The aftermath effects

The third service queue outside the Rock today

I was very heartened to see the congregation in full force today despite the attempted damage to the church by the press recently.

Of course we were initially shocked at the Straits Times report, that Pastor Prince's pay was exceedingly high. On second thoughts, the way he worked and how he had led the transformations in people's lives, helping us lead better lives both practically and spiritually. He deserves a much better pay.

It was not that Pastor requested for a high pay. In fact, he didn't want to be paid at all, and the requests he made to be removed from the church payroll was rejected by the remuneration council. He had expressed disappointment that the council did not submit to him on these occasions. He made these requests since 2005. He also said that he has always been so blessed and didn't see the need for a salary. Not to worry, he remains committed to the church.

The council are made up of highly respected businessmen who are independent non-staff members of the church: Matthew Kang - President of Manulife Financial, Koh Ching Hong - Managing Director of Borneo Motors (Singapore's agent for Toyota and Lexus), Yong Chee Ram - Executive Director of JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., Anthony Lau - a senior management executive in an MNC. From what you see, these are Singapore's high profile businessmen whose incomes are exceedingly high, so I don't blame them for deliberately blessing Pastor with a huge pay amount.

In its statement issued to the press, the remuneration council believes in attracting and retaining strong, able leaders with the right values and passion for the church, staff members who perform well are rewarded and paid competitive salaries. This remuneration approach is in line with the principle found in the Bible in the Book of 1 Timothy 5:17, which in Greek (the original language that the New Testament was written in) says, “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double wages, especially those who labour in word and doctrine.”

As it turned out, Pastor gave all his salary to the building fund of our one-north project, which also made him one of the top ten givers.

It was really not nice of the press to publicly announce Pastor's salary, something private and confidential, which his hairstylist and favourite teh-tarik stall mamak now know. His daughter Jessica also had problems when her school-mates kept saying that she had a rich father.

In the article on Monday, the Straits Times erroneously termed our money as donations. It should be termed as tithes and offerings instead, because we do not donate to the church but give to God as an act of worship. Our church is also not a charity as it does not take donations from the public.

However, this could now be a benchmark in setting the salaries of other leaders and pastors of other churches, to show them how they should be blessed for their works.