magine living in a S$28,000-a-month rented estate where famous Hollywood celebrities such as Paris Hilton’s sister Nicky, Ugly Betty star America Ferrera and British singer Leona Lewis are your neighbours.
If luck is on your side, you could even cross paths with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie who are also said to own a property in the vicinity.
Sounds too good to be true?
The Hollywood Hills estate is the place singer Ho Yeow Sun, 40, popularly known as Sun Ho, calls home since spending much of her time in Los Angeles for her music career.
She is the wife of Reverend Kong Hee, 45, of City Harvest Church and has been commuting between Singapore and the U.S. since 2003.
According to The New Paper, the Hollywood estate Ms Ho has been renting for the past year is listed for sale at S$7.7 million. It was reported that Ms Ho lives there with her son, an assistant, a nanny and her relatives.
The profile of residents in the neighbourhood is said to comprise millionaires and high-profile businessmen who have bought homes there to enjoy the quiet, peaceful surroundings, with a low crime rate and regular police patrols.
The report’s detailed description also indicates that the dark green Spanish Mediterranean style building Ms Ho is renting stands out from the rest of the properties in the area due to its large size.
The estate stands on 29,000 sq ft of land or about a third of a soccer field. It comprises a main house, three self-contained structures, with quarters for a butler, nanny and maid. Not only does it boast a swimming pool, a sundeck and a two-car garage, its driveway still has space for another 9 cars.
The total built-up area of the estate is 6,766 sq ft or about the size of 5 five-room HDB flats, while the 4,135 sq ft main house has four bedrooms.
The paper also noted the reaction of the house agent who described Ms Ho as “Singapore’s top singer and entertainer” while a neighbour said she was very “sophisticated and seems traditional” as she often hosts gatherings for traditional festivities such as Chinese New Year.
Back in Singapore, the couple has also made some big property moves through the years. They started off in a five-room HDB flat in Tampines which was purchased at S$127,000 before selling it for S$420,000. They then moved to a unit at Horizon Towers costing S$1 million in River Valley before selling it off to buy a new apartment at The Suites at Central on Devonshire Road, said to be worth about S$2.6million.
Ms Ho returned to Singapore last Monday to assist the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) in an investigation into alleged misuse of church funds. She was said to have been grilled by police for more than eight hours.
Her husband, Mr Kong also explained his silence in a Facebook post on his account. He said, “Because we’re in the midst of the investigation, I am unable to provide any details about the progress besides what already has been released by the Singapore Police in their statement to the press.”
“But I would like to assure everyone that I, together with the Management Board of the church, am fully cooperative in providing the necessary information needed for the investigation,” he wrote.
The couple and at least 16 others connected to the City Harvest Church are currently assisting the CAD in ongoing investigations.