KECHARA

PEOPLE • PASTOR ORDINATION
83
Pastor Antoinette Kass
(Sangha-to-be)
Born in Luxembourg in 1966,
Antoinette Kass is a carpenter’s
daughter and her mother was very
busy cooking, washing, knitting,
cultivating two gardens and one
vineyard for the family in addition
to taking care of the paperwork
for the family business.
After completing her education,
Antoinette worked in her father’s
company and later in a German
bank in Luxembourg. However,
she didn’t want to work in an
office all her life and wanted to
do something more meaningful.
After having worked for about 14
years, Antoinette went back to
school full-time and earned her
degree in occupational therapy
in Brussels. She also studied
Pastor Ng Kok Heng
Born in 1963 in Kuala Lumpur
to a traditional Buddhist/Taoist
family, Kok Heng was educated
in Victoria Institution and then
later in Universiti Sains Malaysia,
graduating with a Bachelor
the Feldenkrais method, a form
of somatic education that uses
gentle movement and directed
attention to improve movement
and enhance human functioning,
and completed the training.
Antoinette then worked with
visually impaired children for two
years, and later worked for seven
years with individuals who were
chronically ill in their homes.
Antoinette first came across Tsem
Rinpoche through his teachings
on YouTube and found them very
helpful, meaningful, direct and
easy to understand. In December
2011, Antoinette made her first
visit to Kechara when she was in
Malaysia on holiday. Antoinette
then took refuge in October
of Computer Science (Hons).
Happily married since 1990 and
a father of three, Kok Heng is a
successful entrepreneur in the
mobile communications industry
and the CEO of the public-listed
company, XOX Berhad.
Having always been interested
in Buddhism but never having
delved deeper into the religion,
Kok Heng first met Tsem
Rinpoche at a Dharma talk in
2006 and was drawn by his style
and perfect English. In that first
meeting, Rinpoche advised him
to regularly attend the weekly
Setrap pujas, which he did. Kok
Heng was facing many obstacles
in his new business at the time
but through the blessings and
teachings of Rinpoche, he has
2012 and in December 2013,
she joined Kechara as a full-time
volunteer.
since found tremendous success.
The teaching that he finds
most applicable and relevant
is the ‘Eight Verses of Mind
Transformation’. These teachings
have helped him change his
perspective of life, both in his
daily worldly endeavours as
well as in his spiritual pursuits.
Through his efforts in Kechara
House, Kok Heng hopes to share
his experience in Buddhism and
especially in the Gelug School of
Vajrayana Buddhism with anyone
willing to practice.