Statement from Commissioner of Charities Office on City Harvest Church

The COC's office has received queries from the media regarding the process of inviting representations from the public, and provides the clarifications below. 

The COC's Inquiry has found misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the City Harvest Church (“Charity”). The removal proceedings are part of a regulatory process under the Charities Act which follow from the Inquiry's findings. The COC's office is now seeking representations from all the affected individuals, and members of the public on the proposal to remove four of those individuals (i.e. Kong Hee, Lam Leng Hung, Tan Ye Peng and Kelvin Teo Meng How as governing board member, trustee and/or key officer).

Should any individual wish to be granted access to the Inquiry Report, the individual may write to the COC's office to make a request. The COC may at his discretion grant such request. In determining whether the request for access to the Inquiry Report should be granted, the COC will consider whether there are good and sufficient reasons for example, whether the individual has provided the COC with information which may affect the Inquiry's findings given in the

Annex to the COC's press statement dated 9 April 2013 [PDF, 118 KB]

and why access to the Inquiry Report would be necessary before he/she can make representations. The COC may require the person to provide a formal statement in addition to other terms and conditions which may be imposed.

All the suspended individuals and their lawyers were given access to the Inquiry Report after they were served with the Suspension Orders in June 2012. The Charity's Governing Board also had access to the Inquiry Report as of September 2012. Furthermore, the COC's office provided copies of the full Inquiry Report to the 8 suspended individuals to enable them to make representations on their case when they served with the Notice of Intention to Remove. 

The COC's office would like to reiterate that his proposal to remove the 8 individuals relate to their management and governance roles in the Charity. The affected individuals may continue with their religious duties as Pastors of the Charity, as this is separate from the holding of any governance or management positions. The COC will consider every representation fully and fairly, before making the final decision. Please refer to the attached Questions and Answers on the COC's proposal for removal.