City Harvest church founder Kong Hee and 4 others arrested

• Paem

  27 Jun 12, 23:55

  Aiya, Bo nang a tai chi nang Mai chap. Yi nang ai si nang Mai ho ee si meh?
• Fcukpap

  27 Jun 12, 23:55

  thats why the saying....u can do a thousand good things..but dun ever make one mistake..

• mancha

  28 Jun 12, 00:02

  Depend on what sort of mistake. 

  29583+83721=113340 kind of mistake is alright.

  Dishonesty is not.

• alize

  28 Jun 12, 00:08

  Originally posted by mancha:

  The divine edict of giving generously, sincerly, for the benefit of mankind is still valid for all religions. Those who do so, will receive blessings much more than the amount they give. This is some how demonstrated in the wealth these givers have. It seem the more they give, there is more where it came from. 

  The church itself is a multi-million dollar building, yet there is tens of millions being shuffled around, and still tens of millions contemplated. Where does all these money come from, most importantly, how seemingly poor Singaporean, robbed by the government and inflation still have tens of millions to give.

  While we focus on the crooks in the church. We overlook the believers, who have faith in their religion are blessed by it.

  Money begets money, if everyone is stingy, society will be poor.

  The issue here is proper governance, not silly people.

  regarding your point

  5. Quality of customers

  With the 100-fold return message, the kind of church members attracted will be most conducive to profit-making. Money-minded people will be attracted to the church. These money-minded people tend to be ambitious and have a great desire to make lots of money. Millionaire minds have a higher chance to become rich. Hence, the quality of customers that CHC attracts are of the highest quality. The richer the church-member, the higher is the church’s tithe per member.

  Customer quality will be enhanced through the passage of time due to survivor bias. Suppose out of this pool of Millionaire-Mind Christians, 50% become satisfactorily rich and the remaining 50% still unsatisfactorily middle-class. The 50% who got rich will donate even more because they think their source of wealth comes from their donations. It is most unlikely they will cut back on their tithes  because they will be afraid God will punish them by cutting back the returns. If they are not afraid, the church will be there to warn them not to do so. The remaining 50% who did not get rich will be disillusioned and probably leave the church. The loss is of little significance to the church. These people are not rich and their tithes will not amount to much.

  Many Christians will be disgusted with the concept of using tithes to get rich. These people will probably leave the church after attending a few Sunday services. Again, the loss is of little significance to CHC. These people will not be highly profitable to the church even if they are rich because they are not going to tithe as much as the others who believe their tithes is the way to wealth.

  To the credit of the Pastor, I think he has devised a wonderful process of filtering out non-profitable customers and sucking in the lucrative ones. There is only so much physical space that a church can have to service its church-members. To maximize profits, the church has to ensure that each unit of space is used for servicing lucrative customers.

  http://temasektimes.wordpress.com/2012/06/27/an-analysis-into-the-wealth-of-city-harvest-church/

• M the name

  28 Jun 12, 00:16

  Originally posted by alize:

  A letter from a Christian asking Singaporeans to forgive pastor Hong Kee

  Submitted by therealsingapore on Tue, 06/26/2012 - 21:47

  Dear Editors,

  I am deeply saddened by the reactions of netizens to the arrest of my dearest pastor Kong Hee. As a long time member of City Harvest Church, the public clearly does not understand the sacrifices he had to make in the name of God.

  When I first received Sun Ho’s Chinese pop CD in 2003, I thought to myself: “what kind of devil’s music is this?” But as I listened more, it began to dawn on me that I was being overly prudish and she was actually spreading the word of God in the form of Satan-worshipping music to beat the devil at his own game.

  Indeed, the more involved I became at the Church, the more I began to understand that I could not even begin to comprehend God’s plan and the plans pastor Kong had for me, and the church. You see, I am but mortal. Pastor Kong was the chosen one.

  Without his light shining like a beacon of conscience, the gays, prostitutes, and the opposition would start to take over Singapore. Satan would then have a hub to take over the world.

  So it was with deep love that I decided to dedicate 30% of my husband’s salary each month to help fund Sun Ho’s music career as part of the Crossover project.

  As a good christian, I have an obligation to The Lord to spread his message: from Singapore to Malaysia, to Taiwan, China and even the town of sin, Hollywood.

  It must have been extremely difficult for pastor Kong to see his wife in such disgusting states of undress in public, and for her to live in the heart of the most unholy places on earth, Beverly Hills. I’ve watched the TV series 90210 when I was younger. These people have no morals but like lepers, the Man and Woman of God must go to the sick to heal the sick.

  People outside the church don’t understand us and are so quick to condemn when they haven’t experienced God through His music, sung to thumping beats and a negro man saying something intelligible at the beginning.

  I do not understand how “China wine” or being a Geisha is related to God’s work, but as I said, I’m only mortal. God has a plan, even when I don’t understand. Even when it involves S$23 million. If pastor Kong was using that money, it must be God’s will.

  Jesus preaches forgiveness, and therefore we must forgive even if we don’t want to.

  So I forgive the government, and the public for misunderstanding and maligning the Church.

  There’s a special place in hell for people who say nasty things about Kong Hee and an even worse one for those that framed God’s chosen workers.

  I pray that it will be like Sodom and Gonorrhea.

  Yours truly,

  Faithful Christian of CHC

  http://therealsingapore.com/content/letter-christian-asking-singaporeans-forgive-pastor-hong-kee

   

  Actually, based on the comments from the website, some believed that this letter is written by an genius satirical "troll" wrote in sarcasm format.

• mancha

  28 Jun 12, 00:21

  You are thinking of only the rich.

  All religions have a wide spectrum of people, from the lowest to the highest.

  Those whom you have in mind would donate hundreds of thousand dollars.

  But the majority of the believers give what they can afford, or want to.

  If they do that sincerly, it mean that they are not in dire straits. They give, and they feel blessed, that they are able to  give and they continue to be contented members of society

  Those who think that by giving or donating generously, they would strike lottery they will be dissapointed.

  That is my point, the working of theolgy. 

• brokenluv

  28 Jun 12, 00:56

  I have always believed that you have it in yourself whether or not you are a good person or not. Be it god, allah, guanyima etc, one should be judged by his actions and thoughts to be a holy person, not by how much gold one offers. I thought that religion is just there to guide people to be good. 

  Sad to say religion is a very powerful tool to manipulate people, sometimes to great effect, such as in this case.

• ditzy

  28 Jun 12, 08:06

  It takes riot police to stop 4 people gathered outside the CPF building.

  http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/articlenkfprotest1.html

  But no one gives a hoot about 200 people gathered outside the courts.

  http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120627-355804.html

  

• fudgester

  28 Jun 12, 08:35

  $24 million to fund a (secular) singing career? Dang.

  Imagine how many disadvantaged students, or destitute families, or homeless people that kind of money could have helped.

• dragg

  28 Jun 12, 08:55

  CHC member writes to MCYS alleging defamation SINGAPORE: A City Harvest Church member, Christopher Pang, has written to Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth & Sports Chan Chun Sing alleging that the Commissioner of Charities' statement on the misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity is defamatory. The Commissioner of Charities issued a statement on Tuesday saying that its inquiry discovered financial irregularities of at least S$23 million from the Charity's funds, and that these funds were used with the purported intention to finance Sun Ho's secular music career to connect with people. Among other things, Mr Pang said he disagreed with the Commissioner of Charities' statement being posted on MCYS' website. Speaking up for the five leaders who were charged in court on Wednesday, Mr Pang claimed that the statement is defamatory, and asked for an apology from the Commissioner of Charities. He asserted that as a society, the church does not owe members of the public any account of how its funds are used, yet audited accounts are posted on the church's website for transparency and accountability. He added that he was not supportive of the move by the Commissioner of Charities to suspend eight church leaders from their offices. - CNA/wm
• dragg

  28 Jun 12, 08:57

  NCCS hopes Singaporeans will not react against churches SINGAPORE: The Christian community is united in disapproving any misuse of public institutional funds, the National Council of Churches Singapore (NCCS) said, in response to the case involving five City Harvest Church members. This includes money raised by or given to churches, NCCS president Lutheran Bishop Terry Kee said. He added that dishonesty in financial matters is clearly contrary to the teaching of the church. However, he noted that as the matter is before the courts, it was important to avoid speculation or pre-judgement, and that the legal process should be allowed to take its course. The bishop said the council appreciates the clarification by Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Teo Chee Hean that the charges are filed against the five individuals and not City Harvest Church itself. Bishop Kee also hoped that Singaporeans would not react against the church or churches in Singapore. - CNA/wm
• alize

  28 Jun 12, 09:34

  I will never react against the church. I will react against those members who are xia lan.

• the Bear

  28 Jun 12, 09:39

  poor deluded follower who wrote the letter...

  the moment the charlatan Kong put in the papers to change his church into a "charity" it became accountable to the commissioner of charities

  that letter just shows how tight they have sewn their own eyes shut

• Honeybunz

  28 Jun 12, 09:41

  http://bizarrobassline.tumblr.com/post/25927852186/city-harvest-church

   

   

  Sarcasm blasts until your ass bleeds

   

  Klinsen. 20. Chinese Male. Living in the glorious motherland of Singapore. Music, philosophy, humour; I liek.

  June 26, 2012 at 10:49pm
  Home
  

  City Harvest Church

  http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1209942/1/.html

  CAD said it commenced an investigation on 31 May 2010 into certain financial transactions of CHC after receiving information of misuse of church funds.
  
  The Commissioner of Charities (COC) began its inquiry into the charity on the same day under the Charities Act over alleged misconduct and mismanagement of the building fund which had been raised and earmarked for specific purposes. 
  
  The COC said financial irregularities of at least S$23 million from the charity’s funds had been discovered. These funds were used with the purported intention to finance the music career of Ho Yeow Sun, who is Pastor Kong’s wife and co-founder of the church.
  
  The COC found that there was a concerted effort to conceal this movement of funds from the charity’s stakeholders, saying it is concerned about the misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the charity. 

  
  

  First and foremost allow me to say that I am deeply upset that a religious leader has compromised the generous donations of his followers in laundering.  Religion has not been used to its best effect in the world but this is definitely one of its more disgusting acts.

  Now that that’s over with, let me tell my story

  .

  I attended City Harvest Church for about half a year when I was 16. 

  Back then, I had backslid from Christianity for about 2 years. It seemed like a really good idea before, and when my best friend H came to tell me about how he had found a church and group that appealed to him, I was pleasantly surprised and of course, happy. It was only natural that I would want to take a look at these people who had brought my friend to Christ, say my thanks, and maybe renew my faith again.

  I was introduced to a group that had several of my schoolmates as members. That made the transition into City Harvest pretty smooth. I got to know them on a rather superficial level, but enough to maintain friendly conversation every time we met. I enjoyed the fellowship and merrymaking, but over time I began to sense that something just wasn’t right, at least for me. I’m no theological expert, but it only takes a bit to realize where City Harvest as a church goes wrong. 

  1. Shakalakabadahoumaigodidunnowherethisisgoing

  Of course, the strong charismatic nature of the services and prayer meetings did intimidate me a lot. I’m a naturally reserved person and as proud as I am of being Christian, I disagree (and am very uncomfortable) with expressing myself out the way the church encourages its members to. A problem I had was that I can’t speak in tongues without feeling like I’m lying to myself. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 12 that there are 9 different gifts bestowed by the spirit of the Lord. God gives these gifts as He sees best and not what we think they are for. More importantly, no two believers may necessarily have the same spiritual gifts but it is still for the common good of the church (verses 4-7).  Not even Jesus Christ himself can bestow spiritual gifts, so who are these members of City Harvest to insist that I invoke something I, in faith, clearly felt did not have?

  
  

  2. Tithing 

  I’m a little embarrassed that I needed help with this (thanks Justin Lee). I, like City Harvest (ironically!) believe the most sound philosophy in tithing to your church is from the following verse:

  2 Corinthians 7 (NIV)

  “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion,”

  I omitted the last phrase in the verse so I could highlight it here. City Harvest likes to take “God loves a cheerful giver” as a means to encourage people to donate. In my opinion, that is meant to intentionally bring about cognitive dissonance so that people will eventually give in to external pressure to donate more money. Once, I stood at the end of a row of seats, and I took $4 out of my wallet to stick in their donation envelope while an usher looked on. Being lazy, I neglected to seal the envelope but I put it rather firmly in her hands and shockingly was asked this question, “Is that all?”. 

  I think I reserved the right to feel offended at that moment. I was but a secondary 4 student and I was donating money I didn’t even earn by my own hand, I believe I should be allowed the discretion to use money the way I find wisest. So what if I don’t donate 10%?

  Let’s look at wikipedia for a moment : Traditional Jewish law and practice has included various forms of tithing since ancient times. Traditional Jews commonly practice ma’aser kesafim (tithing 10% of their income to charity). 

  How many goers of City Harvest Church can be sure that even 1% of their tithes was going to charity? Especially now that you know money was being wasted on a singer who never-ever-had-been. I have no problem if you want to donate 98% of your income to your church, but if your HEAD PASTOR and FOUR OTHER top dogs in your church don’t have the moral gumption to not misuse your money, you are in no church.

  
  

  3. Coercion  (this part is a little long)

  One incident that jolted me was when my cell group leader texted me one day. Earlier in the week, I knew I was going to have a family gathering on and had informed the cell group I was going to be busy and hence missing out on cell and a prayer meeting of sorts. The message read :

  “Klinsen can’t make it this sat. Try to meet with him then”

  I realized that it wasn’t meant for me, but rather for a girl (let’s call her T) who was a schoolmate of mine and I had gotten familiar with after several months of service and cell. T was like the protege of the cell leader, very much trusted and as good as her proxy. Later on, T texted me and asked if I was free for lunch or dinner that Saturday, which was odd because just 2 days before, I had mentioned that I was busy. What was even more suspicious was that T was so devout, she would never miss church activity for no good reason. I suddenly felt like I was prey being marked out.

  Another time, some guy shared during cell about the importance of smiling and being happy in church. I am very aware that I appear deadpan by default. As a result, I could not help but feel like I was being attacked for not acting the way the church/cell wanted me to. More importantly, the guy was just pulling bible verses out of his ass and I thought that was absolutely terrible of him.

  The final straw was when I happened to be daydreaming during a meal with the cell group. My eyes wandered and fell upon a sheet of paper that was sort of like a nominal roll for the group. I saw, to my horror, my own name, as well as my friend H’s, with our handphone numbers and some other bits of personal information that I had never surrendered before. That, to me, was an indication that I had been ‘captured’. Neither by my own volition nor my consent, I had been ‘made’ a permanent member of their group. I felt violated.

  Towards my O-levels, I was starting to find that the whole thing wasn’t working out. H and I were dropping out slowly, but not without beginning to feel like we were being harassed. I received 4 texts from a cell group member every day asking me if I was fine. I made it a point to respond to only one a day to prove that I was reading them all but I was being firm about not continuing to attend City Harvest. It didn’t work. The messages just kept coming. It was one day where I decided to just end the whole thing, without giving T so much as the respect of a face-to-face conversation. I let my emotions take over and basically screamed at her via text message until she agreed to leave me alone. It was unpleasant, but I had to take the quickest way out.

  H eventually gave up Christianity altogether. Til today I’m still afraid to ask him about how he feels about the religion after that episode. I was embittered because I felt that City Harvest had just messed everything up for him. He had an opportunity to be happy in the faith but the bad experience left him jaded and insouciant.

  I moved on to Barker Road Methodist Church, a very quaint, more conservative place. I am proud to say that the Word preached here is surely edifying of Christ. Over here I have options of different kinds of services, I can be frank during cell group sessions, and there is nothing to conform to except a love of God.

  
  

  4. Reflections

  I am glad that I went through the unpleasant experience of being in City Harvest. I might not agree completely with charismatic Christianity, but I think it is good that it exists. Some people might never have found Christ without their effective outreach methods. In fact, I confessed to Christ in a relatively charismatic setting. After several years, I finally knew what true hunger and longing for God meant.

  Kong Hee is not a good man. Several quick searches on the internet show you excerpts of his sermons where he takes the Word and blurs it out of its original context http://healtheland.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/non-biblical-teachings-of-kong-hee-of-city-harvest-church/ http://signposts02.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/lustful-leadership-laws-kong-hee-style/

  I never enjoyed the air about him. It always felt dishonest and I often found myself confused at his sermons. I and several thousand others totally saw this coming, and I make no apology that if you are surprised, you are nothing less than a blithering idiot.

  If you are a non-Christian, I want to be very apologetic here and ask that you do not fire all your grievances at the rest of the church. A man has committed wrong and given the nature of his act, clearly does not represent the God he claims to believe in. 

  If you are Christian, I want to remind you that Jesus himself got angry. Just as Jesus cleaned house at the temple, it is our spiritual duty to be angry at the ones who desecrate our temple for personal greed. 

  I borrow the words of a friend when I say this, “God is love, but God is also justice”. It is recognising one’s mistakes and atoning for them that makes one’s achievements worth recognising too. In fact, a fundamental element of Christianity is Justice. We believe that the price of sin is death, and God, being Existence and his entirety, sacrificed his son to provide endless forgiveness for the world. In the context of the secular world, we should not hesitate to demand the punishments which we agree is fair according to the laws we share with non-Christians.

  Conclusion :

  I hate City Harvest, I really do. If I could get away with it I would torch that abomination of money with the oil of forced liposuction of its pastors. As much as it was a gateway for many for Christ, it was often simply a facade for other purposes. But that’s not going to stop me from praying for its future. It needs to be better. It can reform. This is but a part of their race where they can prove themselves to be true warriors of Christ by persevering, or drop out and resign to be the hypocrites the world so despises. 

  One of my closest friends is in City harvest church. She acknowledges the weaknesses of it and puts her own spiritual growth in priority ahead of the demands of the Church. That is an admirable spirit but being a Christian also means forging a strong community of God-fearing people.

  There are many others like her who are good and sincere but in my opinion are in the wrong place. If you are a member of City Harvest Church on fire for God, I urge you to pray and ask if City Harvest is the home you deserve. If the answer is yes, you should aim to avoid the sins that your head pastor has committed. Your faith and church can be a massive force for God and good if it is channeled the right way. Moses; David; Paul; just several names of men who were disgraced but proved themselves worthy  to the very end.

  If your answer is no, I think it is time for you to pick up your bible and begin the search for a new spiritual home. It will require a lot of prayer and self-analysis to find out where you stand with the word of God, but I believe there is a better place for you.

• Honeybunz

  28 Jun 12, 09:52

  Originally posted by fudgester:

  $24 million to fund a (secular) singing career? Dang.

  Imagine how many disadvantaged students, or destitute families, or homeless people that kind of money could have helped.

  yes, DANG!  the singing is not even good.

• Darkknighthuang

  28 Jun 12, 10:00

  David Copperfield has the power to make you see what he wants you to see. This guy can make you do what he wants you to do with your money. I feel sorry for those downgraders.

• alize

  28 Jun 12, 10:01

  I've always thought this video was very sweet.

  http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sgseen/this_urban_jungle/386680/see_how_city_harvest_pastor_asks_people_for_donations.html

• Honeybunz

  28 Jun 12, 10:26

  dun be surprised if the deluded supporters call Kong Hee "the modern day crucified Jesus".

  I saw the way they gave him moral support, I hot liao.  Their parents must be heartbroken.  Do they go CHC to worship God or Kong Hee?  Ya on their lips they say they believe in God, worship God etc.  But their subconscious mind already made Kong Hee their almighty everything god.

• speakoutfor

  28 Jun 12, 10:29

  Originally posted by Honeybunz:

  http://bizarrobassline.tumblr.com/post/25927852186/city-harvest-church

   

   

  Sarcasm blasts until your ass bleeds

   

  Klinsen. 20. Chinese Male. Living in the glorious motherland of Singapore. Music, philosophy, humour; I liek.

  June 26, 2012 at 10:49pm
  Home
  

  City Harvest Church

  http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1209942/1/.html

  First and foremost allow me to say that I am deeply upset that a religious leader has compromised the generous donations of his followers in laundering.  Religion has not been used to its best effect in the world but this is definitely one of its more disgusting acts.

  Now that that’s over with, let me tell my story

  .

  I attended City Harvest Church for about half a year when I was 16. 

  Back then, I had backslid from Christianity for about 2 years. It seemed like a really good idea before, and when my best friend H came to tell me about how he had found a church and group that appealed to him, I was pleasantly surprised and of course, happy. It was only natural that I would want to take a look at these people who had brought my friend to Christ, say my thanks, and maybe renew my faith again.

  I was introduced to a group that had several of my schoolmates as members. That made the transition into City Harvest pretty smooth. I got to know them on a rather superficial level, but enough to maintain friendly conversation every time we met. I enjoyed the fellowship and merrymaking, but over time I began to sense that something just wasn’t right, at least for me. I’m no theological expert, but it only takes a bit to realize where City Harvest as a church goes wrong. 

  1. Shakalakabadahoumaigodidunnowherethisisgoing

  Of course, the strong charismatic nature of the services and prayer meetings did intimidate me a lot. I’m a naturally reserved person and as proud as I am of being Christian, I disagree (and am very uncomfortable) with expressing myself out the way the church encourages its members to. A problem I had was that I can’t speak in tongues without feeling like I’m lying to myself. The bible says in 1 Corinthians 12 that there are 9 different gifts bestowed by the spirit of the Lord. God gives these gifts as He sees best and not what we think they are for. More importantly, no two believers may necessarily have the same spiritual gifts but it is still for the common good of the church (verses 4-7).  Not even Jesus Christ himself can bestow spiritual gifts, so who are these members of City Harvest to insist that I invoke something I, in faith, clearly felt did not have?

  
  

  2. Tithing 

  I’m a little embarrassed that I needed help with this (thanks Justin Lee). I, like City Harvest (ironically!) believe the most sound philosophy in tithing to your church is from the following verse:

  I omitted the last phrase in the verse so I could highlight it here. City Harvest likes to take “God loves a cheerful giver” as a means to encourage people to donate. In my opinion, that is meant to intentionally bring about cognitive dissonance so that people will eventually give in to external pressure to donate more money. Once, I stood at the end of a row of seats, and I took $4 out of my wallet to stick in their donation envelope while an usher looked on. Being lazy, I neglected to seal the envelope but I put it rather firmly in her hands and shockingly was asked this question, “Is that all?”. 

  I think I reserved the right to feel offended at that moment. I was but a secondary 4 student and I was donating money I didn’t even earn by my own hand, I believe I should be allowed the discretion to use money the way I find wisest. So what if I don’t donate 10%?

  Let’s look at wikipedia for a moment : Traditional Jewish law and practice has included various forms of tithing since ancient times. Traditional Jews commonly practice ma’aser kesafim (tithing 10% of their income to charity). 

  How many goers of City Harvest Church can be sure that even 1% of their tithes was going to charity? Especially now that you know money was being wasted on a singer who never-ever-had-been. I have no problem if you want to donate 98% of your income to your church, but if your HEAD PASTOR and FOUR OTHER top dogs in your church don’t have the moral gumption to not misuse your money, you are in no church.

  
  

  3. Coercion  (this part is a little long)

  One incident that jolted me was when my cell group leader texted me one day. Earlier in the week, I knew I was going to have a family gathering on and had informed the cell group I was going to be busy and hence missing out on cell and a prayer meeting of sorts. The message read :

  “Klinsen can’t make it this sat. Try to meet with him then”

  I realized that it wasn’t meant for me, but rather for a girl (let’s call her T) who was a schoolmate of mine and I had gotten familiar with after several months of service and cell. T was like the protege of the cell leader, very much trusted and as good as her proxy. Later on, T texted me and asked if I was free for lunch or dinner that Saturday, which was odd because just 2 days before, I had mentioned that I was busy. What was even more suspicious was that T was so devout, she would never miss church activity for no good reason. I suddenly felt like I was prey being marked out.

  Another time, some guy shared during cell about the importance of smiling and being happy in church. I am very aware that I appear deadpan by default. As a result, I could not help but feel like I was being attacked for not acting the way the church/cell wanted me to. More importantly, the guy was just pulling bible verses out of his ass and I thought that was absolutely terrible of him.

  The final straw was when I happened to be daydreaming during a meal with the cell group. My eyes wandered and fell upon a sheet of paper that was sort of like a nominal roll for the group. I saw, to my horror, my own name, as well as my friend H’s, with our handphone numbers and some other bits of personal information that I had never surrendered before. That, to me, was an indication that I had been ‘captured’. Neither by my own volition nor my consent, I had been ‘made’ a permanent member of their group. I felt violated.

  Towards my O-levels, I was starting to find that the whole thing wasn’t working out. H and I were dropping out slowly, but not without beginning to feel like we were being harassed. I received 4 texts from a cell group member every day asking me if I was fine. I made it a point to respond to only one a day to prove that I was reading them all but I was being firm about not continuing to attend City Harvest. It didn’t work. The messages just kept coming. It was one day where I decided to just end the whole thing, without giving T so much as the respect of a face-to-face conversation. I let my emotions take over and basically screamed at her via text message until she agreed to leave me alone. It was unpleasant, but I had to take the quickest way out.

  H eventually gave up Christianity altogether. Til today I’m still afraid to ask him about how he feels about the religion after that episode. I was embittered because I felt that City Harvest had just messed everything up for him. He had an opportunity to be happy in the faith but the bad experience left him jaded and insouciant.

  I moved on to Barker Road Methodist Church, a very quaint, more conservative place. I am proud to say that the Word preached here is surely edifying of Christ. Over here I have options of different kinds of services, I can be frank during cell group sessions, and there is nothing to conform to except a love of God.

  
  

  4. Reflections

  I am glad that I went through the unpleasant experience of being in City Harvest. I might not agree completely with charismatic Christianity, but I think it is good that it exists. Some people might never have found Christ without their effective outreach methods. In fact, I confessed to Christ in a relatively charismatic setting. After several years, I finally knew what true hunger and longing for God meant.

  Kong Hee is not a good man. Several quick searches on the internet show you excerpts of his sermons where he takes the Word and blurs it out of its original context http://healtheland.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/non-biblical-teachings-of-kong-hee-of-city-harvest-church/ http://signposts02.wordpress.com/2010/09/17/lustful-leadership-laws-kong-hee-style/

  I never enjoyed the air about him. It always felt dishonest and I often found myself confused at his sermons. I and several thousand others totally saw this coming, and I make no apology that if you are surprised, you are nothing less than a blithering idiot.

  If you are a non-Christian, I want to be very apologetic here and ask that you do not fire all your grievances at the rest of the church. A man has committed wrong and given the nature of his act, clearly does not represent the God he claims to believe in. 

  If you are Christian, I want to remind you that Jesus himself got angry. Just as Jesus cleaned house at the temple, it is our spiritual duty to be angry at the ones who desecrate our temple for personal greed. 

  I borrow the words of a friend when I say this, “God is love, but God is also justice”. It is recognising one’s mistakes and atoning for them that makes one’s achievements worth recognising too. In fact, a fundamental element of Christianity is Justice. We believe that the price of sin is death, and God, being Existence and his entirety, sacrificed his son to provide endless forgiveness for the world. In the context of the secular world, we should not hesitate to demand the punishments which we agree is fair according to the laws we share with non-Christians.

  Conclusion :

  I hate City Harvest, I really do. If I could get away with it I would torch that abomination of money with the oil of forced liposuction of its pastors. As much as it was a gateway for many for Christ, it was often simply a facade for other purposes. But that’s not going to stop me from praying for its future. It needs to be better. It can reform. This is but a part of their race where they can prove themselves to be true warriors of Christ by persevering, or drop out and resign to be the hypocrites the world so despises. 

  One of my closest friends is in City harvest church. She acknowledges the weaknesses of it and puts her own spiritual growth in priority ahead of the demands of the Church. That is an admirable spirit but being a Christian also means forging a strong community of God-fearing people.

  There are many others like her who are good and sincere but in my opinion are in the wrong place. If you are a member of City Harvest Church on fire for God, I urge you to pray and ask if City Harvest is the home you deserve. If the answer is yes, you should aim to avoid the sins that your head pastor has committed. Your faith and church can be a massive force for God and good if it is channeled the right way. Moses; David; Paul; just several names of men who were disgraced but proved themselves worthy  to the very end.

  If your answer is no, I think it is time for you to pick up your bible and begin the search for a new spiritual home. It will require a lot of prayer and self-analysis to find out where you stand with the word of God, but I believe there is a better place for you.

  Testimony of a buddhist who try to proselytize to a disenchanted christian

  Not just this Klinsen guy but there are also a lot of people in my country that dislike certain churches.

  I am a staunch buddhist, so in my journey, I try to lure back disenchanted christians back to their roots, buddhism.

  I once tried to preach buddhism to this disillusion christian. he tells me of a church that he attends. He voluntered into the music equipment ministry. At first he and two others volunteered into this ministry that is already dominated by people who served there for many years, so there was little way for recruitment. But the two other members as it turns out are cg members of those influential members of the musical equipment ministry. So they were given favortism.

  To succeed in this ministry, all new recruits have to go thru a two month probation and pass an exam about the music equipment. My friend was left to fend for himself, he was placed under some seniors who were supposed to teach him. However, they neglected to teach him and during worship service, he was forced to stand there like an idiot next to the senior who was manipulating the sound mix equipment. My friend took the initiative to ask the senior how to use it, but the senior made excuses that hw was busy. However, his two other fellow new recruits got favorable treatment, they were asked to operate the $100,000 lighting control board, and the seniors promptly taught them because they were from their cell group.

  Then one day, an old uncle who was the full time staff who oversee the musical equipment ministry came to warn my friend to study harder because the uncle thinks my friend join the ministry because he was just wanting to have fun, learn how to use this equipment and have this to benefit my friend, because there is good demand for people who knows sound equipment in the market. My friend was so pissed with that statement because he gives 10% of his tithes to the church, even pay for the salary of that stinking uncle who told him off. Why can't the church have an open heart to teach volunteers?

  Then my friend was made to stand in for rehearsals and all the two services for 8 hours a week, learning nothing but shit. While the two other newbies can taught and supervision on how to use the video-cameras, video editing, lighting and sound board equipment. And he has been instructed to come in on time.  Then on one week, it turned out to be the ramadan month, so the roads were jammed packed and my friend came just 10 minutes late for two occassions (for rehearsals). He was given a demerit by one lady whom he calls Miss Bitch (because she is a full time staff working under the uncle and is very mercilessly fierce). the lady Miss bitch extended his probation for another month, meaning to go there and stand like an idiot for 8 hours (one month means - 32 hours). My friend was a devout christian, works as a successful human resource manager but willing to volunteer his spare time to volunteer for the church. He was so pissed. Whereas the Miss Bitch showed double standards, when the two other new recruits was late for half an hour !, their probaitons were not extended.

  Then during the probation, came this african student who volunteered as well. This time, my friend could see the racism coming out. During break rehearsals, the poor african volunteer was made sit alone during tea breaks and eat by himself, because the chinese girls from that ministry weren't so eager to eat with him, due to his racial color. The african volunteer also wasn't taught a single thing, was left to stand there like an idiot. In the end, my friend failed his exam because nobody at the stupid ministry wanted to teach him nor the african volunteer. In the end the african volunteer also dropped out. But the two newbies passed with flying colors !

  I tried to lure him back to buddhism, but he stayed back at his church. This time he grew smarter, when he gave his tithes, he now gave only 6%, he put a note there, the 4% lesser because he spare none of that money for the musical equipment minsitry. He even put a note there saying he wanted the treasury to ensure none of that 6% goes to the salary of the uncle and miss bitch and the musical ministry because he thinks it is a farce.

  But for me, if he is smart, he should quit the church and join buddhism. After this kong hee case, there is no telling how much the funds would be abused.

  Churches got no transparency, no proper approval standards, likely there is abuse of money.

   

• dragg

  28 Jun 12, 10:30

  Originally posted by Honeybunz:

  dun be surprised if the deluded supporters call Kong Hee "the modern day crucified Jesus".

  I saw the way they gave him moral support, I hot liao.  Their parents must be heartbroken.  Do they go CHC to worship God or Kong Hee?  Ya on their lips they say they believe in God, worship God etc.  But their subconscious mind already made Kong Hee their almighty everything god.

  
  its pretty scary.
• Bay

  28 Jun 12, 10:35

  COC needs to have mega-Churches be more transparent. They need to open up their AGM to all church members who thithe on a monthly basis instead of limiting to  Yes Man of their selection. They need to list out to the congregation on where and how much they make donations to and not keep this as a secret known only to the top inner circle. The senior pastor who is the spiritual leader must remain accountable even if he is not on salary to the church.COC must use the congregation as their watchdog and whistleblower.

   

• alize

  28 Jun 12, 10:44

  Originally posted by Honeybunz:

  dun be surprised if the deluded supporters call Kong Hee "the modern day crucified Jesus".

  I saw the way they gave him moral support, I hot liao.  Their parents must be heartbroken.  Do they go CHC to worship God or Kong Hee?  Ya on their lips they say they believe in God, worship God etc.  But their subconscious mind already made Kong Hee their almighty everything god.

  Many of them are already doing it

  Supporters shield Kong Hee and argue with media outside courts

  http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120627-355804.html

• Honeybunz

  28 Jun 12, 10:44

  the amount that the Renci monk mishandled was so much less than the amount Kong Hee is alleged to mess with and the monk was given imprisonment sentence (of how long ah?). even Joaquim Kang didn't embezzle with so many millions.

  I wonder how many years and decades does Kong Hee and his gang need to serve in prison.  What's more...  He deluded so many into giving him willingly, despite they knowing that much of the money goes to some singing career of an untalented singer who is not even good looking.  Too bad for the law and lucky for him that a person cannot be charged for taking money from willingly gullible givers.

• speakoutfor

  28 Jun 12, 10:48

  I am in the buddhism ministry to proseltyle to ex-christians (excluding Wimsomnea) to come back to buddhism.

  Here is another story.

  A broken down 22 year old woman walk in to our charity branch (in the nation that is north of singapore) to confess about her problems. She told us that she was a member of this sprawling big mega church in PJ. She had a boyfriend who work full time at the church. She told us she was very immature and she had many arguments and disagreements with her boyfriend. However one day she got pregnant by her boyfriend and her stomach was growing bigger.

  She joined the church when she was in her teens so her whole life was that church. She was an orphan but she managed to fend for herself working odd jobs like waitering, cashier and sales person at the shopping mall. She dropped out of school when she was 15. According to her, she was very popular at the church. Because of her jovial character and her broken background, the church members accept her and treat her well.

  However, moment they spot her growing bump, they began to keep a distance from her. They tried to do marriage counselling for her and her boyfriend but it didn't turn out well because they both argued a lot and didn't get along. At the same time they also gave counselling and displinary action against the boyfriend because he broke the christian rules, having sex before marriage (as the boyfriend was also a full time staff). The boyfriend was very angry. Then as this girl was approaching her 7 month pregnancy, the church decided for her !

  Decided for her ! That is so arrogant of them. How can they  do this? It is her decision not theirs.

  Because the marriage counselling failed, they decided to sack the boyfriend. They advice the girl to give her baby for adoption ! All her friends at church avoided her and made her felt lonely. For a 22 year old pregnant girl to feel abandoned by the people who should love her, is very bad ordeal. So we at the buddhist charity org, decided to call her up and give her shelter because she could not afford a home. But she opted for a christian shelter for abused women instead.

  Then she gave birth for the baby, the church decided to pay for her hospitalization expenses. We came to the hospital too to give her support. We saw the beautiful baby and she was holding on the baby, crying, because she knew that she will never see her baby again. Then the nurse came and collected the baby to be given to the new adoptive parents.

  Three years later, we decided to follow up and call her up to see how she was. Alas, she was still a christians (why these christians so stubborn as hell? come back to buddhism lah). As we found out, she married a christian guy who was willing to accept her flaws. But she quit this mega church and went to a smaller more conservative church (of which her husband is attending). Another two years later, she gave birth to two wonderful boys.

  So see?  What right does a church got to force her to give her baby away? Had she kept the baby, she would have found a better husband who is willing to provide.

• Honeybunz

  28 Jun 12, 10:51

  Originally posted by alize:

  Many of them are already doing it

  Supporters shield Kong Hee and argue with media outside courts

  http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120627-355804.html

  They are MAD.  They are HOPELESS.  Their parents must be heartbroken!

  These are the kind of ppl, if the leader calls for riot or mass suicide, they will be willing.   Our govt better be careful.