FEBC: RENOVATION UPDATE

The renovations and repairs of FEBC are progressing steadily. The Central Library is the first to be done up and ready for use just before Chinese New Year. All our books are now located at the 2^nd storey of the L Extension Block. Students have started to use the new library furnished with study carrels and tables. The 40 double-sided bay shelves in the Central Library are already full. We need more space for more books still in storage. For this, we will convert the old office into a Reference Library. Renovations have yet to start for the Reference Library. However, once done, it will house more books and our journals, periodicals and special collections (eg Mackenzie files, BP History). Thus far, we have spent about $51,000 for the library.

 

The FEBC offices and FEBC Bookroom will soon be moved to Beulah House. The systems furniture and filing cabinets/drawers cost us $13,500. I am sure our staff and faculty will appreciate the new environment and furniture. For our Bookroom, we have reused some of our bookroom and library shelves that are still in good condition to save on expenses. We are thrifty and try to economise as much as we can. We are changing our fluorescent lights to LED ones to save on electricity. Our library is now lighted with LED tubes. We will do the dorms next. A couple of antique wooden chairs with rattan seats were repaired and placed in the lounge area fronting our offices and bookroom. An old coffee table has been polished and lacquered by one of our students who does carpentry. It goes well with our rattan chairs.

Starhub is our preferred internet service provider. They have been most helpful in getting us connected quickly. Our renovation contractor had warned that it might take six months to get our internet up and ready because of the backlog at Netlink. But we thank the Lord for helping us expedite the process. This was also the case with our telephone lines if we were to keep the same numbers. Owing to an old arrangement, we thought we had to change all our phone numbers, but we thank the Lord that He has made it possible for us to keep our old numbers. Our college office number remains as 62569256. This saves us from quite a bit of inconvenience. The Lord has providentially brought the right people to us and arranged the circumstances in such a way as to ensure that our renovations could proceed smoothly. This also facilitates the transition and expedites the implementation of the Scheme.

During the Chinese New Year period, the repair and waterproofing of the 50 year-old roof of the L & Extension Block started. This major work on 1280sqm of pitched and RC roofs cost $21,760. This work is badly needed. The whole roof has to be washed and cleaned before actual waterproofing work is done. When the workers jet washed the roof, it showed many points of leakage. Broken tiles are replaced and cracked tiles repaired. It took 24 Bangladeshi workers four days just to do this. They did a good job. I gave them each an ang pau as a token of my appreciation. It took another week for the roof coating and waterproofing to be completed. The roof now looks like new.

The ladies’ dorms have been vacated for renovation works. The girls are now comfortably settled in two large bedrooms with adjoining toilets at the 5^th storey of the new Beulah Centre. All who reside there have to be fingerprinted in order to have access (like the airport immigration checkpoint). This high tech security feature was put in place by LBPC. We can be sure our girls are safe over there.

As ordered by the Court, Jones Lang Lasalle have been employed to prepare a report on percentage of allotted use for common and shared areas based on Annex B & C (as per the Scheme issued by the High Court). For this work, they charge a lump sum of $10,000 which is to be borne equally by FEBC and LBPC. In their report, they will (1) broadly review and compare the usage for shared areas using information as provided by FEBC and LBPC (if any), (2) recommend areas (Exclusive Use) to install separate utility metres (electricity and water), (3) propose charge model for utilities (Exclusive Use) before installation of utility metres, and (4) propose charge model for utilities under Common and Shared Use areas.

The Lord has been providing the funds needed for the repairs and renovations. We thank True Lifers, and our FEBC alumni and friends (local and overseas) for supporting their alma mater. One brother gave $80,000 towards the library. I am glad to report that FEBC students are doing their part as well. They have taken a collection of $2875.90 towards the renovations. One student was later moved by the Lord to give an additional sum of $231. The money came with this letter of thanksgiving,

Dear Dr Khoo

Blessed New Year! Thank you for your faithful teaching to me. I am so happy to learn every lesson of God’s Word. You know before the Chinese New Year my heart thought: If I got a love gift
I would give to the school for renovations.

Thank God I got some love gifts from my church members. And when you shared the lesson about giving, my heart was so glad. God wants me to practise this lesson in my life. So I give this gift to you for school renovations. I got a total of $281. I keep $50 to see the dentist. The rest $231 I want to give to the school.

Dear Dr Khoo, please receive it for the school so that I can learn this lesson in practice. Thank God for teaching me such a lesson through you. May God bless you and your ministry in Christ!

Your student

[No name given]

This semester at the college chapel hour I have been focusing on the wise sayings of our founding principal—the late Rev Dr Timothy Tow. On Monday morning 23 February 2015, just after the Chinese New Year break, I preached on the virtue of giving. Rev Tow said, “Do not be afraid to give. As a well gives of its water it is so refilled by lively springs.” Another one, “Galilee that gives and gives is ever full. The Dead Sea that gets and gets is dead empty.” This is precisely what our Lord and Saviour Himself taught, “freely ye have received, freely give.” (Matt 10:8), “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35). “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over” (Luke 6:38).

I am encouraged that our students are not just hearers but also doers of the Word. This augurs well for FEBC. JK