilgrimages to India and has also written a book entitled ‘Buddhist Pilgrimage’ describing the holy shrines of Buddhism in India today.

(Huệ Hương ST)