The word "venerable" suddenly appears irrelevant or rather irreverential. Goh Kah Heng, the birthname of the famous personae Venerable Ming Yi has been charged with 10 counts including forgery, misappropriation of funds and conspiracy to give false information to the Commissioner of Charities. The venerable appears vulnerable now.
This is the high conduct expected of those in position of power, whether secularally or spiritually. The public expects the high standards of conduct that go with the position. A monk, in this case, has a moral obligation higher than a layperson.
No doubt this venerable, who has since stepped down from all positions and responsibilites in his capacity of his spiritual organisation, has done good work. Millions of dollars have been raised due to his acrobatic stunts for the Renci hospital. He was from a top secondary school when he decided to enrobe and became a monk. He is fairly young in his mid-forties and has a long future ahead in his mission for his hospital as well as his religious journey. Suddenly, events took a turn for the worst, and now he has stepped down from all his positions and responsiblilites. Will he be disrobed? Well, in my opinion, disrobing will not undo the deeds he has done.
His good work will certainly be remembered by the public and the buddhist fraternity. The paradox is: a life's good works can be tarnished by a single embelishment. It is like a drop of ink on a white parch of cloth. We don't see the whiteness; we focus on the black spot.
I guess humans have high expectations for public figures. A monk is a public figure. His name came with religious connotations and people of faith respect him for this. If the person was to disrobe or never enrobe, doing good work, the impact of moral embelishment will not be far-reaching and ramifying.
The impact of this case of Goh Kah Heng is a case of a good monk whose position demands a higher moral conduct than a good man. Mr Goh Kah Heng is certainly a good man.
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