"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail", common saying at CHC.

Luke 22: 47 And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. 48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

In a major development, the investment manager and board member of City Harvest Church (CHC), Brother Chew Eng Han has resigned citing the need to be transparent and to tell the moral truth. He is one of the six CHC leaders charged with corruption as the investment manager.

If the CHC leaders had not been charged, would he had resigned from the board? Why now? Was he, the victim or the culprit? the court proceedings will no doubt reveal more.

His personal statement implied that he was the victim who had to tolerate the sins of the senior leadership, and putting himself in a righteous and moral position as the one to reveal the whole truth.

He wanted to be remembered for his efforts in the "property search, the crossover, or the reputation of the leadership." Therefore, he was not denying that support for Crossover was wrong! He also did play a part in defending CHC leadership when a Ronald Poon claimed in 2003 that the church funds had supported Sun Ho.

Rev Kong then said in 2003 that "[Sun Ho's] success, which has been achieved through her own talent and efforts, has been unfairly discredited by the false allegations. However, she believes that in time, the truth will dawn. "

We are reminded that CHC had invested millions in AMAC Capital owned by Chew Eng Han, at the same time he was also the board member and investment manager for CHC. He is also the brother in-law of the Xtron director Koh Siow Ngea, the company at the center of the alleged commercial crimes.

What is truth? Brother Eng Han's made a strong rebuke against CHC  - " wrongful labelling, quick to take credit and to pass the buck, betrayal, slander, ingratitude, denial and lies, manipulation and control, greed, pride, hypocrisy, abuse of authority, practice of favoritism and different standards.  It is exacerbated when it is perpetrated by top leaders ....".

But wasn't he part of the same cartel?

As the investment manager of CHC, ie the person in charge of all the "investment" dealings with Xtron and AMAC,  the blame by the other defendants could be arguably  placed  on him.

Often we come to a position where we have nothing to loose. We can be facing serious charges with possible long prison sentences based on as a matter of fact evidences on paper. It is a hot seat where telling the truth may be the option left.

Brother Eng Han was not a Judas, because the CHC leadership was obviously not Jesus. If they had been, they would have lived very simply.

In Luke 22, we see that Jesus was betrayed by Judas whose greeting of a kiss identified Jesus to the soldiers coming to arrest Jesus. Often, only those closest to us can identify us.

Judas betrayed Jesus even though he had benefited from Jesus' ministry for after all he was the finance manager who took the churches' fund as his own. Judas betrayed Jesus because he was trying to save himself seeing that Jesus was not intending to raise up an army to overthrow the Romans.

Judas did not lead the religious zealots only to Jesus but to the remaining disciples who fled for their lives. Jesus and the disciples were doing nothing illegal except claiming that Jesus was the Son of God, ie God Himself.

The main crime that Jesus committed was claiming that He was from God and of God, and could forgive sins by simple repentance apart from religious works of the law.

Many of us are modern day Judas, even in the christian church, where we proclaim that Jesus was not God incarnate, nor the way, the truth and the life to God. We betrayed why Jesus had to die on the Cross of Calvary. His death and resurrection was to bring us over, to Cross Over to another Kingdom.

When we placed prosperity instead of simple humility and love for others as the Gospel, we too have betrayed Jesus, who sought a simple life and ultimately gave up all. The Gospel is about giving up our pride to acknowlegde we are sinners needing God's grace alone.

We are all sinners sanctified by God's grace alone.  The greater sinner we are, the greater measure of grace. At the end of our lives, as Paul found out, we realised that we are the greatest sinner in view of the depths of God's love, mercy and grace.

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Personal statement from Chew Eng Han

Jul 21, 2013

Dear friends in CHC,

The time has come for me to make a major shift in direction for my life. I’ve thought and prayed through this for many months, and on balancing the pros and cons of it, I now have a deep conviction that that the right thing to do is to depart from City Harvest Church (CHC).

 CHC is my first and only church and in the 17 years there, I have been fed the Word of God and learnt to grow in spiritual strength and faith.  For that, I am deeply grateful.  Many members of the church have qualities which are not easily found elsewhere – tenacity, faith, love for people, generosity, perseverance and loyalty.  If certain events had not overtaken this wonderful experience, CHC would undoubtedly continue to be my one and only church.

For those who do not know me well and have not heard me out, I hope you will not jump to conclusions about me and the appropriateness of such a move.  Those who know me better will understand what I’ve been seeing and tolerating – wrongful labelling, quick to take credit and to pass the buck, betrayal, slander, ingratitude, denial and lies, manipulation and control, greed, pride, hypocrisy, abuse of authority, practice of favoritism and different standards.  It is exacerbated when it is perpetrated by top leaders, including those who taught us that the Word is supreme and that obedience to the Word equals loving God.  Leadership cannot be measured by words but by action.  Nobody qualifies to lead, or to preach what he cannot practise in real life.  More than anything, these are foremost issues of spiritual and moral significance.

 I realize these are strong words, but nevertheless I do believe no one has to be afraid of speaking the truth. Otherwise we are in bondage to man and their man-made rules.  Jesus Himself did not mince words when dealing and confronting certain issues or persons, because He carried the Spirit of Truth, which we similarly do. We are also given the gift of the Holy Spirit to discern between right and wrong, truth and untruth, and then to take a stand for what is right and true.

Above personal reasons, I firmly believe that everyone is entitled to have a go at knowing and walking in the truth, and those who withhold it from the masses will be held accountable by Him for consensual silence.  I fear God, not man.  Unity is good, but it cannot come at the expense of truth and justice and be imposed for the personal benefit of a few. True unity is linked to the Spirit of God, of Truth and Justice, and edifies all, not a select few.

Hopefully, many will kindly remember me as one who has poured out his whole life and has tirelessly fought for the cause of this church – be it in the property search, the crossover, or the reputation of the leadership.  It takes a lot for me to make a sharp turnaround, but we do have to make difficult decisions at important crossroads of our lives, and this is such a decision.  In the end, principles such as accountability, honesty, fair-dearling, justice and truth will for me take precedence over position, popularity, recognition and acceptance.

My wish for all in CHC is that everyone will focus his eyes and heart on Jesus Christ, who is and can be the only Foundation of the church.  God bless you and be with you all.

“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth, only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end despair.” CS Lewis

“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” Winston Churchill.   Chew Eng Han

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Chew Eng Han's response to CHC's statement, June 22, 2013

In response to CHC’s Board’s response to my Personal Statement on my departure from CHC, the following are my replies:

1. Firstly I refer to the para which states:

“While we do not understand the reasons for his current sentiments, we wish nothing but the best for Eng Han and his family, and thank him for all his contributions.”

My query to the Board is whether they have been made aware of a four and a half hour meeting between Pastor Kong, Sun, myself and my wife? Are they also aware of some of the issues which I raised and whether there were sincere corrective actions taken since that meeting 3 months ago?

2. Secondly I refer to the para which states:

“The Board knows and believes that the senior leadership has always walked in integrity, adhering to Biblical principles through the leading of the Holy Spirit. We maintain our full confidence in the leadership.”

My query is how many of the board members made a conscious effort to read the COC Inquiry Report which was made accessible to them? And if they did, was then a diligent internal inquiry held in-house, to determine if there was any wrongdoing on the part of the alleged wrongdoers? Has the board done an inquiry on the issues named by COC, and satisfied itself fully that there has been no compromise of integrity? If the board has not done so, it cannot state that it knows and believes in the integrity of the senior leadership.

3. The board is probably unaware of many other issues, especially those on the pastoral angle, in terms of the manner of conduct of some of their pastors and senior leaders.  Without such information, it is not equipped to issue a board statement of confidence.

The church statement is a mere attempt to unite the church with a spiritual tone, but lacks substance in dealing with the real issues of truth and integrity.

Dated 22 June 2013

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Statement from BBG, June 22, 2013

Dear Friends,

The leaders of the Business Breakthrough Group Limited (BBG) would like to announce that BBG is now operating as an independent private entity.

We are no longer functioning under the covering of City Harvest Church (CHC) with immediate effect.  (BBG has been established as a Company limited by guarantee under Singapore Law, and has been funded independently since December 2012)

The leaders have deliberated over the best course of action for its members, and the leaders have collectively and unanimously agreed to this course of action in full support of the personal statement issued on 21st June 2013 by the founder of BBG, Chew Eng Han.

We would like to thank the current leadership of CHC for their past support of BBG, and our thoughts and prayers are (continue to be with) the church, the congregation, and with the CHC leadership.

Warmest regards,

Leaders of

Business Breakthrough Group Ltd