Ho Yuen Hoe

Ho Yuen Hoe (; 18 February 1908 – 11 January 2006), later in life but rarely known by her Dharma name, Venerable Jing Run , was a Buddhist nun affectionately known as Singapore's "grand dame of charity" in recognition of her lifelong devotion in helping the old and needy. She was the abbess of Lin Chee Cheng Sia Temple and the founder in 1969 of the Man Fut Tong Nursing Home, the first Buddhist nursing home. Venerable Ho was relatively unknown to the public until 1996, when she was featured in a television programme – The Extraordinary People – at the age of 88. As a result, the public became more familiar with her work and her nursing home. In 2001, she received the Public Service Award from the President of Singapore in recognition of her contribution to the country.

In 1936, with the help of a friend, the then 28-year-old Ho set up shop in Chinatown with only a comb, a stool, and a kerosene lamp. She worked from 8 am to 3 am, charging five cents to comb hair or weave plaits and buns for amahs and Samsui women. She did that every day for almost three decades, interrupted only by periods when she was incapacitated by acute attacks of arthritis. She scrimped and saved, and by the time she was in her 40s, she had enough to buy a shophouse in Club Street. Although illiterate, she made some property investments and eventually became a landlord, renting out rooms. The home is open to all regardless of age, gender, race or religion. It regularly organises in-house activities such as cooking, hand-craft, karaoke, and games, as well as visits to places of interest and participation in various community events. The original home is now a Buddhist temple, the Lin Chee Cheng Sia Temple.

Despite her advancing age, Venerable Ho continued to raise funds to provide better medical care, and she set up committees to help organise Dharma classes for children and secure donations for various Buddhist causes. During an interview given to The Straits Times in 2004, she said: "Everything in life is transient. Only charity is real and enduring. When you give, you receive. Charity is the best antidote for bad karma." On 11 February 2004, President S R Nathan, attended her birthday-cum-charity dinner and gave a speech in tribute of her contributions to the country:

Death

On 11 January 2006, Venerable Ho died peacefully in her sleep at the Man Fut Tong Nursing Home, at about 9:30 pm, just one month before turning 98. Until being hospitalised in November 2005, she had cooked for and looked after herself and played an active role in running both the temple and the nursing home. During her hospital stay, she suffered a stroke, which affected her speech and paralysed the left side of her body. Discharged in December 2005, she was recuperating well at the nursing home until she developed a chest infection and breathing difficulties a few days before she died.

After her death, President S R Nathan sent a wreath of roses, chrysanthemums and orchids. Several government ministers attended her wake, including Senior Minister of State for Health Balaji Sadasivan, Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports Yu-Foo Yee Shoon, Minister of State for Education and Trade and Industry Chan Soo Sen, and Northwest Community Development Council mayor Teo Ho Pin.

Since Venerable Ho's death, her work at the temple and nursing home has been administered by Reverend Seck Cheng Charn and Reverend Tang Wai Sum respectively.

A bronze sculpture by sculptor Chern Lian Shan, and a portrait of Venerable Ho by artist Marcus Lim were also unveiled at the event, by President S. R. Nathan. Both the sculpture and the painting are now on display at the Woodlands home. A new hybrid orchid, created from the orchids Dendrobium 'Ekapol' and Dendrobium 'Lim Hepa', was also officially named 'Venerable Ho Yuen Hoe' and presented by Mrs. S. R. Nathan.

In 2001, Venerable Ho received the Public Service Medal from President S. R. Nathan at the Istana.