City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee and five other leaders misappropriated funds: prosecution

Yahoo! Newsroom – 15 May, 2013  5 hours ago

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  Yahoo! Newsroom - City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee and wife Sun Ho arrive at the subordinate court of Singapore for the criminal trial against him and five other church leaders …more   less 

The trial against City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee and and five other church leaders over alleged misappropriation of funds began on Wednesday before a packed courtroom.

Many members of the non-denominational Singapore mega-church had reportedly queued up as early as late Tuesday evening to get entry passes to the trial, which is being held at the subordinate courts.

In one set of charges, Kong Hee, Tan Ye Peng, Chew Eng Han, Serina Wee Gek Yin, Tan Shao Yuen Sharon and Lam Leng Hung are accused of criminal breach of trust for dishonestly misusing $24 million in church building funds to finance the music career of Kong's wife, Sun Ho.

In another set, Chew, Tan Ye Peng, Sharon Tan and Wee are said to have diverted about $26 million in church funds to cover up the "sham transactions" in the first batch of charges.

In the opening statement, lead prosecutor Mavis Chionh pointed out that the church's building funds came from donations by members to a campaign specifically targeted to support the construction of a new church.

Also, based on admitted statements of fact, the CHC management board publicly said none of the church's funds were being used to promote the career of Ho.

However, the prosecutor asserted that evidence would show that the six accused conspired to devise "purported" bond investments through which $13 million in building funds was misappropriated for Ho's career and $11 million was used for the same purpose as well as to for the personal use of one Wahju Hanafi.

The prosecution stressed that it was immaterial whether the accused believed that the promotion of Ho's music career would further the broader objectives of CHC.

"The question is whether the diversion of the Building Fund monies towards financing her music career, under the guise of purported bond investments, was an authorised use of the Building Fund," the prosecutor said.

The prosecution also pointed out that the "theological legitimacy" of using Ho's music career as a means of evangelism was not at issue in the trial and was not relevant to the charges against the accused.

Regarding the second set of charges, the prosecution alleged that the four accused over this aspect of the case conspired to effect the supposed redemption of the bonds "by misappropriating further sums totalling about $26.6 million of CHC's monies".

The prosecution said the accused intended to defraud the auditors of CHC and false entries into CHC's accounts had been made. This was said to have happened in 2009.

In conclusion, the prosecution said the evidence would show that "the offences were part of a deliberately planned, meticulously coordinated, and carefully executed scheme which stretched over a prolonged period of time and involved the movement of millions of dollars".

Source: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/trial-against-kong-hee--five-other-city-harvest-church-leaders-starts-031914520.html

City Harvest Church ex-finance chief charge

Source: http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120725-361152.html

AsiaOne
Wednesday, Jul 25, 2012

SINGAPORE - City Harvest Church's (CHC) ex-finance chief Serina Wee, 35, was charged this morning, making her the sixth person to face criminal charges over the alleged siphoning of church funds.

The Straits Times reported that Wee faces six charges of criminal breach of trust and four for falsifying accounts.

Her bail has been set at $500,000.

The other five charged so far are founding pastor Kong Hee, 47; church management board member John Lam Leng Hung, 44; Kong's deputy Tan Ye Peng, 39; church finance manager Sharon Tan Shao Yuen, 36; and investment manager Chew Eng Han, 52.

Prosecutors believe that at least $23 million was invested in alleged sham transactions to fund the pop music career of Kong's wife, Sun Ho.

The funds were said to have been put into a $13 million bond investment with Xtron Productions, while $11 million was allegedly put into another company called PT The First National Glassware.

It is believed that some of the accused also conspired to misappropriate another $26.6 million of church funds so that it would seem like the alleged sham bond investments were redeemed. This is called 'round-tripping'.

Kong arrived at the Subordinate Court at 8.55am this morning for a second mention of the high-profile case, which first came under scrutiny in early 2010, when the Commissioner of Charities (COC) received complaints alleging the misuse of the charity's funds.

The five have not pleaded guilty. The offence of criminal breach of trust carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail, and/or a fine. For the charge of falsifying accounts, the accused may be punishable with a life sentence, or jail of up to 20 years and a fine.

yamadak@sph.com.sg

The accused and their charges Click on thumbnail to view (Photos: ST, Internet)

City Harvest church founder, 4 others charged in court Click on thumbnail to view (Photos: ST, AsiaOne, Reuters, AFP)

From pastor-singer to geisha girl

Sunday, July 8. 2012

By BOON CHAN and NG KAI LING

Sun Ho’s career has raised a few eyebrows since her debut in 2002.

FROM the start of her singing career, Ho Yeow Sun, or Sun Ho, stood out from the crowd because she was marketed as a pastor’s wife.

But by the time Ho was dirty dancing in the 2007 video for China Wine, the pastor’s wife label had long been set aside.

Her husband, Kong Hee, 47, is the founder of Singapore’s City Harvest Church. The couple have a seven-year-old son. Along with four others, Kong has been charged with conspiring to cheat the church in order to finance his wife’s music career.

The rise of Sun: In Kuala Lumpur for the launching of her debut Mandopop album Sun With Love in August 2002. – Filepic

Ho, 42, made her Mandopop debut with the album Sun With Love in 2002. In keeping with her then wholesome image, the album cover is a close-up of her barely made-up face, complete with freckles. Singapore’s Radio 100.3 vice-president Anna Lim says of the religious connection: “That was her selling point – something for people to remember and talk about.”

Even then, the album was not overtly religious.

Xiaohan, 38, who wrote the lyrics for Andersen on that record, recalls: “The direction given to the songwriters was that it was to be an album about love of all kinds, and that you could perceive it as love of God or love for your other half. But we knew she was a pastor’s wife.”

The lyricist says the songwriters were told that the songs ought not to hard-sell Christianity, but should sound like “regular commercial songs”. Ho’s popularity rocketed with the subsequent release of Sun*day in 2002 and Lonely Travel the year after.

Both albums sold more than 30,000 copies each in Singapore, estimates Warner Music marketing director James Kang. A top-selling artiste would sell at least this number of copies.

Sun*day won the Best Selling Album Of The Year accolade at the Singapore Hit Awards in 2003, pipping popular acts such as Taiwan’s boy band 5566 and homegrown singer Stefanie Sun.

The group 5566 caused a stir by threatening to boycott the awards that year, alleging “unfair practice”. Their First Album, released in 2002, had sold close to 50,000 copies and the group had expected to pick up the trophy for best-selling album.

Music industry insiders say Ho’s popularity was in part driven by extensive marketing. Lim says: “When she released her first album, she bought programmes to appear on the station to promote herself. It’s quite rare for singers to buy programmes; usually the record companies do it.”

Ho’s fourth and fifth Mandarin albums, distributed by Warner, fared less well in Singapore. Kang estimates that Gain (2006) and Embrace (2007) sold between 5,000 and 10,000 copies each in the city-state.

Kang says that for the earlier albums, Ho was concentrating her efforts locally “to achieve the highest sales and greatest exposure she could get”.

But from her second album Sun*day on, she shifted her attention to Taiwan. Taiwanese radio deejay Tso Kuang-ping, 30, recalls Ho doing really well in Taiwan about seven years ago. Her songs were being sung in karaoke sessions and her albums topped the sales charts. Lonely Travel, released in 2003, as well as Gain and Embrace all went to No.1 in Taiwan on the authoritative G-Music Mandarin album chart.

Tso says: “In Taiwan, people did not see her as having a strong Christian image. They saw her as a pop singer with songs that felt fashionable.”

In 2003, Ho ventured into the American music market with the singleWhere Did Love Go?. It hit No.1 on Billboard’s dance breakout chart. Subsequent singles such as One With You and Without Love, both in 2004, and Gone in 2006, made it to No.1 on the Billboard Dance Chart. Tso says: “I thought the US dance singles were very forward-looking and had a lot of ideas in them.”

Ho’s decision to head West raised eyebrows in the local industry. Kang says: “The US was quite an eye-opening choice for people in the industry because no Asian artistes had been able to break into the market.”

Controversial: Ho collaborated with Wyclef Jean and musicians Tony Matterhorn and Elephant Man on her 2007 video for the song China Wine. In it the Singaporean singer adopted a geisha persona and was dressed sexily.

He estimates that it would take “a few million” dollars just to do a decent job of marketing an artiste, and that it could have cost “close to a million” to make the China Winevideo.

That China Wine music video – a collaboration with Wyclef Jean from hip-hop group the Fugees, which came along in 2007 – had her adopting a persona she called Geisha and prancing about in a midriff-baring top and hot pants.

Teacher Jasmine Ho, 31, a church member since 2002, says: “When you’re in a different country, you have to follow the trend and appeal to the market. For an Asian to make it to music award ceremonies, she did Singapore proud.” She was referring to Ho walking the red carpet at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards in 2004.

There were also other music videos. At the start of the reggae-flavouredMr Bill (2009), Sun Ho berates a cheating lover in Mandarin, while Fancy Free (2009) has her in dramatic get-ups which invite comparisons to Lady Gaga.

But it was the China Wine video that set tongues wagging. Homegrown music company Ocean Butterflies director Colin Goh says: “To use pop music to promote Christianity, I think, is fine. But there are many types of images you can adopt and that was so inappropriate to Christianity.” – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network

Career milestones

2002: Releases debut Mandarin album Sun With Love and albumSun*day.

2003: Releases Lonely Travel, a Mandarin album.

Where Did Love Go?, her debut English single, is No.1 on the US Billboard’s dance breakout chart.

Named Best-Selling Female Artiste Of The Year and wins Best-Selling Album Of The Year award for Sun*day at Singapore Hit Awards.

2004: English singles Without Love and One With You hit No.1 on the US Billboard Dance Chart.

Named Best-Selling Female Artiste Of The Year at Singapore Hit Awards.

2005: Ends Of The Earth is No.1 on UK Music Week Commercial Pop Chart.

2006: Gain is No.5 best-selling album of the year in Taiwan.

English single Gone hits No.1 on the US Billboard Dance Chart.

2007: Embrace is No.3 best-selling album of the year in Taiwan.

Causes stir with China Wine video.

2009: Releases Fancy Free, a single supposedly from forthcoming English album Cause A Ruckus. The album has yet to materialise.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=%2F2012%2F7%2F8%2Flifefocus%2F11606866&sec=lifefocus

A Christian speaks out against the defensive behavior of Kong Hee and City Harvest Church

Posted by temasektimes on July 2, 2012

On the recent CHC saga, I would like to offer my humble two cents worth, as a Christian – not to judge the people involved in the saga – but to correct any erroneous views about Christianity to the public that may have arose through this saga, for the sake of the God I worship.

Firstly, I was surprised that people found this saga surprising. CHC has been known in Christian circles as being a prosperity sideline church for many years now. I know of several people who have dropped out of CHC for that reasons. They went there to seek Jesus but instead received a different gospel from the one they know. Having visited the church a couple of times, I was uncomfortable with the fact that they kept emphasizing giving money.

Tithing to God is definitely important, but what they claim – tithe, and you will get much more financial blessings back in return – is an erroneous way to appeal to the lustful greed in people’s hearts (sort of like gambling and 4D), but not at all biblical. They also constantly back this strange philosophy with many testimonies for people who have prospered financially after giving to the church. The Bible never teaches getting more money as the motivation of tithing. The Bible does say that we will be blessed if we give, but we give to help God’s work, not to expect money in return. Also, the blessings in return may not necessarily be monentary. In China, there are churches where poor believers still tithe every cent from their pocket to fund their church missionaries (who truly need the money and literally risk life limb and jail to preach the gospel). However, they do so, rejoicing in the fact that God’s work can continue, not that they expect to get back money in return!

Secondly, I was surprised at the defensive behaviour of City Harvest members. I thought this issue was about the church’s pastor, and not the church? Initially when the news about Pastor Kong Hee being arrested broke out, I had never felt the church’s name was defamed in any way – neither do I think the public feels this way. The public seems to know the church is the victim not fellow consipirators. However, the overboard reactionary behaviour of CHC members, and not their pastor’s charges, now has made the public eye the church in a disapproving manner. We are not told to put our faith in men, who are untrustworthy, but in God.

The sad thing is that I see the CHC members blindly continuing to profess their faith in Pastor Kong Hee rather than professing their faith in a just God who would let justice, whatever the outcome be, prevail. God taught us to be respectful and submit to authorities because their power is given by God above. Whatever happens, good or bad, is in God’s Will as well. As a Christian, I feel it is disgraceful to see CHC members pushing and shoving and saying nasty things to reporters outside the court to protect their beloved ‘pastor’. What does this convey to the non Christian world, who see us as messengers of God? What impression of the God we profess to worship does it convey to them? Why are they sacrificing their testimony of God to the world, for the sake of a mere man? What lengths would they go to protect their idol?

Christians throughout the ages have been no strangers to going to court and getting into trouble with the law. The difference is that such things normally happen because the authorities has issues with them preaching the gospel. However, to be charged by the law for mishandling God’s money, that is altogether a different kind of ‘persecution’. It is just and honourable for us Christians to be persecuted for righteousness and for God’s sake…but to be persecuted for our own foolishness and sinful behaviour, is just plain shameful. For the former, God is on our side; for the latter, it is His judgment upon a professed ‘Christian’ who continues to disobey him and indulge in sinful behaviour.

The saddest thing I have felt throughout this whole saga is that I have yet to see an apology from Pastor Kong Hee to God and his church members for commiting a wrong. And also that I have yet to see an apology from CHC members to the non-Christian public observers for their ridiculous ruckus outside the court (as well as writing letters alleging their church has been defamed by the authorities??) giving such a flawed testimony of God to the non Christian public observers. The crux of Christianity is to acknowlege we are utterly depraved, sinful and flawed, and calls for true repentance. Christianity without true repentance and confessing of sins is meaningless. We should be unashamed of acknowleging our wrongdoings because doing so will set us free.

According to 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” What is so hard about apologizing? What is this wretched pride (perhaps stemmed from our face-saving culture?) that Pastor Kong Hee is protecting? That his congregation is protecting for him? Is this pride more important than God? Jesus forsake his pride and died shamefully on the Cross. Because of that He was resurrected and given authority over all men, and millions of Christians honour and revere him today and praise Him with our lips. Can’t Pastor Kong Hee and his church do the same?

If not, let humble me apologize to the public on their behalf. I am sorry for the negative impressions Christians in the media have been giving you recently. I know we Christians normally try to convince you to come to church and to show you that God is living inside of us (of that I respectfully will not apologize for as that is what God calls us to know). But sometimes you see our actions going contrary to what we try to show, and for that I apologize. I would like you to know, that true Christians are not necessarily those who say they are Christians with their lips, nor those who do a lot of volunteer and charity work.

True Christians are those who mean what they say, who obey what Jesus says, who worship Him in Spirit and in truth. We Christians may say a million theological words about Christianity to you that you probably think is gibberish, but I would like you to know – indeed – actions speak louder than words. What we do is more important that what we say to you. If ever our actions contradict what we say – if we do not practise what we preach – you are right to label us as hypocrites.

MICHELLE TAN

*The above article was contributed to us for publication by the writer. We thank her for taking the effort to write such a well-thought article.

Source: http://temasektimes.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/a-christian-speaks-out-against-the-defensive-behavior-of-kong-hee-and-city-harvest-church/

Death of A Halo: Of Kong Hee, CHC, and Christianity

by Samuel Caleb Wee on Wednesday, 27 June 2012 at 01:54 

Edit: a tad lengthy, but bear with me please. I quote from a song by a few good friends of mine at the end. It seems somewhat appropriate.

Like many other Singaporeans, I was disappointed when i found out the full extent of the City Harvest Church financial misconduct case. Unlike many other Singaporeans, however, I found out about the details a good two years ago.

I won't go into detail about how I found out about the case, out of respect for the friend who shared it with me. The amount of time I've spend wrestling with my feelings on this issue, however, has given me a perspective I'd like to share, since this is a matter close to my heart.

My relationship with City Harvest Church is a complex one. I started attending the church in 2005, first as a cynical atheist, then gradually, through a process of intellectual and spiritual exploration, as a reluctant believer.

When I finally did come around in 2006, the teenaged me leaped into church involvement enthusiastically, surprising my family and friends. Several heated arguments ensued—at times charged with spite and vitriol. I remember feeling as how I imagine most CHC members must be feeling now: persecuted, misunderstood, disrespected for my choice of religion by people who were all too quick to jump to conclusions about the pastor I was so fiercely loyal to.

Nevertheless I started getting heavily involved in church, participating in church dramas, helping out with the cell group leadership. I gave out of my part-time income to the Building Fund, I tithed regularly while enthusiastically helping to organize evangelistic events for my cell group, obsessing every week about the headcount for the weekend service.

All the while I never really doubted the integrity and sincerity of the church. Pastor Kong, after all, seemed nothing if not authentic: his voice would rise with conviction when he preached, quavering with emotion when he was moved, and his eyes would regularly well up with tears during worship, ostensibly out of passion and pure emotion from God. What a guy, I thought.

Sometime around the end of 2007, though, I decided to end my active involvement in the church for reasons both personal and doctrinal: I had run into a spot of disagreement with my cell group leader and anyway I was starting to become increasingly uneasy with the principles espoused by the church. Nevertheless, I still believed that the management were sincere, though perhaps sincerely misguided.

Over the next three years I would find the church harder to shake than I imagined: people affiliated with the church would pop up in my life in some form or the other, whether as a lover, a bandmate, a colleague or a schoolmate...over the next few years I found myself returning to the church for several services.

The straw that finally broke the camel's back came with the Christmas of '09, when I came across a flyer appealing for advertisers to fund the church Christmas drama. The flyer promised a target market of over 50,000 people, even as the church passionately preached to its congregation about the evangelistic need to break a record and expose 50,000 new friends to Christ.

I remember shaking my head with disbelief at how incredibly wrong it felt to me. I left the church for good then, though I still kept in contact with several close friends still attending.

A few months later in early 2010, the news broke that the management was being investigated for financial mismanagement. The response then was similar to now: the general reaction was one of derision and scorn, while CHC members rallied together in a kind of siege mentality, insistently defending their pastor and their church, pointing to all that the church had done for them as proof that there must had been some mistake and that the world didn't understand. It was Romans and Christians all over again, they insisted.

I found out the details a few months later, and kept them to myself until today. I remember feeling—not much at all at first, actually. Hurt was a dominant emotion, after a while. Betrayal was another. Anger—anger clouded my vision for the longest time. Anger at hypocrisy, at deceit, at the exploitation of so many good-hearted people.

After a while the anger faded, replaced by a sort of hardened skepticism. I justified it to myself by separating the church from God—the institution is not the religion, I told myself, and when friends asked about my faith I would jokingly say that I was a fan of the Man, though I wasn't in the fan club. Still, there were moments when my skepticism bordered on cynicism. I had come full-circle, I thought, until then the news exploded all over Facebook today, and I realised that the anger was long gone. Instead all I had was sadness.

Sadness at the same old thing all over again: the derision from the general public.

The defensiveness and embarassed silence from some Christians.

The disgust from others, the sneer. You are not part of us, they said. We are us. You are them. Away from us. Go.

And most painful for me, from the CHC members I knew, just a very raw version of desperation and hurt. Of passionate rallying bordering on pleading: the world doesn't understand, look at what he's given us, look at what he's done, don't you understand, we don't mind that he lied, you can't put a price on this, you can't take this from us. You can't.

And I wanted to shake everybody out of their knee-jerk reactions: the Christians who poured scorn upon the church, the non-Christians making a casual joke out of somebody else's misery, the CHC members in painful denial.

Because it has been this way for too long, really, I think. And it's time to acknowledge the truth.

Listen, please, CHC members: This is not a matter of the world trying to persecute you. There is no devil trying to turn hearts against the church, there is no anti-CHC agenda, there is no media witchhunt out to crucify Kong Hee for crimes he didn't commit.

His crimes were serious: financial fraud, the misuse of donated monies, the appropriation of organizational funds into a personal bank account. This is a simple matter of a man who might have started out with pure intentions but then got greedy and then got scared and tried to hide the matter from the light of day, because he knew that the matter could not stand the light of day.

It's okay to admit that Kong Hee made a mistake. It's painful but important. It doesn't discount that fact that he might have helped many other people, that CHC has helped the poorest of the poor, the handicapped and the mentally retarded and the depressed, yes.

It does not take away from all the good that he did. But the good does not outweigh the mistake either.

The mistake exists, and it cannot be ignored or swept under a carpet.

Listen: The man is not the church, and the church is not God. God exists apart from City Harvest Church, and it is possible for City Harvest Church to fall short, just as it is possible for Kong Hee to fall short.

All have fallen short. All have fallen.

Forgiveness is present, but before there can be forgiveness there needs to be acceptance and acknowledgement of the mistake. Repeatedly, desperately trumpeting the various good things that Kong Hee has done just makes you look like you're trying to justify his deeds.

Does this mean we, the non-CHC members, have the right to mock, or laugh, or pour scorn upon the church then? Does this mean we have the right to vindictiveness, to snark, to derision?

Only in a version of Christianity, I think, where we are pure and sinless as well, which is no version of Christianity I know, or humanity, for that matter.

Yes, perhaps God is a God of justice as well as love, perhaps he is a God of righteousness and fairness as well.

And justice is big and justice is tough, but justice is not what we're thinking of when we draw a line in the sand and call them Them and say we are Us.

We were called to be so much more than this, you know. We were called to be salt. To be light. To bring grace and healing and mercy and forgiveness and love, oh love, love your neighbour as yourself, he said.

What have we done, what have we become?

Blinkered fools too proud, too ashamed, too afraid.

All the other Christians too vindictive to stop and find love for the church members who hurt too much to stop and admit the one they loved made a mistake, that this was not excusable, that faith was spilled and broken and a crime was committed.

Come on. This has been going on for far too long.

Can't we stop? Stop breaking the bruised reed. Stop quenching the smoking flax. Stop preaching our sermons in the mall and our sales pitches on the mount. We were meant to be salt and light, a city shining on a hill, but the lights have been on and nobody was home.

It seems to me that in our quest for godliness we often forget what it means to be human, what it means to be like that guy who stopped outside the grave of his best friend, crying, weeping, sobbing, Lazarus come forth, like that guy who comforted a humiliated adulterer and said, it's okay, it's okay, they won't hurt you now, I'm not judging you either, like that guy who hung upon a cross and looked at his mother and said, John, John, take care of her for me please, like that guy who sat upon a beach cooking breakfast for the people he loved the most, and instead we become like those whitewashed tombs and brood of vipers that that same guy loathed.

If we stop to remember what it means to be human, we might just remember that it's okay to admit our hypocrisy and our fakery and our fuckedupness and set aside our differences and say we were all wrong. And then afterwards quietly get on with the business of loving each other as much as we all love ourselves.

All things work out for the good, they say, if you can see his purpose, and let's try to see a purpose here, perhaps.

Perhaps it's okay now that the lowest is here. Perhaps now we see that the good pastor wasn't perfect and that he was a sinner too, just like all of us.

Perhaps it's okay to admit we're not perfect to a world in front of which we often pretend to be. Perhaps this is a chance to turn our focus inwards and get our own house in order before we attempt to convert 50,000 non-believers.

Perhaps now we can forgive, and perhaps the death of this halo came at the right time.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/notes/samuel-caleb-wee/death-of-a-halo-of-kong-hee-chc-and-christianity/10151054826826458

Ex-CHC member: ‘Celebrity culture’ in City Harvest Church does not fit into biblical principles

Posted by temasektimes on June 30, 2012

I am a Christian and I’ve attended City Harvest Church for two periods in my life for a total of 2 to 2.5 years.

I initially attended it with my folks. We enjoyed the sermon and the clear teachings of the pastor and his fellow leaders. But things went downhill one Sunday morning when a leader took to the stage to plug Ho Yeow Sun’s new album. The horrifying thing was how he chirpily used hard sell tactics to move the units.

We were asked to buy more than one copy and pass them to our friends. If one were to buy 6 copies or some absurd number, that would entitle one to a free poster or t-shirt (something along those lines). What was most upsetting at that time, was the fact that he was using the pulpit to push the sales of the pastor’s wife who was more interested in cutting pop albums than say attending church service. The posters from her new album were also plastered along the entrance and lobby of the building. There were no images of Jesus. No, instead, this singer’s face, the pastor’s wife, was all over the building. If that does not trigger alarm bells in the average church-goer, what will? That was the last week we attended CHC.

Kong Hee and Sun Ho – A celebrity culture

This leads me to ask this very important question. Who is worthy to be worshipped? Jesus? Or a man and his wife? Unfortunately, this question has not been addressed.

Twitter has been a flurry with ultra-supportive tweets from young members (and some older ones), proclaiming their undying loyalty for their pastor and his wife. Some say that they believe in the duo, know their hearts, believe in their cause and have already declared them innocent and faultless.

The Christian community, Christian leaders (within and outside of the church) and church members themselves should have questioned the culture of CHC – where the pastor and his wife have Fan Pages on Facebook, where their supporters, fans, devotees, express their undying love and support for the duo and what they do.

Any pastor, any leader of a church should know that this is not the right type of church culture and it should NOT be encouraged. This should NOT be advocated. Never mind what the pastor has done and his successes. No pastor should have a Facebook fan page. I find that absurd.

Didn’t the bible say that we should have no idols? And that we are to have only one God? Why do the church members till this day pledge their undying support for their pastor and his wife when clearly their loyalty and devotion should be channeled to serving God? Why are they fighting fire with fire? Why are they risking life and limb to support a man and his wife? Why are they not declaring their love for God instead? How has this man and his wife managed to mesmerise these youths to the point of delirious and blind support, such that Reverends from other churches have pinpointed the matter of blind support as an issue, a problem and yet these kids, CHC cell group leaders, etc, continue to obsessively tweet their love for the man and his wife?

I can have respect for a leader. I can praise him for his work, but ultimately all glory goes to God. I don’t see why I should dedicate myself to acting like his rabid fan for his good sermons and his community service. Instead, it would be way wiser to ask God for similar blessings and encourage everyone to learn from the areas in his life which he has excelled in being a good testimony for God but not necessarily put him on a pedestal that all begin to forget that he is only human.

If anything, men can fall, men are imperfect and only God is perfect. This is commonsensical, logical and of course biblical. So why the 100% Faith in a Man? CHC members should ask themselves why they feel so much love for Kong Hee and his wife. What is the source of this love? Does it come from a healthy place? CHC members must realise that Kong Hee, his wife and their team are mere mortals, mere men, and can fall. If they love their leaders, they should be bold, correct, rebuke if necessary.

The bible talks about how we are wise if we allow ourselves to BE CORRECTED (It’s so upsetting to hear that the church is standing by them in the recent statement they released – do they stand by misappropriation, corruption, white collar crime, does the church stand for dishonesty and siphoning of members’ contributions? Does the church not realise that the leaders could have made mistakes, could have possibly fallen?). They should be discerning and wise. A thinking individual who exercises the intellect that God has given him, is a wise man who is an asset to those around him.

Correction is not judgment, as the Bible says that we should correct, rebuke and be bold to those who are sinning. It is to be done in an act of caring for them in the hope that they will believe. That way we could contribute to the saving of a soul. If we don’t, we could be responsible for suppressing the truth which could mean eternal death instead of eternal life for that person. “James 5:20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

Jesus and the Apostles were very bold and rebuked and condemned evil. They even openly rebuked people in the church for doing evil, in order to strengthen the church. Rebuking a sinner, exposing corruption, correcting someone in love or disciplining ones children is not judging wrongfully. If so, Jesus and the Apostles who were our example to follow would have been in error. Source: truechristianity.com

To be an asset to any setting and situation we are in – we need to think critically. Decide when to accept, reject, ask, comply, argue, refuse, suggest and stand up for and against the actions of our fellow human beings. This applies to any context. Question your leaders. Your teacher, your boss at work, your colleagues, your most esteemed mentor, your gang leader, politicians, your prime minister, the United Nations panel, whoever they are, their ideas and actions are imperfect. No one but God is perfect. Full stop. With great power comes great responsibility – inserting this here for the young CHC members who might understand a quote from Spiderman. It is our job to make sure our leaders can do THEIR jobs well, efficiently, ethically.

The leaders of CHC may or may not be proven guilty. Nonetheless, they have crossed the lines of morality and ethics as church leaders, beacons of example, role models to their young congregation in the following ways:

1) Pressurising their members – students, youths especially – to purchase Sun Ho’s albums. These students get their allowance from their parents, most have yet to work a day in their lives. Why does CHC’s leaders find it reasonable and acceptable for their members’ parents to fork over money for Sun Ho’s music ambitions?

I’m sure a good portion of the money went to doing real charity work. But what about the portion that didn’t? Are we to close an eye to the siphoning of monies? God expects us to be good stewards of our money. This means that when we give, we must know where it will end up. So the hastag “mytrustisnotbreached” on Twitter just speaks of how misinformed their young members and leaders are, and how willing they are to continue to be duped if necessary. Members have tweeted that despite all of this, they would continue to give and give more.

The issue we non-members and Christians from other churches, have is why they would willingly contribute to the music career of their pastor and his wife. Why they would stamp their approval on doctoring books, creative accounting, falsifying documents and dealing only in cash to throw auditors and the authorities of their scent? Does it mean to say that your wholehearted support and love Kong Hee, his wife and their team stands for corruption, cooking the books and deception/dishonesty? Do you mean to say that your leaders couldn’t have handled the matter better? Could they not have been clearer about their intention with certain portions of the money given? Could they not have avoided selling her CDs during service? Could they not have pressured your young members to buy her CDs? Could your leaders not have given external bodies like the COC even a fragment of a chance to penalise them in any way? They are now facing 36 charges. CHC members, this is a wake up call. God does not allow this to happen for no reason. God does not stand for deception, vanity, consumerism and materialism.

2) Surely, your parents would not let you walk out of your house in skimpy, skin hugging attire. Christian parents, perhaps even more so. What about a church leader, a pastor who preaches from the bible? Is the body not a temple of God? Accepting your wife’s wishes – to dance, gyrate and parade in front of the world as a Geisha (a Japanese hostess trained to entertain men with conversation, dance, and song), an angry girlfriend cohabiting with her boyfriend and creating music for clubbers to gyrate and rub up against in each other in clubs across the States – not putting your foot down, and promoting her music, her work, her lifestyle to young impressionable minds at CHC is just a BIG NO-NO. IT IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. Christians should not compromise in such a manner. I find it so sad that these young CHC members, some whom I know personally, do not see how their pastor and his wife are so very weak and so very wrong in this manner. Other pastors, other church leaders, the Christian community, the secular community have disapproved of this. Yet only CHC stands by their pastor’s “choices” and his wife’s lifestyle.

Materialism and Consumerism

Just a question – when should religious leaders say no to love gifts? Do you need that expensive high end tablet or can you just make do with the phone you own now? Do you NEED that? Do you need to stay in the most expensive housing project in Singapore when there are clearly better ways to spend your money? If you are truly doing God’s work, I really don’t think you’d find it wise to spend your money on an excessively expensive and overpriced car or condominium. Kong Hee is no king in the eyes of God. He is his servant. Yes, servants of God should be blessed. But we should always spend wisely and seek His counsel pertaining to such matters.Solomon for instance, used his riches to build God’s temple.As Christians, we should try our hardest to avoid chasing the things of the world. The 5Cs apply to Singaporeans, but surely, as a church leader with such a “following” more judicious spending of his church money, his own monies, whatever finances he has access to, is only sound and morally and ethically right.

The second time I joined the church was for a shorter period. I joined a cell group and soon learned that 4 out of 5 of the leaders did not care for me. They cared for God yes. They were fervent in that manner yes. But unfortunately, they were not encouraged by their higher-ups to care in a way that mattered to the youth who were under them.

1) We were pressured into socialising after church. To go back to study, was discouraged. “Hang around and spend time, socialise with members of God” they would say. Apparently attending service is not enough and forcing a young member (group pressure) to socialise despite having a Chinese exam the next day, is godly.

2) You must attend service at least once a week – if not BE WARNED. Once, I decided to skip the morning service and not attend it with the cell group and to watch the online broadcast. My parents had given me their approval as a kid, to skip the service, rest and recuperate for the busy week ahead and spend time with God on my own. One of the cell leader’s assistant called me to berate me in a very harsh manner. I needed to go she said, attend the afternoon service, she would go with me for it, she said. She was clearly overriding my parents’ authority and making me FEAR her as a 15-year-old. Where do these cell-leaders get their gumption from? Who taught them to be such repressive, indoctrinated, uncaring, unfeeling, superficial and overbearing leaders? GOD IS LOVE. GOD DOES NOT INDUCE FEAR. GOD IS MERCIFUL. CHC members, if you are reading this and if you are guilty of this, stop this nonsense right now. Pray about it and let God lead you in your leadership of the youths under you. I’m pointing this out because thousands have been bullied, pressured, many have backslided because of the errant ways of your young leaders and the lack of wisdom by those over your young leaders. This needs to stop. This is the Church of God. Not the Church of Kong Hee and not the Church of Your Human Ways.

3) We were pressured into buying a church organiser for about $26-$29 if I remember correctly. All members of the cellgroup made a purchase, members were taught to frown upon others who did not make that purchase. I saved really hard for 3 weeks to get that kind of money with my paltry allowance. There was no other way for me to get my hands on that kind of money. I was a student in the midst of a busy school year, my parents are not rich, I’ve no older sibling and “godly” church members were forcing me to pay for a diary I would not use. I would pay $1 for a diary as a student – a simple notebook. But this church was forcing me to hand over several tens for a silly book that wasn’t even the bible. In the end, I got my money back and returned the diary. That was the last I saw of those horrible, horrible people, who treated me as just a statistic to boost their cell group size.

City Harvest Church started out with the vision to plant God’s word in the heart of non-believers. CHC represents Christianity on a mega-scale. Its leaders need to do its utmost to maintain the leadership/management’s integrity. Its leaders need to set forth directives for its young leaders to exercise caution, love and grace with their members. Its leaders need to make stands – stand up against materialism, consumerism, fetishism, vanity, worldly pursuits and blind support for mere men. The CHC body needs to better represent itself – as it represents the Christian community, not only in Singapore, but all over the world. It also needs to re-invent itself and restore its image for the church itself has done A LOT OF GOOD. It needs to create a good image for itself, for its members and for God.

CHC should release a statement along the lines of this – to show the world and most importantly, what its young members should believe in.

1) CHC stands for good, honest accounting.

2) CHC stands for biblical principles.

3) CHC supports its leadership and would love for its members to pray for them through this difficult period. That said, it no way condones any dishonesty whatsoever and aims to be judicious in spending members’ contributions and is looking for ways to improve the system.

4) CHC will continue to do God’s work according to the Word.

I personally believe that CHC should end this Celebrity Culture thing that it has been going on with Kong Hee, Sun Ho and its other leaders. Everyone is equal in the eyes of God. I really hope that the existing CHC leadership can be better examples and better leaders to its young congregation. Please tell them to stop blindly supporting Kong Hee and his wife on Twitter, Facebook and in their personal lives. Men are imperfect, accept that. Only God is perfect. No one is persecuting God. The lifestyles of Kong Hee, his wife and the leadership are being judged. And why not? They are imperfect. Let them be judged by the courts. Let the law take its due course. Detractors and supporters must realise that Kong Hee, Sun Ho and the team are IMPERFECT.

NO ONE IS PERSECUTING GOD or Godly lifestyles. Let’s get that straight.

*The above was first posted as a comment on The Temasek Times. The writer wishes to remain anonymous.

Source: http://temasektimes.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/ex-chc-member-celebrity-culture-in-city-harvest-church-does-not-fit-into-biblical-principles/