By Sahar Foladi
The Buddhist community in Springvale had a sleepless night after the Bright Moon temple caught on fire on Sunday night leaving the community fearful for the ashes of their loved ones being destroyed.
Emergency services responded to the call at 8pm and it took more than three hours to extinguish the blazing fire which had been captured by dozens of people on social media.
Vera was standing outside the temple along with more than dozens of locals scattered overlooking the ruins of the temple as emergency services carried out their work on the temple premises.
Vera’s mother in law’s ashes was in the temple which she fears may have been ruined by the fire, but she still holds onto some hope.
“She’s been there for seven years. In the next few days is her death anniversary that’s why it’s so heartbreaking to see this happen,” Vera said as she broke down in tears.
She heard the fire started from the right corner of the temple where the office is located while the ashes were kept on the far left of the temple.
“So it’s right in the corner behind this building so we are all curious whether we can have a look because at this stage we are not allowed to go inside.”
Just like Vera, other onlookers who spoke to me also had their ancestors and family’s ashes in the temple.
Janice has her ancestor’s ashes in the temple and says her whole family is concerned and devastated by the news.
Some looked at the ruins of the temple with tears down their face.
While they could not express their feelings to Star News due to the language barrier, their emotions were evident.
Clarinda MP Meng Heang Tak was also standing with the locals outside the temple.
Mr Tak was at a dinner with the Chinese leaders including Cr Richard Lim and president of the Bright Moon temple, Vinh Loi Ly when they were notified of the fire between 7:30 to 8pm.
“We were all shocked because this is an iconic landmark building, built by community activism. Every cent every dollar was raised and donated for the temple for the last 30 years.
The priority for the temple is to know what happened to the ashes. That is very significant for all members,” Mr Tak said.
Mr Tak said it is very early on to say anything or in full details but they’re aware of some damage to the ashes. “But the majority is still okay.”
As a Cambodian Australian, Mr Tak migrated to Australia at the age of 16.
The community is left in shock he said.
Cr Lim has been a long time member of the Bright Moon Temple, he was one of the members to help build the temple which according to him took over 20 years to do.
Cr Lim said the temple took so long to build and all his hard work along with the community’s has gone in vain.
He was at the scene as he watched in disbelief how the fire gutted the temple.
“I said oh my goodness there’s nothing much left. You can see it from far away.”
He said the redevelopment of the temple will depend on how much money is available but according to his estimate, they’ll need up to $30 million for the temple.
“If we have big dollars, if the State government or local government can help us, maybe we can build it in five years,” Cr Lim said.
Some locals said they’ve already started receiving donations towards the templ. Cr Lim said temple president Mr Ly and the community are the ones working towards the costs right now.
It’s a tough and emotional situation the Buddhist community are going through and we can only hope for the best.
