A project That Makes Me Cry 一項令我感動而泣的工程／多倫多圓光壇 By Maurice MoK

編按：感謝簡薰育學長協助翻譯。

「If God desires to have a temple here, there will be a temple.」
「如果上帝想在這裡有一座佛堂，就一定將會有一座佛堂在這裡。」

Those words that I heard 10 years ago after I failed to put an addition to an existing temple came back to me after I received the appointment from Master Wong. After studying the Official Plan and Zoning-by- Law of the present site for a couple of nights, I was wondering if God really wanted to have a temple at this location. Chances were slim to build a building to be used as「Place of Worship」but it’s not impossible.
這是我十年前為一座佛堂申請加建失敗後所聽到的這句話；然而，在我接受了黃點傳師的任命後，竟然在我耳邊再度迴響！
我花了好幾個晚上苦心研究圓光佛堂現址場地的官方規劃及分區的法律條文之後，我正懷疑上帝是否真的想要在這個位置興建一座佛堂。雖然不是絕對的無可能，但要改變成為宗教用途的機會是微乎其微的。

With a heavy heart to meet with Master Wong and Master Chow the following evening with our mechanical and electrical consultant, Mr. Lau, we didn’t know what their reaction would be. To our comfort, we were given lots of encouragement to try to make this project successful. Armed with encouragement and flexibility from the supreme commanders and our 30 years of experience, we commenced to design a temple completely unconventional and contemporary that we thought would be shot down in our next presentation. Surprisingly, our design was accepted with delight and required to have little change to suit the temple’s use. Then bad news struck as expected. Nothing came easy as far as designing a temple at this particular site was concerned. Our site is within the boundary of the First Markham Village which meant the design within this boundary needed to be designed to buildings in that era. Our beloved design vaporized even before the first nail was struck.
翌日黃昏，我帶著沉重的心情與機電顧問劉先生去會見黃點傳師和周點傳師，真擔心不知她們將會有什麼反應。但她們鼓勵我們盡力而為，這對我們來說是莫大的安慰。在天恩師德的加庇下，福至心靈，又憑著三十年的豐富經驗，我們開始設計一座完全反傳統及現代化佛堂的圖則；卻又擔心在下次會面時，我們的策劃將會被全面否決。但出乎意料地，我們新穎的設計竟欣然被接納，而且只要少少的改變更完全適合了佛堂的應用要求。可是，好事多磨，果然傳來了預期的壞消息，使我明白到要在這個特別的場地去設計一座聖殿，是沒有這麼容易的。地盤的位置是座落於First Markham Village的邊界，意味著所有建築物都需要依照維多利亞女王時代的復古設計，所以我們深愛的設計在未施工之前，便即時告吹了。

Redesigned, redeveloped and endless negotiation with the Town, and a lot of help from Anna and endless support from Master Wong, our present design was finally accepted by the planner and rezoning was approved in the Council meeting. After going through the rezoning process I wonder if Master Wong’s feelings towards 「democracy」 were sweet or sour. With God’s blessing we completed our first step of the project – rezoning and site plan approval.
重新設計藍圖、規劃、跟市政府無數次的磋商談判、得到安娜同修的多番幫忙和黃點傳師的全力支持和鼓勵，現時的圖案設計終於被市政府規畫官員所接受，而在委員會會議上亦批准了佛堂現址改為宗教用地。在申請更改土地用途過程中的漫長日子，我可以想像到黃點傳師對所謂「民主」的感受飽嘗甜酸的滋味。蒙上天的隆恩澤被下，我們的工程總算踏出了第一步───更改為宗教用地及建築平面圖則獲批准。

The second stage of the show was the building permit application. This stage was a lot easier to us since more engineering was involved and things were more black and white. Getting the building permit was quite uneventful, other than “Architectural Control” which made us spend more on decorative items to match buildings in the turn of last century.
第二階段是申請建築許可證。這個階段對我們來說就容易得多，因為都是工程的範圍，事情是很清晰明確的，無風無浪下便順利獲得許可證。可是，在建築控制條列之要求下，我們花費了不少時間在房屋裝飾的項目上，因為要與上世紀的建築風格相配。

During the course of the building permit application, a construction budget was prepared and presented to the board members of the temple. The budget was very tight and required to be monitored diligently during construction. The budget was so tight; even a few contractors did not consider it was achievable.
在申請建築許可證之同時，我們向圓光佛堂的董事會成員提交了一份基建預算案。由於預算得十分繃緊，所以在建築期間必須要嚴格地監控支出，亦因為這些限制，令一些承建商認為無法承辦工程。

Without knowing the details of the financial situation that the temple was in, I was full of confidence to make this project a successful one. After a big hole was dug in the ground and proceeding with footing and foundation were being constructed, news struck me that we may not be able to finish the project due to financial difficulties. I was totally deflated at that moment. After numerous meeting with trades, contractors and Master Wong, we decided to continue. With the oil price escalating daily, which affects the cost of building materials, I was fighting a losing battle to constrain the building cost.
由於不知道佛堂的財政狀況，我還信心十足，認為可以把這項工程做到一百分。剛在工地上挖了一個大大的洞後，正準備打地基時，一則消息傳來對我打擊甚大。因為佛堂突然遭遇到經濟困難，可能無力完成工程。在那一刻，我像皮球全部洩了氣一樣。經過多次與承建商和黃點傳師開會研究之後，我們決定繼續。看著每日上升的燃油價格，影響了建築材料的費用，我雖如戰敗的公雞，仍然努力掙扎要抑制建築成本。

The holiday season in 2007 was a really memorable one. I spent my holidays in a now shelled building without gas or electricity and watched workers working in the cold (about 10oC) and insufficient light. Yet not too many workers complained except trying to meet my deadline. The "dark" period continued for almost 3 months. With the help of God, finally Power Stream remembered the temple was waiting for their connection. Shortly after, we had gas connection. Finally the interior was finished and exterior work commenced. The whole construction process was completed in June.
2007年的假期是最難忘的。我在一座沒有煤氣、沒有電力供應的空殼房子內度假，並監督工人們在大約攝氏十度的寒冷天氣和黯淡光線的地方裡工作。然而工人都沒有抱怨，並盡心盡力地工作，希望可以按照我規定的期限完成。這「黑暗」的日子持續了將近三個月，蒙　上帝慈悲，電力公司終於猛然記起佛堂正在等著他們來連接電源。不久之后，我們亦有了煤氣的供應。最後內部裝修完竣，外牆工作開始，整個建築工程在6月全部完成。

During construction a few brothers and sisters asked a lot of “ whys” and “should have”. I love to tell them there should be a lot of “could have” but there are a lot “could not afford to” too. Nevertheless the project is complete to“my” satisfaction. I hope Master Wong, brothers and sisters would feel the same. To me a“difficult” baby is born.
在建築期間，一些道中兄弟姐妹問了許多個「為什麼」和「應該」。 我喜歡告訴他們應該有許多「可能」，但是同樣有很多「不可能」。無論如何，我對這工程十分滿意。我希望黃點傳師和道中的兄弟姐妹們也有同感。 對我來說，一個難產的嬰兒已誕生。

In reviewing what I had been through in the past 2 years, if it’s not the strong leadership and support of Master Wong, our beloved brothers and sisters, this project would not have been achievable. A few times during construction, I informed Anna that the project was so difficult that I would not want to continue. Anna looked at me and smiled saying “you would continue”.
回顧我剛走過的兩年中，如果沒有黃點傳師優秀的領導和強力的支持，與及親愛的兄弟姐妹們的勉勵，這項工程就不會做得圓滿。有好幾次，我通知安娜同修：「工程如此困難以致我不想繼續做下去。」安娜看著我，微笑地說：「您會繼續做的。」

To summarize my construction expenses, my book showed we were about 10% over budget. I was relieved in a way that a contingency of 5% to 10% in construction is pretty normal especially with our limited budget. Then Philip sent me the actual payout amount which is very close to our original budget…..my eyes were all wet. Don’t know how we did it. The words come back to me.
最後，在我總結工程的全部開支時，我的賬簿顯示出我們大約超支10%。一般情況而言，有時會發生一些難以預測的意外事故，所以超支5%到10%都算是十分正常的，何況是在我們有限的資源！其後Philip同修把實際費用的金額數目寄給我，竟然與我們原本的預算非常接近………我登時淚盈於睫。真不知道我們是怎麼能做得到的？耳邊忽然響起這句話……

「If God desires to have a temple here, there will be a temple.」
「如果上帝想在這裡有一座佛堂，就一定將會有一座佛堂在這裡。」