In 1987, when I first came to Wat Amphavan to ordain as a novice monk at the influence of my brother-in-law, Khee Mong and his friend, Ah Lim. I was already a married man with a son and a daughter. Our objective was to experience the life of being a monk with the believed that if I ordain as a monk, my parent would be able to receive the merits. Before we arrived in Thailand, we do not have any proper knowledge of the procedures and worst, I could not understand Thai language. Ever since I stepped into Wat Amphavan, my faith in the practice of Buddhism has grown. In the followings, I would briefly relate may personal experiences before and after my practice of Vipassana in Wat Amphavan with the strict discipline and guidance of my Upaccha, Luang Phor Jaran Dhitta Dhammo, whom I highly revered.

In early January 1997, I got married and was an ordinary hawker selling "You Tiao" (Thai-Phla-tang-quo) in Singapore. The stall was given to me by my late mother whom I had helped since I was a young boy. Though I have two elder brothers, a younger brother and two younger sisters, I was the one she trusted most. Being a part-time Tae-kwan-do black belt instructor before, it had helped me a lot. Kneading those flour dough manually with bare hands required a lot of my strength and the work was tough because our business was good.

Since young, I was not on good terms with my father as he rarely helped my mother in her business despite being unemployed. Apart from the monthly allowance I had given him, he would occasionally asked for extra money. As I realized that he had been spending his money on gambling, smoking and womanizing. I refused to give him more. Out of anger, he took all the "You Tiao" out from a container and threw it down the drain. These had made me so furious that I would give him a kick. Luckily, my wife, Soo Cheng (Soo Ngoh's elder sister) and my two younger sisters had managed to grab and pulled me back; shouting "He is your father!"

During the fifteen days as a novice monk, though I had learnt "kwa-yang-nor, sai-yang-nor", I still do not know much about meditation. Nevertheless, I felt good and had missed my family very much. I realized that I had so much responsibilities; to look after my family to look after my father, my younger brother and to take care of the store. I did it with all my might as I knew I had to carry out my duties well. Once, I met my father and called him "PA" (Thai-Phor) which I had never called him before. He was shocked and acknowledged with tears in his eyes.