Insect infestations are tricky enough at the best of times. But what if you're a Buddhist monk committed to the sanctity of all living creatures?
Such is the situation facing the devotees at the Hong Hock See Temple in the city of Penang, on Malaysia's north-west coast.
The temple complex, and especially a tree in its grounds, have become infested with poisonous ants, believed to be fire ants, which keep on stinging monks, according to today's edition of Malaysian newspaper The Star.
The head monk, Venerable Boon Keng, told the paper that one colleague had to be taken to hospital due to the effects of a bite.
We choose to be here at this temple and we have to respect other living things that are here too. Maybe the ants like the humans here because they know we cannot kill them.
The monks have thus far tried using a vacuum cleaner to suck up the ants, which were then released in a forest, but this failed.
Any better suggestions for the suffering monks of Hong Hock See?
