Conviction ‘a reminder to pay greater attention to management of church funds’

SINGAPORE — The criminal conviction of six leaders and members of City Harvest Church (CHC) is “a reminder to pay greater attention on church governance in the matter of management of funds”, said the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) yesterday (Oct 21).

The statement, attributed to president Bishop Wee Boon Hup and general secretary Reverend Ngoei Foong Nghian, added that while the NCCS appreciates the freedom of worship in Singapore, it will also “guide and advise” members of the Christian community to constantly observe the law of the land.

NCCS’ statement came after Judicial Commissioner See Kee Oon found all six CHC leaders and members guilty of all their charges of criminal breach of trust and falsification after a 140-day trial. They will be sentenced at a later date.

The Commissioner of Charities (COC), which in August 2013 had agreed to defer proceedings to remove eight former CHC executive members until this court case concludes, could not respond to queries by press time yesterday.

These eight individuals include all six offenders convicted yesterday — founder and senior pastor Kong Hee, his deputy Tan Ye Peng, John Lam, Sharon Tan, Chew Eng Han and Serina Wee. The remaining two are Mr Kelvin Teo Meng How and Ms Jacqueline Tan Su Pheng.

As part of the deferment, the COC imposed a ban on CHC engaging any of these individuals for any executive or management role.

It was also to provide updates on key activities and its financial position to the Commissioner for “close monitoring”. This is to protect the property of the church, which is a registered charity, the Office of the COC had said.

In its statement yesterday, the NCCS also said it was “saddened” to learn of the convictions and asked the Christian community to pray for CHC as its members “reflect on the future of their church”. It added: “We encourage the CHC leadership to continue the spiritual upliftment of their members during this difficult period.”