Daily Lessons from Life 18 August 2014 - City Harvest trial: Former church treasurer says Sun Ho's music success grossly exaggerated

"City Harvest trial: Former church treasurer says Sun Ho's music success grossly exaggerated - The Straits Times Monday, Aug 18, 2014

SINGAPORE - She was supposed to become a global superstar and then use her popularity to spread the church's message. But the reality was that Ms Ho Yeow Sun, who uses the stage name Sun Ho, had many unsold albums.

So much so that City Harvest Church (CHC) spent close to half-a-million dollars to buy back 32,500 of her Mandarin albums languishing on shelves in Taiwan, Indonesia and the US in 2004.

The prosecution yesterday revealed these details, which were in an e-mail by former CHC finance manager Serina Wee, as the trial against six of the megachurch's leaders resumed after a two-week break.

Former board member John Lam, 46, is the first accused to take the stand for the defence. Yesterday, when Chief Prosecutor Mavis Chionh showed the unsold-album figures to Lam during the cross-examination, he claimed he did not realise at the time that Ms Ho's album sales were doing badly.

He said he was merely asked to find a way for CHC to avoid paying the 5 per cent GST while buying back Ms Ho's unsold albums and he had not "connected" the facts.

Ms Chionh rebutted: "Your last few answers are incredible lies and you are lying because you are desperate to maintain that Sun Ho's albums were doing well." She also pointed out that Lam had earlier admitted that Ms Ho's artist management company, Xtron, was not profitable. Yet he was involved in purchasing $13 million of Xtron bonds, which were rated as "junk bonds", because he believed Ms Ho's albums would do well, she said.

Xtron is one of two companies accused of helping the megachurch's leaders to funnel church funds illegally to bankroll the pastor-singer's music career. It managed Ms Ho from 2003 to 2008.

Said Ms Chionh: "The truth is that you knew that the bonds were not meant as an investment at all. They were a sham device that you and your co-accused came up with to find a way of moving money from the (church's) Building Fund to pay for Sun Ho's music career," she said. Lam said he disagreed."

The GOOD thing about the case going to trial is that through examination and cross-examination, MORE details will emerge and the interested PUBLIC can make their own judgement about what is appropriate and what is not. Regardless of what the judge or the court may find ultimately. This is perhaps ONE good reason for the PM Lee vs. Blogger Roy's case to go to court?

Lessons for me are:

1. buying unsold album WOULD have been par for a commercial transaction IF NOT for the fact that the money came from a specific fund to build the new church and not to fund the musical exploration of Ms Sun Ho;

2. Mr Lam's responses to the DPP's questions were indeed, at least from a layman's perspective, quite incredulous. How can anyone with a ounce of intelligence not felt that something is amiss when asked to buy more than 30k of unsold album recorded by Ms Sun Ho? Saying that he did not make the connection either showed him to be unworthy of being in that position of power or that he was simply tell a big lie under oath!!;

3.  yet, there will be supporters and staunch believers that say: many mega-superstars did not succeed in their first album. Having to buy back those ten of thousands of unsold album does not mean Ms Sun Ho will NOT be a global superstar later. And that Ms Sun Ho the superstar will spread the religious word of CHC to many millions.

More facts to emerge please. What a privilege to read, see and reflect on this case. Many eagerly await ...