A resident staying in Boon Lay, 42-year-old Hengster Kor, had spent months collecting books and shelves before setting up an open library for the public at his HDB block’s void deck, only to have two of the shelves stolen in less than a day.
The man, who is the chairman of the residents’ network for Boon Lay View, told The Straits Times that on Monday, he spent about 3 hours arranging the books and shelves at the void deck and finished at about 8pm that evening.
When he went back to check on the library the next morning, he was shocked and saddened to see that two of his bookshelves had been stolen.
Kor said that they (the residents) had put in so much effort into setting up the open library and many of them were excited that their project was happening, where people can borrow books as well as donate their own.
On why he decided to open the library, the financial consultant said that he had the idea for the library during the pandemic but was delayed at the time because he didn’t have enough books to set it up.
Kor eventually started the project last month after collecting enough books and shelves from his neighbours and friends, as well as being given the green light from the town council.
He had sorted out the books according to their genre and size, arranging them presentably before the theft, and was planning to move the rest of the book from another block the next day when he discovered his shelves had been stolen.
He later posted about the stolen bookshelves on Facebook, and was heartened by netizens who offered to donate their shelves to him following the theft.
Kor said that he just wanted to give the books and shelves a longer life, and that incidents like these make people think twice about volunteering, adding that he is just someone who wants to help make the world better.