Thursday, June 28, 2012

The Fallacy Of Man

It's a little known fact. When TT Durai sued Susan Long and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), latter tried to settle out of court. There is no golden tap installed at the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) office. After the hue and cry raised by a disraught contractor, the faucet was replaced by a chrome plated one with gold trimming.

Durai's misfortune was being cross examined by Senior Counsel and MP Davinder Singh, who shrewdly used the court of public opinion to crucify him. That's why Mrs Goh Chok Tong was so disgusted with the proceedings, she stormed out with the infamous "peanuts" comment.

Durai did himself in when he tried to explain how business class entitlement was used to fly first class. All because in April 1997, NKF volunteer Archie Ong personally sighted Durai seated in a Singapore Airlines' first-class cabin. Ong was sued for defamation and ended up paying out an undisclosed sum in damages. Aero-modelling instructor Piragasam Singaravelu was hauled to court in 1998 for saying similar, and ended up with same fate. The peeve about this case is that the truth could have been established with a simple phone call to SIA. Once you are on their Priority Passenger list, they have all your personal details on tap (pun intended) - including seating preference.

The prosecutor's case against City Harvest's Kong Hee hinges on the allegation that funds collected from church members were diverted to promote wife Ho Yeow Sun's singing career. Problem here is that the "Crossover Project" was already announced as a ministry to reach out to the secular crowd. The 33,000+ strong congregation willingly empty their wallets in good faith, believing their pastor knows best how to utilise the monies collected. It can be argued that the creative accounting measures are but means to the same end - reaching out to the infidels. The uninitiated may not realise that "love offerings" collected in churches are not always used to feed the hungry that Mother Teresa dedicated a life time to. Sometimes money is spent on a new car, because the pastor's vehicle is "already 5 years old". One pastor's overseas family holiday was entered in the books as a sabattical. God proposes, Man disposes - you are right, it should be the other way round.

The albatross hanging around Kong Hee's neck is that in 2003, member Roland Poon accused the church leadership of misusing funds to fuel Ho's aspirations and ended up paying for retraction apologies in The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao, Shin Min Daily News and The New Paper. Denying Poon’s allegations, Kong Hee stated then that "no church funds had been used for Ho’s pop career promotion, and that it was normal practice for the church to support and celebrate the secular success of its members".

There's good reason why DPM Teo Chee Hean took pains to highlight that the charges filed by CAD are against five individuals, and not the City Harvest Church itself. Unless the public prosecutor does a good job - please do consult the NKF court transcript - this one could turn ugly.
The Gospel truth according to Pastor Kong Hee

34 comments:

  1. I don't know what you are trying to say

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  2. I do. Thanks for explaining the Durai saga.
    It's so similar to the infamous "Airbus" Affair. In 1997, Mulroney received a settlement sum out of court, plus having his $2.1M legal fees paid by the taxpayers.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_affair

    Then a little over a decade later, the admission came that he did pocket the brown envelops of cash.
    http://www.cktimes.ca/archives/column/5/12431.html

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  3. I see three points: First, legal means could be used to shut up the whistle blower. Second, the authorities could have moved much earlier. Third, the authorities have not learned from past events.

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    1. Yes. People on the street already talked about the extravagant lifestyle of KH and wife but Legal did nothing. When a whistle blower came out to tell a truth, Legal did not come and help. He ended up lossing all te money - through donation and publication of apology. When will we learn? Hopefully, other big church organisations are better of. I always believe God do not need all these millions. In fact accumulating such vast amount of money is against the teaching of Christ. Do they know it? Are they true Christians or just a gang of people who want power and fame. I know some CHC members are so proud of theyr affiliation by boasting how rich is their church and how many members they have as compared to normal churches. Ego, Ego!!

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  4. Wonder how many Morons In White are followers of this cult leader.

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  5. The MIWs are a little slow in acting against these "religeous" followings. Such are plentiful in the US since the 80s. Do we have to wait till a Jim Jones show up? The worst are the gullible who actually believe in what KH and gang were preaching.

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  6. So what happened to Archie & Piragasam after? Did they get their money refunded?

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  7. Kong Hee's sermon titled "9 bible reasons why Jesus wasn’t poor" was so obvious a justification for his own life style one wonders how the 33,000 congregation members could swallow hook, line and sinker:

    1. Showered with great treasures - plenty of love gifts in evidence, credit cards accepted;
    2. Many wealthy partners supporting Him - entrepreneurs, movie producers, Indonesian businessmen, etc;
    3. Paid for His entire ministry team - with other people's money of course;
    4. Fed the hungry - ditto, as in (3);
    5. Had a treasurer - add finance managers, investment managers, clever accountants;
    6. Never considered Himself poor - hence the flashy clothes;
    7. Cared for the poor & regularly gave to them - even HDB dwellers had to donate;
    6. Had His own house - plus places in Hollywood and Sentosa Cove;
    9. Wore good clothes - from his own fashion boutique, no less.

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  8. Sinkies donate to all kinds of dubious causes as well as organizations of every hue and shade.

    We are a nation of gullible fools. No wonder a wise man call us daft.

    The Hongkies and the Taiwanese are really laughing their socks off. What a bunch of morons we are.

    Sinkapoore, the land where you can easily convince brain starved and daft morons to open up their pockets.

    And........we never learn from past shenanigans.

    Not a cent leaves my pocket except directly to a cripple on the streets.

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    Replies
    1. Agree.
      It's always better to give personally and directly to the needy.
      Don't go through the middleman.

      You want a Swiss standard of living?
      Just bring in the Swiss experts to show us how.
      Go direct.
      Cut out the middleman.

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    2. I do the same too, give directly to the poor . cut the middle man off.

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  9. Did Gautama Buddha and Jesus Christ ever aspired to live in luxury ?

    If all these type of rich monks and pastors think it is perfectly OK, by all means do so with your own or grandfather's monies at least with some honour left for themselves, not from salaries or expenses paid out of donations appealed out of false pretences to convince their followers.

    But if religious heads can be investigated, who can do the same with our leaders if there is any impropriety ?

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    Replies
    1. Problem is followers think their leader must have class. Big house, expensive cars, travelled First Class or else they themselves feel shameful. CHC members have been boastful because their church is supper RICH and so are many of their members. SAD

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    2. But I bring you Wealth and Prosperity6/28/2012 3:13 PM

      Success begets success. They just found a way to monetize Law of Attraction shamelessly, to the gullibly hopeful and those who need to fill their low self-esteem with plenty of praises and positivity from a motivational leader.

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    3. Yes. How they behave is shameful and unChristian. Bible teaches followers to be humble and forgo worldly possessions. What KH & HS are doing is the opposite.

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  10. This is just a reflection of the morally corrupted society when now you can see all the rot surfacing everywhere here and then.

    This is also a reflection of the situation we are faced with so many uncertainties - financial crisis, job losses, etc. Under such circumstances, people feel so vulnerable, helpless. Out of nowhere, a Godly figure appears, talks well, claiming he has all the answers to your problems.

    We will definitely see more of such things happening in the future!

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  11. How does one define extravagance? Are the church leaders supposed to live modestly? Then what about the Ministers? I'm sure the pastors think they deserve their income and lifestyle. After all, this is Singapore where Ministers are paid millions. A little accounting of the lifetime income by some Singaporean politician will bring shock to the same people who are outraged by the incident.

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    1. I would expect pastors to follow closely what Jesus did thousands of years ago. After all, the Bible says God will provide. Believers do not need to worry about earthly comfort. That is why you find Jesus never have any possession. He needs, he asks. And it was writen.

      This is a modern world but basically the value should be the same. KH should show example and not just talk and no action. CHC members are really daft!

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  12. Christians are stupid. There's no other explanation. There's no God, just men lying to each other.

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    1. I think this is your personal views. Many religions do have god. No fair to Christians.

      I believe this case is about people who made used of religion (it happens to be Christianity) and not the religion itself.

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    2. Not just christians who are ignorant.
      If only more people on this planet read and digest chariots of the gods, ancient aliens, ancient astronauts, etc
      they will begin to see the biggest con job ever in the history of mankind......

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    3. To confirm no human in this world is dafter then Singaporean!!

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  13. Just answer me one question.

    Why does one need to go to hollywood to "reach out to the secular crowd" in Singapore?

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  14. If a layman is vile and vicious, less damage.

    When a clever crafty layman becomes evil, larger damage compared to the layman.

    Should a crafty talented man goes onto cheating spree, it will be large damage.

    And whence a pack of highly talented men go for their wanton spree, even their gods could not prevent them from damaging the kingdom.

    patriot

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  15. So Edwin Tong, MP for Moulmein-Kallang is also Government Parliamentary Committee Deputy Chairman for Home Affairs and Law, will be the Defence Counsel for Kong Hee & company.

    This is getting interesting and ugly all the same.

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    Replies
    1. Wah, he comes under the Law Ministry, same as the AGC. PAP fight PAP - any confict of interests or not? He is also a partner at Allen and Gledhill, same firm as the Law Minister.

      How many of them are followers of the CHC cult and should they be vetted and disqualified - including the appointed judge and public prosecutor? Curioser and curioser.

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  16. If and when the masses allowed the pack to do the damage, then they should not blame everything on the pack for their kingdom going to the dogs.

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  17. If you think Christians are stupid for believing in a God they have not seen ....

    What about the 60% believing in the CPF and the reserves they have not seen either?
    So stupid even the pastor of meritocracy have to call you daft.

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    Replies
    1. Lol! Correct. You are so perceptive! KNN!

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  18. If these fools willingly and with their eyes open, gave to the church with the knowledge that Kong Hee is going to use the money to line his pockets, then let them be conned. I do not see why we should go after the scoundrels when the moron are willing to give their money.

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