I SMELL A FISH

This monk was photographed begging for alms at the Kampung Simee market in Ipoh this morning. Initially I had put one ringgit in the gold coloured bowl tht he was holding when I saw him at the entrance of the market.  I noticed that the bowl was already filled to the brim with Malaysian ringgit notes.

Later I saw this same monk again.  He was standing near the fish stalls.  When he saw me, he extended his bowl and expected me to put money into it.  This got me thinking.  All this while, the Buddhist monks that came to collect alms never did that.  They just stood in one place and just held their bowls.  Furthermore, they never used golden coloured singing bowls to collect alms.  Another thing is that his clothes look too new and somehow I think that it is rather fishy. Also he was wearing a singlet inside.  I don't recall seeing any monk with a singlet before. I may be wrong but my intuition tells me that the 'monk' might be an imposter.  Anyway, I really hope that I am wrong and that the man above is really a man of the religious order.

The monk in this picture has his apprentice with him.  Note that he is barefoot and also the bowl he uses for the alms is a wooden one.  I have no doubt about his credentials.