SCHOLARS of Buddhism will find themselves in good company next year. The Institute of South East Asian Studies (Iseas) on Wednesday received $1 million from the Singapore Buddhist Lodge to set up a research centre to study the religion.

The centre, the first of its kind in Singapore, is expected to broaden the research of Buddhism in Asia, by recruiting overseas academics, organising seminars, and beefing up the institute's collection of Buddhism-related texts.

Iseas director K Kesavapany said the need to 'get back to the essence' of religion is relevant in today's examples of religious extremism.

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