City Harvest Church Allegations Retracted
Saturday, 25th January 2003
53-year-old Businessman, Mr Roland Poon Swee Kay, withdraws allegations about City Harvest Church (CHC) and singer Ho Yeow Sun (Sun Ho AKA Geisha), after issued four half-page apologies in The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao and Shin Min Daily News and a fifth apology appeared in The New Paper. In all, they cost $33,372.06. Two weeks ago, Mr Roland Poon Swee Kay contacted the press to complain about what he said were improper financial practices by Rev Kong Hee and his wife. Mr Poon had apparently been going to CHC for a few years when he started to grow uneasy with some of the church's practices. He was uncomfortable with the way the leaders would use sermon and worship time to promote Ho Yeow Sun's songs. His questions to the CHC leadership went unanswered. It came to a point that he felt compel to blow the whistle by writing in to The Straits Times alleging improprieties.
Sun Ho defended the allegation by saying her success was achieved through her own talent and efforts, has been unfairly discredited by the false allegations. In a public letter, CHC reiterated that Rev Kong’s stand that no church funds were used to finance Ho’s pop career. The church challenged Mr Poon to prove his case. He was told that they would sue him if he had no evidence of them mismanaging church funds. That frighten Mr Poon into retracting his accusation and publishing his apologies.