City Harvest's founder Kong Hee & 4 others arrested/charged

[WeiHan]

Lilac66:

I'm shocked by the audacity of this pastor Aries to challenge CAD and deny the allegations of cheating. These people think that by using \"reasons\" like it's for furthering God's work, reaching out to the secular world thru SH's music, then no stones should be thrown at them.

How the funds have been raised is not the issue . Huh, he thinks that we're fools or what?? He even claimed they have been pre-judged and \"will deal with this in due course\". Where did this BIG EGO come from?

They think they are above law.

It goes to show that their form of spirituality didn't change their heart inside out at all. People with genuine spiritual experience should be humble and reasonable. I also doubt their so-call charitable work. It is only a small % compare to the amount that they splurge.

[kwcllf]

Lilac66:

I'm shocked by the audacity of this pastor Aries to challenge CAD and deny the allegations of cheating. These people think that by using \"reasons\" like it's for furthering God's work, reaching out to the secular world thru SH's music, then no stones should be thrown at them.

How the funds have been raised is not the issue . Huh, he thinks that we're fools or what?? He even claimed they have been pre-judged and \"will deal with this in due course\". Where did this BIG EGO come from?

Think it is \"THEIR\" money and \"THEY\" can do what they like.

By speaking like that, only make them look more incredulous and stupid.

[CMF]

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/06/death-of-a-halo-of-kong-hee-chc-and-christianity/

[MMM]

Lilac66:

I'm shocked by the audacity of this pastor Aries to challenge CAD and deny the allegations of cheating. These people think that by using \"reasons\" like it's for furthering God's work, reaching out to the secular world thru SH's music, then no stones should be thrown at them.

How the funds have been raised is not the issue . Huh, he thinks that we're fools or what?? He even claimed they have been pre-judged and \"will deal with this in due course\". Where did this BIG EGO come from?

For a moment, I was wondering if this guy has financial sense. According to him, they got back the $24mil. But the way it was reported, it appeared to have gone to investment in Ho? So did they really get back the money??? Or he is just under pressure to come out and make such comments. :?

I've ever come across numerous people who are totally clueless financially. Some are numbers phobic as well.

'This is not accurate. The $24 million, which went to investment bonds, was returned to the church in full, with interest. We didn't lose the $24 million, nor did we lose 'another $26.6 million' as alleged.'

[dolphinsiah]

I can fully understand why the 33000 CHC members will stand up and support their leaders.... :evil:


SGD50,000,000 divided by 33,000members = SGD1515 for each member needed to donate.... :roll:

Which based on per year each day is only SGD4 per day.... :roll:

So what is this 50 million to this group of 33,000 -is only a peanut....for their

so call Kingdom.... :scared:


Since I did not donate anything to CHC and I also do not know anybody in CHC ...so better let the authorities do their jobs.....

If not these group of 33k , wll turn their backs and ask does the $$$ :moneyflies: :moneyflies: belongs to you.... :razz:

So better :snooze: :snooze: :snooze: and stay far far away from this 33k of
'interesting ' people....

[concern2]

CMF:

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/06/death-of-a-halo-of-kong-hee-chc-and-christianity/

I like especially these from the article:

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

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

[Lilac66]

My niece is actually still attending CHC. My advice ,reasoning etc to stop her from going have fallen on deaf ears. Whenever I question her on the need for SH to appear in such MTV with that kind of image in order to minister to the non-Christians, her answer is always that I do not know how many souls SH has saved. :roll:

She claimed SH has used the money from her CD sales to help build schools in rural China. And SH did NOT do anything wrong in appearing like that coz it's her work. :slapshead: :stupid:

Must have been told by CHC to produce such standard answers when others are doubtful of the church's intentions.

I've come to a conclusion: They're taught that if your work is done in the name of GOD, do not worry about how it's done. :siao: liddat also can ah?

[dolphinsiah]

Lilac66:

My niece is actually still attending CHC. My advice ,reasoning etc to stop her from going have fallen on deaf ears. Whenever I question her on the need for SH to appear in such MTV with that kind of image in order to minister to the non-Christians, her answer is always that I do not know how many souls SH has saved. :roll:

She claimed SH has used the money from her CD sales to help build schools in rural China. And SH did NOT do anything wrong in appearing like that coz it's her work. :slapshead: :stupid:

Must have been told by CHC to produce such standard answers when others are doubtful of the church's intentions.

I've come to a conclusion: They're taught that if your work is done in the name of GOD, do not worry about how it's done. :siao: liddat also can ah?

http://i48.tinypic.com/29xylnc.png\">
\"If you can't convince them, confuse them.\"
- Harry S Truman

[cel-tang]

Way2GO:

cel-tang:

Not too sure but he did raise some interesting points. I do not think the govt is anti any religion but I do think they will get uncomfortable if any religious group seems too big. And unlike other countries, where different newspapers report the news from different viewpoints, in Singapore we only have one main newspaper and it seems to report things from a certain point of view to drive home certain points.

That is what I am not too comfortable with.

So for now, I am reading through what is written outside of the newspapers as well to try to get a more balanced viewpoint.

ur view on msm is shared by many who r better informed, more widely read.
when LKY was in d opposition, he argued against d press being used as a tool to influence d general public;
one of d first thing he did when PAP came into power was to take control over d press.
Dat is to be expected. Any party in power wld try to influence/control msm.

It did crossed my mind whether KH has built a cult personality n CHC has grown too big for his own good.
It seems to be dat way, d cult culture, fr d way many of his followers hv responded to dis crisis. Just my viewpoint. Or perhaps they r just showing solidarity behind their founder.

On d main thrust of Mohd's article, if true, then d latest press release fr CHC wld add credence to it.
Thus my question in my earlier posts, \"wat audience r d leaders playing too?\"
They r playing with fire, its a high stake dangerous game, n they cannot win against dis govt.
Archbishop Gregory Yong came out to support d 'Marxists' when it was brought out into d open.
d Catholics numbers r much larger than CHC's 33,000.
He buckled under pressure.

I would like to say that whatever ruling party we have, we should have the right of free press. When the press is controlled in such a way, we as Singaporeans do not really think about an issue from different angles. We just swallow all that we read as the truth without thinking that every article written is not written merely about the facts but it is written to push a certain agenda or written in a certain slant. The Mohd facebook article is also written with a certain agenda. However, it provides differing points of view. In most countries, people would buy several newspapers to get differing viewpoints but here we only have one from the ST and that is our govt's view on things.

Not to say I am anti govt but I find they are too controlling on how we think.

In this case, I am not for or against Pastor Kong, but I do feel the anger that rises up against him is a little uncalled for especially when the people who are so angry are ones that are not even in his church and have not given to the project. They have not solicited funds from the public. Yet the people who are most upset are people who do not know them and have not given.

I think this article expresses how I feel:
http://therealsingapore.com/content/most-sensible-and-balanced-article-so-far-kong-hee-saga

[Quintessential Mum]

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


An analysis into the wealth of City Harvest Church
Posted by temasektimes on June 27, 2012

Although I am aware that City Harvest is one of the richest churches in Singapore, I am still shocked that it is rich enough to pay $310 million dollars for a stake in Suntec City. Nevertheless, an entity which is able to amass such wealth is certainly worth studying. I was determined to understand the secrets to the church’s wealth.

I apologize upfront if the points raised give offense to loyal followers of City Harvest Church. Please regard this article as a business analysis of the factors that contribute to the wealth of City Harvest Church, not as an insinuation that the Church got rich through questionable means. The fact is that CHC is very rich and this makes for a fascinating academic exercise to examine its sources of wealth. Just treat it as a business case study. I have tried my best to stick to the facts. Please correct me if there are factual mistakes. However, if there are differences in opinions, please disagree with courtesy.

1. Clever packaging of Sunday services

The income of a church is dependent on the tithes collected (10% of income from church-members). Therefore, the earning power of a church is highly dependent on its ability to retain its existing church members and attract new ones. The larger the church membership, the greater its earnings.

I watched a sample of CHC weekend service on its website. Compared to the boring Sunday classes I attended as a kid, CHC church service was most refreshing (Watch “The 10 Laws Of The Harvest”). The beginning part resembles a rock concert with good singing and enthusiastic audience. It is an entertaining way to enjoy your Sunday mornings. Going to church becomes a weekly event to look forward to rather than a chore to attend to.

With church services so well packaged for its customers, its customer retention rate and new customer acquisition figures should look good.

2. Extra revenue in the form of advertisements, sales of CDs

This church is unlike the other churches I know. It generates extra revenue through advertisements during its Sunday service (watch the videos). It sells audio CDs on its website. There is an online shopping cart for convenience to those who want to buy online.

3. Efficient collection of tithes

Church-members can pay their tithe online via credit card, eNets or even Giro!! Once members started donating using Giro, the earnings quality of the church improves. Donation collected via Giro tend to be more stable.

With a globalised economy, people travel round the world a lot and may miss Sunday services. In the past, the churches will lose income when these members fail to turn up to pay their tithe. Now, with online payment, they can continue collecting the tithe even when the church-member is working overseas for an extended period of time. With Giro, the church can continue collecting tithes for a few more months even when the member leaves the church as people have a habit of forgetting what they pay on Giro.

4. 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold returns on your church donations

This is where the genius of CHC lies and the secret to its superior earning power. In fact, I have yet to encounter any public-listed company on SGX, HKSE, NYSE, Nasdaq that demonstrates better potential.

The pastor preaches that God will give 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold returns on your tithe. But, you have to be generous in your donations first so that you will receive in harvest proportions. I guess that is the origin of the name City Harvest. Please watch the video ”The 10 Laws Of The Harvest” yourself in its entirety and interpret for yourself.

It is a message that cleverly uses an astute understanding of human nature to maximize profits. If I were a CHC member, I will be tempted to increase my tithe as much as possible. Not mincing my words, I am doing it out of pure greed. I do not think I will be alone. It is perfectly fine if members of CHC strongly disagree and thinks that I am not representative for most of them. After all, I can only speak for myself.

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.

6. Kill off competition

CHC has tremendous economic moat that kills off competition. In the video “The 10 Laws of The Harvest”, the Pastor cited Law #5 “Your Seed must be planted in Good Ground” which is an effective weapon in killing off his competition – the smaller churches. Many Christians feel that they ought to donate to the needy, smaller churches rather than rich mega-churches like CHC. The Pastor’s argument is that you do not get good returns like 100-fold in the small churches. You have to donate to mega-churches to maximize returns on your tithe because they have a track record (rich church members). In other words, the seed is not planted in good ground when you donate to the small churches. In his own words, ”I don’t always give to the neediest but to the ground that will give the greatest yield”. To illustrate his point, he used an analogy on weak banks and strong banks. You do not deposit your money in a weak bank because it desperately needs fresh funds to survive. You deposit your money in a strong bank which invests your money wisely and yields good returns.

The church has an iron-grip on its members who believe its message. As illustrated previously, its customer base is of the highest quality. This is its track record. Existing church-members will definitely not move to another smaller, needier church with poorer track record.

It has a very strong economic moat as it is very hard for its competitors to get its customers to switch over.

7. Providing a place where the rich can network

As the Pastor said, his church provides a good ground on which you can grow your riches. Rightly so, indeed. For property agents or insurance agents trying to hit their sales quota, City Harvest Church will be an ideal place to hunt for lucrative clients. This church concentrates several rich and money-minded people into a single location. The church offers a unique advantage to sell things. In a religious setting, people tend less to be on their guard and can be more easily persuaded to part with their money.

Businessmen also like to network in places where there are rich and powerful people who will come in handy in future. The Pastor has done a good job in gathering such people in his church and it makes good sense to make use of this advantage by joining the church.

The rich will attract more rich and the gathering moss snowballs to provide an ever-rising pool of donation to the church.



8. Preach what people like to hear.

As a teenager, I was discouraged when I read Bible verses like Matthew 19:23-24 “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” and Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

It seems like if I become rich, I will be condemned to hell.

In the video ”Rich God? Poor God?”, the Pastor preaches that it is absolutely ok to be rich. Some prophets of God were very rich. (Abraham, David, Solomon)

There is nothing more musical to a money-minded person than to hear that God is on your side in your pursuit of money. The church-members who are more money-minded will love this and donate even more.

9. God pays for the returns, not the church.

The church collects the money, but God pays for the returns. The church does not need to pay a single cent for the 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold returns on the donations.

This is as good as you do the work for me, but not only do I not pay you, I shall also collect your salary. You toil and sweat, but I shall eat your bread. God must surely be a miracle worker and people will pay handsomely for his service. I cannot think of a more advantageous economic position to be in to be able to collect money rendered by a miracle worker.

10. Social pressure to conform in church settings and ease of influence

If everyone around you donates, it is hard not to. When everyone else makes sacrifice, the one who does not will look like an outcast. There is tremendous pressure to conform in such a herd setting.

11. Tremendous future earning power



Take a look at the congregation and you will notice the large number of young people. The income growth of young people is the fastest in the population. In the Pastor’s words, “You may be poor today, but you will not be poor all your life”. That is a long-term business plan in cultivating its customers.

Therefore, if CHC can be viewed as a growth stock, its prospects are very bright as its young customers will accelerate its earnings.

12. Stable earnings in times of depression



Besides being a growth stock, CHC can also be viewed as a defensive and safe stock. People pray hardest when they fall in hard times. Strangely, some people have an urge to tithe when they are in financial troubles.

In fact, in the video (The 10 Laws Of The Harvest), a couple came on stage. They talked about the dire straits they were in when they started out. Things change when God challenged them to GIVE themselves out of poverty (exact words from the speaker). Despite not having any money, they still pledged $250 to the building fund. In his own words again, “we often emptied our savings to give to the House of God knowing that this will be the answer to our financial problems”. Hence, not only will the church earnings be stable in times of depression, it may even grow.

13. Using Prosperity as a theme to appeal to customers

The Pastor preaches Prosperity Gospel which resolves around money. His business genius lies in choosing this theme for his church. Money has universal appeal. Everyone worships money regardless of race, culture, age, gender, sexual orientation. In one fell swoop, he has enlarged his market to cover the entire world. It is much easier to convert people to your belief by dangling money and promising great prosperity. After all, who does not love money?

By enlarging his potential market catchment with a greater chance of increasing membership, more donations will flow in.

14. Tax benefits as church is registered as a charity

This creates a huge, unfair advantage compared to all other businesses. This is what landed CHC in controversy. Enough has been said.

If one day the Pastor switches to become a businessman, I will definitely consider investing in the company that he heads and founds.

If City Harvest Church is listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange, I will certainly buy it. It will be one stock that I am confident of hitting a return of 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold returns.

PS: People tend not to question critically when it comes to religion. A charming smooth talker can easily sway minds with his interpretation of the Bible. In the final analysis, Faith is about simply believing. You cannot approach it scientifically because there is no way to test religious theories using the scientific method. We will only know the real truth when judgment day comes.

The danger is that there is no accountability on the part of the preacher on whether his teachings are true or not. Even he himself cannot be sure that his interpretations is 100% correct. Given human nature, the interpretations will tend to be self-serving. In fact, it is not only dangerous to the students but to the teacher as well. People will believe their own lies if it yields tempting benefits. That was how Wall Street drank its own Kool-Aid.

While I respect the Pastor for his business savvy, I cannot agree with his interpretations of the Bible. I pray for good health, peace and harmony for my family. Money-minded as I am, I am not comfortable with commercializing my relationship with God by asking for money. The Christian God that I know from my own reading of the Bible is not 财神爷. Of course, if God wants to drop money from heaven on me, I will be more than happy to embrace it.

*The above article was contributed to us by the writer and was first published in 2010 here