The Malaysian government plans to make this an advanced country by 2020. Along with material construction -- which is easier to achieve -- the morality and spirituality of the people have a long way to go. We need to have our own initiatives for the country; we cannot just wait for the government. The 'Learning Community' being modelled by MRA-IofC Malaysia has a role to play in helping the country. We had proved that it is working and it is possible for us to carry the work forward to the larger region.

MRA-IofC Malaysia is already multiplying these emerging 'Learning Communities', generating a quality of life and shared commitment to the nation, promoting the ideas of MRA-IofC based upon the learning community centre: AKASHA.

Since 2005, when the AKASHA centre was established, more than 200 people have engaged with MRA-IofC in many ways. These include conferences, community services, youth programmes, speeches, workshops, forums, cultural evenings etc. The AKASHA Centre is now part of a continuing work and it has opened up fresh opportunities to reach out to the Chinese-speaking group within Malaysia. Earlier initiatives were all addressed to English-speaking audiences. After 3 years The Chinese-speaking community has successfully built up a solid team of leaders who are willing to carry on this work as part of their purpose for life.

The AKASHA centre aims to expand these initiatives to communities speaking other languages, but we first need a solid supporter from the Chinese-speaking community. It is also very important that the Chinese community in Malaysia is trained in order to give support to the future work in the worldwide Chinese community (including China).

Now it is time for AKASHA to move into the second phase of the development from 2008 to 2012. AKASHA comprises a team of 15 core members instead of having just one person who takes full responsibility for all activities. These 15 members are fully committed as part time volunteers and they have taken on the responsibility for AKASHA and its activities as a priority in their lives. There are also 2 full time volunteers in the centre, Mr. & Mrs. Nandor and Weny LIM as well as a full time paid worker Ms. HOE Pik Nyiok.

Over the next five years the centre is concentrating on the following five thoughts:

1. Deepening our recent work and consolidating the quality of the people in AKASHA.
2. Promoting and expanding IofC work to the Malay and English-speaking communities.
3. Creatively cooperating with other communities and organisations.
4. Opening the minds of the Malaysians and regional IofC friends to the wider world.
5. Preparing Malaysia to become a regional learning centre.

When they first get to know about MRA-IofC, many people will reflect on their lives by looking at others. This somehow leads them to feel they are living imperfectly in this world. Many people were unhappy because they could see their real selves. A lot of people know they have to change, and they know that making a difference in the world is very important, but they don't know how to do it. From our work at AKASHA we have seen that it is possible to be a role model, showing others that it is possible to change oneself.

The development of Psychology had reached the point of simplifying the knowledge to the level of ordinary people; everyone can learn by themselves and understand it. The IofC circle has to use this as one of the tools to support the work and to keep moving forward. Change is a very abstract experience; unless we live by it, we do not know how to change. Before change happens we have to understand ourselves; understanding ourselves is the starting point for everything, and the first step to changing oneself.
In AKASHA, people first understand themselves and then look into the possibility of changing themselves. The family reconciliation workshop, peace circle, men’s talk and ‘Change starts with me’ conference play an important part in supporting people as they try to understand themselves, before they know ‘what’ to change and ‘how’ to change.

Consistently caring for, and providing a safety place, to people so they can share and grow together brings a great opportunity to create an answer for society. AKASHA is preparing an environment in which we can experience the challenge of human nature, especially the challenges coming from the family and man-made disasters. The environment has been created to welcome and challenge everyone to be the change they want to see, and to share experiences with others after they have changed themselves. This is a platform for people who are willing to be supporters, initiators, change makers, and facilitators leading other to this community.

In the future, Malaysia has the potential to become a bridge for different issues because of its geographic location. It is easier to travel to this country compared to other developing countries. It is also a good location for reconciliation to take place among the worldwide Chinese community, as well as for a dialogue between West and East, religions, farmers, people from industry and education, revolutionaries and business people.

In the long term vision, AKASHA is going to expand the idea of a learning community from the local to the global. In order to achieve this AKASHA is forming a strong team of people who are new but understand and live the ideals of IofC in their lives; most of them are working people but they are committed to be with IofC-AKASHA. One of them, Mr. K.K. YANG, will participate with Mr. & Mrs. Nandor LIM at the special global consultation as representatives of AKASHA.

We are please to report to you that AKASHA successfully maintains itself both financially and spiritually, and manages to reach out to many organisations. It has also provided support for Action for Life and other initiatives in Malaysia. We are happy to share with you about our experiences on AKASHA.