A large majority of people say they want monastic organisations, rules and regulations to undergo reforms in the wake of the temple fund embezzlement scandals involving many high-ranking monks, according to an opinion survey by the National Institute for Development Administration, or Nida Poll.
The poll was conducted on June 13-14 on 1,250 people of various levels of education and occupations throughout the country to know the "people's faith in Buddhist monks and monastic organisations in the present situation."
Asked about the transparency in the handling of temple funds, 46.40% said the funds are managed with little transparency; 24.40% the handling of the funds totally lacks transparencyl; 18.24% said the fund management is fairly transparent; 7.04% said the funds are handled with high transparency; and, 3.92% were uncertain or had no comment.
Asked whether they think monastic organisations, rules, regulations and administration as well as the management of temple property and code of monastic disciplines should undergo reforms, 85.28% of the respondents said "yes"; 12.96% said "no", saying that most of the problems in the monastic circle are from outsiders; and, 1.76% were uncertain or had no comment.
On their faith in the monastic organisations, 63.36% said they remain faithful to them because corruption is committed by individuals, not the entire monastic circle; 35.52% said the embezzlement scandals have caused them to lose their faith in them; and, 0.48% were uncertain or had no comment.
Asked to suggest ways of solving corruption in the monastic circle, 45.76% said there should be an agency to audit temple finances; 44% said the people should be allow to take part in the audit; 35.68% said temples and their abbots should be required to have financial accounts; 21.20% said penalties on wrongdoers should be made heavier; 18.24% said the law should be amended to strip abbots of absolute power in the financial management; and, 13.28% suggested that the monastic ranks should be abolished.
