Daily Lessons from Life 11 October 2013 - FCBC case not about Church vs State, says national church council

"FCBC case not about Church vs State, says national church council - The Straits Times Oct 11, 2013 SINGAPORE - THE judicial review being sought by the Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC) on the Manpower Minister's decision over the sacking of a worker should not be seen as a Church versus State matter, said the National Council of Churches (NCCS) on Thursday. The National Council of Churches (NCCS) said: "With reference to the current judicial review application by Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC), which feels aggrieved and concerned that its action of dismissing one of its staff over a moral issue was deemed by the Ministry of Manpower to be "a dismissal without sufficient cause". We wish to make clear that from our perspective, this course of action is not to be framed as a Church versus State matter. Rather, We see the case as one of employer's employee's obligations and duties under the employment Act and the common law in this area." It is good that NCCS made its stands clear on this particular issue. It is vitally important to see it NOT as a Church vs. State as Singapore CANNOT allow the church and state to be mixed up! Lessons for me are: 1. the church operates under the laws of the country it resides. Period. Make NO EXCEPTION about it and no apology should be given!; 2. the stake is high for the state if the state is deemed to have acted unconstitutionally in this case, it will herald some major re-drafting of terms of employment contracts for everyone!; 3. the court has a big job to do here to SET the precedence on WHAT is proper. For the sake of the nation, it has to be a decision that is, which the court in S'pore has always been able to do, well thought out, transparent and convincing! Church vs. State? Nah, we will avoid it.