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Overview of the Catholic Hub

Located in the heart of Singapore and surrounded by the lushness of MacRitchie Reservoir, the future Catholic Hub at 49 Upper Thomson Road will serve the long-term needs of our Church. Sited on the Church’s largest freehold property in Singapore, it will have a total gross floor area of 46,100 m2, and will be developed in three phases. Detailed planning has begun on Phase 1.

St Theresa’s Home, currently located there and run by Catholic Welfare Services, will move to improved facilities before Phase 2 begins.

Since 2015, the building committee under the Archdiocesan Land and Properties Singapore (ALPS) has consulted potential users on their needs and engaged the authorities on design and construction plans, including during the 18-month delay while the government studied the environmental impact of the MRT Cross Island Line.

As a large shared resource, the Catholic Hub ensures that organisations, parishes and other Church groups using it as a venue for activities can focus on their ministries and fuel the growth of the Church through a wider outreach. Key archdiocesan organisations will be relocated here, strengthening their existing collaborations to serve the community better, with the support of amenities such as a configurable multi-purpose hall and retreat facilities.

Designed with Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ in mind, the Catholic Hub will be interspersed with greenery and several themed gardens, providing conducive areas for prayer and reminding us of our oneness with all creation. These key features, expected to be completed in Phase 1, are presented in this booklet.

Also briefly covered are plans for Phases 2 and 3. Several existing St Theresa’s Home buildings have been identified for conservation to preserve the historical significance of the site, dating as far back as 1937 when the Little Sisters of the Poor ran Singapore’s first home for the aged and destitute. To help Singaporeans appreciate our faith’s enduring legacy, there are plans for a heritage centre in one of these conserved buildings. In addition, a residence for senior clergy will ensure that our priests can retire with comfort and grace, yet still continue to exercise their ministry for those who come to the Catholic Hub.

As one Body of Christ, let us look forward to the completion of the Catholic Hub that will provide restoration and renewal.

Karen Zainal

Artist & Educator

Karen’s faith and identity were shaken by a series of mental health crises in the prime of her life. However, it was through her suffering that God led her to discover the fullness of the Christian life and His unique plans for her.

Today, she is a passionate special education teacher and freelance artist. Karen’s journey of healing enables her to minister to others’ wounds and accompany them in their own pursuits for truth, goodness, and beauty.

Julianne Danielle Lim

Founder of Strong Bold Grateful Inc

When is it ever enough? Julianne was laser-focus in pursuit of the glitz and glamour of “success” in her 6-inch stilettos and corporate dresses, she reached the peak of her career and was thriving. While Julianne was so busy having her eye on chasing her dreams, God never let her out of his sight and was also hot on her heels, in relentless pursuit of her too and kept going after her heart!

In her last position as Head of Change Management and ex- Private Banker in a global bank, Julianne had it all, or so she thought, until she was diagnosed with Cancer.

Fr Damien Lim

Assistant Rector at St Joseph’s Church, Victoria Street

Fr. Damien came in touch with the faith through indulging in lives of saints during his army days. (Thanks be to God there was no smartphone back in those days), He joined Opus Dei as a numerary member in his sophomore year (NUS 1991) and was ordained in Rome in 2011. He was stationed in Taiwan after ordination and particularly enjoy preaching retreats to mainland Chinese.

In total, Fr. Damien was out of Singapore for almost 17 years and have lived in Spain, Hong Kong, Rome and Taiwan. Fr. Damien enjoys a good philosophical discussion and mulling over human conditions, divine providence, woke movement, open source and geo-politics.

Friar Gerald Tan, OFM

Franciscan friar of the Order of Friars Minor

Friar Gerald Tan OFM, joined the Franciscan Order in 2014, and made his Solemn Profession of Religious Vows on 8 Feb 2020. He had discerned and decided to take the path less travelled as a ‘Lay Friar’, one who is non-ordained.

He is currently serving as the assistant manager for San Damiano Franciscan Centre, and does online reflections, Spiritual Direction for retreatants & young people, as well as journeys with individuals and communities of youth & young adults. Interestingly, he had also picked up haircutting for men and women, and is now ministering in a creative way to others as he cuts their hair as a friar-hairstylist!

Seminarian Andrew Lin

Seminarian at the Saint Francis Xavier Major Seminary

Prior to joining the Seminary, Br Andrew worked as a general insurance loss adjuster for 3 years, where he was able to meet some migrants and blue-collar workers, which planted some tiny seeds of the vocation to the priesthood within him. After that, feeling called to build the youth community in my parish of the Holy Family, he began full-time ministry as the Youth Pastoral Worker there for another 3 years, during which, his call to the priesthood was cemented, and he joined the seminary in 2015.

Monica de Silva-Lim

Director, Rosebrook

Monica’s passion is working with families beginning with her own – Monica and Mark are the happy parents of seven children aged 16 to 33. Their youngest, Marie, was born with Down syndrome and severe hearing loss. Their search for authentic fully inclusive, fully integrated development of children through to adulthood resulted in the establishment of Rosebrook Developmental Centre, a calling inspired through God’s gift of Marie. They’ve also been on the board of Family Enrichment Society, Down syndrome Association, and Archdiocesan Commission for the Family.

Monica has 24 years of experience in education management with both local and multinational organisations. Prior to that she was in banking, human resource management and founded a home-based enterprise focussed on faith-based family education resources.

Kenny Chng

Assistant Professor, SMU Yong Pung How School of Law

Kenny Chng is an Assistant Professor and Lee Kong Chian Fellow at the SMU Yong Pung How School of Law. Kenny joined SMU as a Lecturer of Law in 2016 and was later awarded the MOE-START Overseas Postgraduate Scholarship to pursue his LL.M. studies at Harvard Law School.

Kenny’s main areas of interest are in Legal Theory and Public Law. He has published in leading international and local academic journals, and was awarded the Lee Kong Chian Fellowship for three years consecutively in recognition of research excellence. Kenny has also received multiple teaching awards at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels for teaching excellence.

Archbishop's Vision of the Hub

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Since 2013, our archdiocese has been working to build a more vibrant, evangelising and missionary Church. In sharing the Good News, we are bringing the hope and love of Christ to vast numbers of people.

Within our Church today, however, there is simply no place big enough for our organisations and communities to hold their activities on a large scale and draw more people in. An opportunity presented itself when there were plans to upgrade and move St Theresa’s Home. The idea of developing a centre for the archdiocese was thus seeded – one that would optimise the use of the Church’s largest freehold site in Singapore.

Beyond physical facilities, the Catholic Hub can bring about a greater depth of communion. Locating archdiocesan organisations together will enable collaboration for a more effective witnessing of the Gospel to the people of Singapore and reap economies of scale. Catholics of all ages can gather to benefit from different programmes within one venue.

In recognition of the site’s rich history, several existing buildings have been identified for conservation. With this, a heritage centre is planned in one of them to showcase the seminal work of the Catholic community these past 200 years, reach out to the broader community and form future generations of disciples.

This vision for the Hub is the result of years of discernment and discussions. I am deeply grateful to the building committee, project consultants and archdiocesan organisations who have been part of the development of this project. Once completed, we hope it will be an icon of communion in mission, bringing together clergy and laity, working together to renew and strengthen the evangelising and missionary spirit of the Church in Singapore. We trust that God, who has guided us through the years, will continue to bless and direct the development of the Catholic Hub. May it be a place of God encounter for all who come to serve and worship here.

May God bless you.
Most Reverend William Goh
Archbishop of Singapore

Preview: God, Money and Me

This preview was for the God, Money and Me course on personal financial management by the Catholic Foundation. It integrates the practicalities of money management with Catholic principles and ethos.

Date: Sat, Dec 4
Time: 2.00 pm to 2.45 pm
Venue: CGS B1 Room 1
Speakers: Bernadette Yuen & Willie Cheng

Investing for Retirement, God’s Way

There are many ways to grow your money: saving and investing in a range of financial instruments. This session discussed both secular and spiritual principles of saving and investing.

Having money is good; growing it is better. True? This session was for those who want to understand the spiritual aspects of growing your money, as well as the practicalities of compound interest, the different types of financial instruments (bonds, equities, unit trusts, insurance, etc), and other aspects of financial planning. This talk is part of a series by the Catholic Foundation on personal financial management and stewardship. Check out the other programmes in this series.

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2021
Time: 5.00pm to 5.45pm
Venue: CGS B1, Room 1
Speakers: Alex Teo & Andrew Chai

Becoming Debt Free

People live with debt as a fact of modern life. In this session find out what the bible teaches about debt and learn practical tips on how you can better deal with them.

This talk was made for those who want to understand the snowball effect of compound interest on debt and what you can do about it so that you can eventually be debt-free and build true treasures in heaven where it counts.

This talk is part of a series by the Catholic Foundation on personal financial management and stewardship. Check out the other programmes in this series.

Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2021
Time: 1.00pm to 1.45pm
Venue CGS B1, Room 1
Speakers: Paul Wee & Lawrence Chan

Work and Money

Do we work for money or something else? This session discussed the spirituality of work and ethics in the corporate world and the role that money should play in the workplace. Money is not necessarily the root of all evil, but its improper acquisition and use certainly are. The workplace can be full of traps and temptations in this respect. This session was for Catholic workers, from professionals to businessmen to reconcile their faith working in a highly secular and material world.

This talk is part of a series by the Catholic Foundation on personal financial management and stewardship. Check out the other programmes in this series.

Date: Sun, Dec 5 2021
Time: 4.00pm to 4.45pm
Venue: SPP L4, Room 1
Speakers: Trillion So & Lawrence Chong

Youth and Spiritual Cents and Sense

Young adults are often challenged to balance current spending with providing for the future. Join this talk to find out how you can increase your financial quotient in a spiritual way. As good money management is best cultivated from young, Catholic youths will find this session useful on how Christian principles apply in their material needs and resources.

This talk is part of a series by the Catholic Foundation on personal financial management and stewardship. Check out the other programmes in this series.

Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2021
Time: 12.00pm to 12.45pm
Venue: SPP L4, Room 1
Speakers: Audrey Tan & Kevan Goh

Marriage and Money Matters

Money is a frequent cause of marital disputes and breakups. This session will discuss money management in a Christian marriage based on biblical principles and the social teachings of the Church.

Poor management of money is a silent killer of healthy marriages. Recognise the alarm bells and avoid the pitfalls about money that can affect a marriage. Learn to handle your money issues working as a couple with God’s help. This session is suitable for married couples and those about to get married.

This talk is part of a series by the Catholic Foundation on personal financial management and stewardship. Check out the other programmes in this series.

Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2021
Time: 5.00pm to 5.45pm
Venue: CGS B1 Room 1
Speakers: Xavier Woon & Willie Cheng

Catholic Foundation Young Stewards Conference 2021

Details

Date: Sat, 14 August 2021
Time: 3pm – 6pm
Online via Zoom (Mass streamed)

Catholic Foundation’s vision is for each Young Adult Catholic is for them to Reclaim their Gift of Faith. This is a spiritual process that begins with Christ inspiring a conversion of our in most hearts, to allow us to realise our identity as children of God, and to realise that it is only in Him that our hearts find their true home.

Click here to see Event Page

Nicholas Lee

Producer-Presenter, CatholicSG Radio

Nicholas is an Assistant Producer-Presenter with CatholicSG Radio. He is a father of two young boys and is passionate about making Jesus known through the gift of song and music.

Henry Hoo

Director of Digital & Corporate Transformation at Ministry of Defence

Henry first encountered the Lord as a young 12-year-old when he attended a church camp upon the invitation of his schoolteacher. However, it was not until his undergraduate days that he was baptized into the Christian faith and subsequently received into the Catholic Church.

Since then, his story with the Lord has led him to help at the Alpha Program, serve as a catechist and participated in the Parish Pastoral Council. At work, he was an air force engineer for 20 years and has worked alongside men and women to maintain aircraft systems for the Republic of Singapore Air Force. He is currently the Director of Digital and Corporate Transformation at MINDEF, concurrently serving as the Chief Information Officer.

Henry’s faith journey has its fair share of ups and downs, knocks and falls. While he struggles with brokenness as part of his humanity, he has also encountered the joy of being received by the Lord just as he is. Henry is passionate about personal development and has taken interest in personality assessment tools such as the Myers-Briggs Type Instrument (MBTI) and Motivational Code (MCODE). He has found silent retreats and spiritual direction helpful in leading him to deeper encounters with the Lord and is currently making his way through the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in daily life. As an introvert, he prefers spending time on restful activities but is also game for meaningful conversations, especially with a nice cup of coffee. Henry is married to Ann and they enjoy serving Christ together.