19 Steps to becoming City Harvest Church member.
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It wasn't meritocracy for sure. In meritocracy, only good singers get the bucks. Nothing but a bunch of junkies and zombies buying CDs.
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I was hoping the music videos were of some decent quality.
I was wrong.
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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 his good example 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. 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. f 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 might or might 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 dry hump 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 ConsumerismJust 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 servants. 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 statistics 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 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 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.
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City Harvest Church founder and four others arrested over alleged misuse of church funds. Charities watchdog says:
They tried to hide money transfers
SINGER: Ms Ho Yeow Sun in the music video for her single China Wine. PICTURE: NOOIMAGESARRESTED: City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee leaving the Commerical Affairs Department at Police Cantonment Complex TNP PICTURE: GAVIN FOO
REPORT: LEDIAN TANNINE years ago, City Harvest Church member Roland Poon Swee Kay publicly apologised to church founder Kong Hee and his singer-wife Ho Yeow Sun for alleging that church funds were used to promote her singing career.
Yesterday, Mr Poon would have felt vindicated when the charities watchdog revealed it had uncovered financial irregularities of at least $23 million from the church's funds over a period of three years - from 2007 to 2010.
"These funds were used with the purported intention to finance Ho Yeow Sun's secular music career to connect with people. There was a concerted effort to conceal this movement of funds from its stakeholders," said the Commissioner of Charities (COC), who ordered that the couple and six others be suspended from their posts in the charity.
The Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) also moved in yesterday morning to arrest Mr Kong and four others.
They are expected to be charged today with being in a conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust as an agent.
The action by the two agencies comes after more than two years of investigations into the church, which has more than 30,000 members here.
The focus of their investigations was the Crossover Project, started in 2002 by the couple to use Ms Ho's secular music to connect with people and reach out to non-Christians.
Her first foray into the Chinese music scene was in 2002, when she released her debut Mandarin album, Sun With Love. She has five Mandarin albums under her belt.
Ms Ho, who uses the stage name Sun Ho, won the Best-selling Album award at the 2003 Singapore Hit Awards for her second album, Sun*Day, and the
Best-selling Album (Female) award at the 2004 Singapore Hit Awards for her third album, Lonely Travel.She also actively pursued a music career in the US, where she was based largely between 2003 and 2010.
She released several English singles in the US, five of which made it into the top 10 of Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs.
During her time in US, she collaborated with such notable names as producer David Foster, Grammy Award-winner Olivia Newton-John and Wyclef Jean, the executive producer on her first US album, whose release has been delayed time and again.
Mr Poon first raised questions about how her career was funded in media
interviews in 2003.Denied allegations
But the couple denied the allegations in press statements and in representations to the congregation.
Mr Kong said that not a single cent from church funds was used to buy or to promote Ms Ho's albums.
But the speculation continued.
Shortly after investigations into the charity's finances started in 2010, The New Paper reported in June that year that Ms Ho was living in an estimated US$20,000-a-month ($25,600) property in Los Angeles for about a year.
The property, standing on 29,000 sq ft of land or about a third of a football field, comprises a main house and three self-contained structures and quarters for a butler, nanny and maid.
The total built-up area is 6,766 sq ft, or about the size of five five-room HDB flats.
The 4,135 sq ft main house has four bedrooms. The property also boasts a swimming pool, a sundeck and a two-car garage, and its driveway has space for another nine cars.
Ms Ho was understood to have lived there with her son, an assistant, a nanny and relatives.
Putting the spotlight on how Ms Ho's music career was being funded, TNP reported that it is unclear who picked up the tab for her recordings, music videos and collaborations with top producers.
In case of Ms Ho's five Mandarin albums under recording labels Warner Music Singapore and Universal Music Singapore, the labels said they were only in charge of distribution and did not own the rights.
When TNP contacted Xtron Productions, which was listed as her management agency in Singapore on her US website, it declined to comment.
When contacted then, the couple's lawyer also declined to comment.Yesterday, the COC said that it was concerned about the "misconduct and mismanagement" in the administration of the charity and listed several breaches.
Between December 2007 and May 2010, the COC found that at least $2.1 million of church funds was used to finance the Crossover Project under the guise of donations to its affiliated church in Kuala Lumpur.
Transfer money
The church in KL, known as the City Harvest Church Kuala Lumpur, would then transfer the money to support the Crossover Project in the US.
Additionally, donations and tithes to the church were transferred into a multi-purpose account which was also used to pay for the Crossover Project.
Selected donors were asked to transfer their contributions originally meant for the church's "Arise and Build" campaign to the multi-purpose account, resulting in some members ceasing or reducing their regular tithes to the church.
There was an attempt to conceal the existence of this account by closing its joint bank account and dealing only in cash transactions, which were kept in a safe at the church.
Between April 2007 and March 2010, $3.6 million were used for purported expenditures of the couple.
Around 2009, US$100,000 was also used to pay for a media team from Singapore to publicise and write about Ms Ho's music career in the US.
Asked to comment on how the current case would impact the charity sector after cases of mismanagement at other high-profile charities, such as the National Kidney Foundation and Ren Ci, the National Council of Churches of Singapore president, Bishop Terry Kee, said that COC's Code of Governance for Charities and Institutions of a Public Character is comprehensive and there are reasonable checks and balance in place.
He said: "I believe that together with the putting in place of an audit committee and a whistle-blowing policy as recommended by the COC, we should see much reduction in new cases."
CITY HARVEST TALKING POINTS
Answers are pieced together from COC, CAD and CHC statements
How were the church funds diverted to fund Ms Ho Yeow Sun's music career?
Between 2007 and 2010, a portion of the church's funds was used to finance her career under the guise of donations to its affiliated church in Kuala Lumpur.
At least $2,1m was then transmitted by this affiliate church to the US to fund her career.
In addition, donations and tithes to the church were transferred into a private fund known as the Multi-Purpose Account, which was used to fund her career. This account was allegedly kept secret from most of the church members.
There was also an attempt to conceal the existence of the account by closing its joint bank account and dealing only in cash, which was kept in a safe at the church.
About $3m from the account was said to have been used for Ms Ho's expenditures.
Some donations to the church's Building Fund were also diverted to the secret account via "refunds" to donors, who indicated that they wanted the monies to go to specific pastors and employees of the charity as "love gifts".
The recipients of the gifts would then deposit the money in the secret account.
Who knew these practices were going on?For the diversion of funds from the affiliate church in KL to the US, Mr Tan Ye Peng (vice-chairman), Mr Kevin Teo Meng How (board member), Ms Sharon Tan Shao Yuen (board member) and Ms Serina Wee Gek Yin (ex-finance manager and board member) were aware of the true purpose of the "donations".
Ms Wee and Ms Jacqueline Tan Su Pheng (former personal assistant to Mr Kong and board member) were the ones who administered the multi-purpose account.
The Plan to divert monies from the building fund to the secret account via "refunds" was conceptualised by Mr Chew Eng Han (board member), Mr Tan, Ms Wee and Ms Tan.
What action has been taken against those involved?
The following have been suspended from their roles on the church's board:
• Mr Kong Hee (member of charity's board and executive member)
• Mr Lam Leng Hung (chairman of charity's board, trustee, agent and executive member)
• Mr Tan Ye Peng (vice-chairman of charity's board, employee, agent and executive member)
• Ms Sharon Tan Shao Yuen (employee and executive member)
• Mr Chew Eng Han (agent and executive member)
• Ms Ho Yeow Sun (agent and executive member)
• Mr Kelvin Teo Meng How (agent, employee and executive member)
• Ms Jacqueline Tan Su Pheng (employee and executive member)
The following have been arrested by the Commercial Affairs Department: Mr Kong, Mr Lam, Mr Tan, Ms Sharon Tan and Mr Chew.
What happens to City Harvest Church?
There is no case being brought against the church.
The CHC Advisory Committee, comprising Dr Phil Pringle, founder and Senior Minister of Christian City Church in Sydney, and Dr A R Bernard, founder and CEO of Christian Cultural Centre in New York, will continue to provide spiritual leadership. Both pastors were appointed advisory senior pastors over CHC.
The Church Management Board continues to provide guidance on the running of the church.
Church Operations and cell group meetings will continue as usual, including all weekend services at Singapore Expo and Jurong West.
Remember, it's not the church that's on trial
WORSHIPPING: City Harvest Church's first service held in the Suntec
Convention Centre in March last year.ST FILE PHOTO
COMMENT: MELVIN SINGH
THREE charities. Three high-profile champions. Three scandals.
First it was the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and Mr T.T. Durai, then Ren Ci and MingYi, and now City Harvest Church (CHC) and its founder, Mr Kong Hee.
But the parallels don't end there.
All three charities do good work.
The NKF and charity-giving in general took a hit when the first scandal broke, but donors are back and confidence in the charity sector is stronger than ever.
Ren Ci also weathered the storm, and now it's iniportant that CHC comes through this episode undamaged, if not stronger, too.
Cynicism kicks in when champions of charities misuse funds. That's unavoidable.
Charities here raise huge sums. Last year, donations hit a 10-year high of $896 million.
But the church is not on trial The people who allegedly exploited the trust of its members are.
Mr Kong's time in court will start today when he is expected to be charged with conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust as an agent
Four executive members of the church will also be charged.
But while the criminal case remains an allegation, the Comrnissioner of Charities (COC) in its investigation has concluded that serious misrepresentations were indeed made to church members.
Money from the building fund and another fund-known as the "multi-purpose account"-was purportedly used to finance the music career of Mr Kong's wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun.
The COC had instituted an inquiry running concurrently with investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD)into CHC on May 31,2010, under the Charities Act.
Following its investigations, the charities watchdog yesterday suspended eight church members-including Mr Kong and Ms Ho "from the exercise of their office or employment As governing board members, officers, agents or employees of the Charity with immediate effect".
No issue
The investigations by both agencies take no issue with the church or its charity activities. This was addressed by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean as well.
He said: "I would like to stress that the charges filed by CAD are against five individuals from the City Harvest Church regarding the use of church funds. They are not filed against CHC itself.
"The CHC is free to continue its church services and activities."
DPM Teo, who is also Minister for Home Affairs, added that the law should be allowed to "take its course and (people should) avoid speculation or making pre-judgments that may unnecessarily stir up emotions".
News of the scandal has already sparked an online furore. On HardwareZone alone, more than 1,000 posts were registered in more than 70 pages of the CHC thread.
And that's just within five hours of the news breaking at 3pm of Mr Kong's arrest.
Twitter peaked at about 9pm with seven out of 10 trending topics on the saga
Eight out of 20 top Google Singapore searches were in relation to the saga While the instinct is to let fly, it's worth remembering that like NKF and Ren Ci, CHC has been generous in its charity work here and abroad.
With the support of its 33,000 congregation members and some restraint in
the coffee-shop talk and online speculation, it will continue to touch thousands of lives.From $127K flat to $9.3m condo
They kept upgrading their properties over 20 years
SPACIOUS: (Left) The Hollywood Hills estate that Ms Ho Yeow Sun rented in the United States. (Far left) Ms Ho practising her dance moves with a
choreographer in her house.
REPORT: KOH HUI THENG
WHEN City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee and his wife Ho Yeow Sun got married in 1992, their home was a $127,000 five-room flat in Tampines.But when the police turned up at his door yesterday to arrest him, it was at the couple's Sentosa Cove penthouse.
Mr Kong, 47, Ms Ho, 41, and their son, seven, now live in the luxe Ocean Drive apartment.
The 487 sq m property - which is more than four times bigger than their Tampines flat and has an ocean-front view - was bought in 2007 for $9.3 million.
The property is registered under two names, Mr Kong and Mr Wahju Hanafi.
The latter had donated $600,000 to the church's building fund, the Commissioner of Charities (COC) said yesterday. The donation was "intended for specific pastors and employees of the charity as love gifts".
The police and the COC started investigating financial irregularities in the church under the Charities Act in 2010.
They are now alleging misconduct and mismanagement of funds. Mr Kong was among five people arrested yesterday.
The family had returned last Thursday after about a week's holiday in Thailand.
Then, Ms Ho had sent several updates a day on Twitter, along with vacation snapshots of herself, Mr Kong and their son Dayan.
One entry last Wednesday read: "PK (Pastor Kong) was so tired out from all the sun, snorkeling n FUN!"
Another showed Mr Kong striking a kick-boxing pose, with the declaration: "So proud of you dear!... Look at PK doin' the high kick!"
The family's jet-setting was also chronicled in a June 11 post about Ms Ho enjoying peddler noodles in Taiwan ("So excited! Gonna eat Dan Zi Mian at Tu Hsiao Yueh") and Mr Kong in New York on June 3 ("Daddy! What are you doing in the Big Apple?").
When the couple got married, they "were so poor" that "I could buy her only a wedding band that cost $60", Mr Kong recalled in a 2002 interview with The New Paper.
He made it up to Ms Ho with a $5,000 one-carat diamond ring at the Greenhouse restaurant in Ritz-Carlton Hotel in 1997.
Since then, the couple have also moved on to pricier homes.
There was the million-dollar Horizon Towers unit in River Valley, which had a private lift, two living rooms and four bedrooms.
In 2005, TNP was invited to the condo.
Among the furnishings was a walk-in wardrobe with Mr Kong's Boss suits and Ms Ho's favourite brands like Balenciaga and Fendi.
In 2010, the family moved into a $2.6 million condo unit in The Suites at Central on Devonshire Road.
There was also the US$20,000 (S$25,600)-a-month Hollywood Hills estate that Ms Ho rented while furthering her career in the United States. The property, built in 1904, was sold in April for US$4.1 million.
Mr Kong walked out of the Criminal Investigation Department building at around 4pm yesterday.
Alluding to the unfolding events, he tweeted at around 5.30pm that it had been a tough day.
An hour later, the post had garnered more than 1,000 likes and 250 comments within an hour.
Supporters pledged their belief in him. "We are all behind you," some said on his Facebook account.
Another tweet around 10.55pm drew more than 75 likes within a minute.
News, The New Paper, Wednesday, June 27 2012, Pg 2-5
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Wot.
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Church Pastor combined with pop singer wife is just a moronic and idiotic combination.
Nothing but rubbish. pui.
Rubbish all the way, this city harvest and Kong Hee.
Which fucking pastor got wife is pop singer? Fuck you lah.
who are the morons who joined this fucking church?
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Zeeleewong is one of them. He should have offered his own money to post bail for them.
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rich become richer and poor (and dumb) become poorer (and dumber)
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Nobody can hijack our faith. Nobody can take away all the good Pastor Kong has done.
It is all just "alleged"
If Pastor Kong says he did not do it, it means Pastor Kong did not do it.
Pastor Kong has never lied before. He will not start now.
The CoC and the media are lying. So jealous.Why can't the media leave him alone? Why pursue such a great man? We all knew about the cross-over project. You guys do not know us. We sent out Pastor Sun to bring more people to Christ. And guess what? It worked.
I am surprised this loser James did not react yet. He is probably feeding CoC with lies.
CHC - My Church - My Family - My Life !!! We all stand united!!! Pastor Kong is preaching in the weekend. And all of us will be there to support him.
God bless!
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and here he is
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Ya, your Con Hee will bless your donations.
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nowhere his post has the word 'god'
he has become secondary
lol
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Kong Hee is Asia's biggest con man and is a cult leader not a pastor. Ezekiel 34:2 "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves..."
Woe to Kong Hee who looks after his $9.3mill penthouse and his wife's $23 mill music career.
Sun Ho is a cheap 2 bit slut who has sold her soul to the devil with satan's music. Her music is satanic and she has prostitued herself to the Hollywood music scene.She dresses like a satanic heathen.
Neither of them are pastor's toenails. Who has taught Kong hee his scamming and ripoff tricks?...none other than Phil Pringle of C3 cult.
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U gotta admit.. this con guy has some charisma man..
He's got soo many people under his spell..
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That's because he is a cult leader.
Kon man plus slut musso =cell ministry!
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Too many people have been brainwashed by Hong Kee and his clique.
City harvest should be liquidated before more harm is done.
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damn scary.
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Hi, this is my first posting after reading th'ru all 17 pages of the forum . Just a personal thot, being a Methodist, l feel offended by Ms Zeeleewong comments on Methodist in her posting in regard to changing of light bulb or something like that . Ms Zeeleewong, you are happy where you are, we are all happy where we are worshipping God . So please dun mock at others .
Ms Zeeleewong, sorry if l offend you in anyway but if Pastor Kong has done nothing wrong, why should he be in serious depression when he is assisting CAD and Police with the investigation .The late Dr Lim Hock Siew never suffer serious depression when he was jail without trial for 20 years because he knew he has done nothing wrong .
Lastly, I am under a Debt Repayment Scheme administer by the Insolvency and Public Trustee Office which mean l almost got into bankrputcy, l will be bankrupt if l did not find a job but one of my brother-in-christ who l lost touch for may years, call me out of no where and recommended me a job . Without a job, I will not have qualify for DRS under IPTO . During the past 10 years, l have not attended Church at all, let alone any money offering to God . But when l pray when l was going th;ru bankruptcy, he send me an angel in the form of my bro-in-christ and give me a job . I got into DRS and can get a new life . Now l am a happy man with a good wife and a good job . On the guidance of holy spirit, l went back to church beginning of this year . The church received me with open arms . The point l am trying to make is, l did not make a single offering to God and God bless me with 100 folds . Something for CHC members to ponder upon .
FYI, I maybe wrong, think all the youtube video to how CHC collect offering is taken off .
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Originally posted by alize:
It wasn't meritocracy for sure. In meritocracy, only good singers get the bucks. Nothing but a bunch of junkies and zombies buying CDs.
How did the term "meritocracy" end up in this thread?
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I go once for their clubbing sessions and I'm like DAMNNNNN this is SO LAME.
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in any case, any religion that wants 10% of my pay can GTFO
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Sorry to hear you can't take a joke.
God blessed you. That is great! Praise the Lord!
We at CHC are cheerful givers but we never say that God does not bless without offering.
Of course He does.Did all of you notice how united we supported Pastor Kong?
It feels great to be part of such a wonderful family.
Pastor Kong keeps his integrity.Hahaha
God Bless
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Life is surreal.
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very surreal
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When it comes to leadership, faith alone won't do
NEWS ANALYSISBY IGNATIUS LOW
NEW EDITORIT IS an age-old tale. Charismatic leaders appear at the head of an organisation. Like a breath of fresh air, they are strong-willed, decisive and daringly unconventional.
They roll up their sleeves building the organisation from scratch. They lead by example, winning over customers and inspiring colleagues in equal measure.
But as they, and the organisations they lead, become more and more successful, they start to attain cult-like status.
Their decisions begin to seem irreproachable. Their staff begin to second guess their intentions in order not to displease. Few dare to express disagreement.
Is this what happened at the mega church City Harvest, where five church leaders and board members were arrested yesterday for criminal breach of trust and falsification of accounts, and another three suspended?
Could such a theory explain how the 10-member management board of one of the biggest churches in Singapore could have possibly approved the use of over $23 million in church funds to promote the musical career of one woman: church founder Kong Hee's wife Ho Yeow Sun?
Were many of them too close to Pastor Kong, having been appointed to the board by him? Had his spectacular success at growing City Harvest put him beyond questioning or reproach?
Today, the five will be charged and the courts will determine their innocence or guilt.
History, though, is littered with stories of the cult of personality seeding the downfall of people and the demise of organisations.
Take Lehman Brothers, the storied US investment bank that collapsed in the 2008 financial crisis.
Chief executive Dick Fuld was a legend, taking charge of the bank in 1993 and delivering 55 straight quarters of healthy profits. In the top seat for 14 years, he was the longest-tenured CEO on Wall Street then.
"To say he was surrounded with a cult of personality would be an understatement," said former Lehman head of corporate communications Andrew Gowers.
Mr Fuld was "almost unbearably intense", inspiring great loyalty and fear. "Those closest to him slaved like courtiers to a medieval monarch... insulating him from almost anything he might not want to hear," said Mr Gowers.
The problem with charismatic and powerful leaders like Mr Fuld is that they often inspire an almost unfailing loyalty among their followers. The danger is that these same loyalists are often put in positions of power precisely because of this very attribute.
If principles of good corporate governance can break down in profit-making entities like Lehman, with everyone from shareholders to financial regulators keeping these cult-like leaders in check, then they can break down in non-commercial bodies as well.
In fact, such checks run up against the moral roles of such organisations, with more people willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
The 2005 National Kidney Foundation (NKF) scandal is an example closer to home that many will remember. One of the key findings into the investigation into abuse of power on the part of long-time CEO T.T. Durai was that the NKF board mainly comprised his close associates.
NKF chairman Richard Yong was said to have allowed the CEO to dictate to him. The NKF board met just once a year. Some directors did not even know exactly how much Mr Durai was paid.
No one dared to question what was going on largely due to the phenomenal success of NKF's fund-raising efforts led by him.
But the NKF is a secular outfit. Once you throw religion into the mix, corporate governance checks become more complex, since a leader's authority is often perceived to be derived from God.
The indictment of the Venerable Ming Yi, a charismatic Buddhist leader who was both chairman and CEO of Ren Ci Hospital, for unauthorised loans and expenditures is a sober reminder.
The City Harvest case is one that any other successful organisation with cult-like leaders should take heed of. Is there an effective chairman or board of directors sufficiently independent from the leaders that run the organisation or manage its sizeable resources?
Are its finances, investments, subsidiary companies and activities transparently accounted for on a regular basis and checked by an independent party? Are there avenues for raising alternative views that leaders may not brook?
If the answers to these questions are 'no', then the City Harvest case should set off warning chimes to churches, charities and corporations all over Singapore.
Everyone wants to have total faith in a popular and successful leader. The problem is that sometimes, faith alone just won't do.
Top of the news, The Straits Times, Wednesday, June 27 2012, Pg A6