Coping has been hard

SINGAPORE - She did not plan on becoming a pop star when she was a little girl.

But singer Sun Ho did just that in adulthood, with four No. 1 hits on the American Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs.

That foray is now the subject of a lengthy trial involving six senior members of the church, including her husband and City Harvest founder Kong Hee.

Kong and five deputies are accused of misusing more than $50 million of church money through sham bonds to further her singing career and cover up the amount.

Yesterday, Ms Ho spoke to The New Paper. Coping has been hard, she said.

The third tranche of the trial kicked off yesterday and is likely to last till August or September this year.

Like in previous court hearings, wife and husband turned up outside the Subordinate Courts at about 9.30 am and walked in holding hands.

Dressed in a black and sheer white pantsuit, she looked every inch the pop star - thanks partly to the knee-high stiletto boots, in black of course.

Her tresses were pulled into a ponytail, showing off grey eyes enhanced by contact lenses.

She felt bad she could not be by Kong's side every day, she said. "Sometimes I have to be in the office and I also have to look after Dayan (her nine-year-old son). He's in Grade 3."

SUPPORTERS

Still, Ms Ho was gratified by the support from well-wishers. For instance, her mother has been cooking for the family.

Then, there are the church members who pen down their thoughts on pieces of paper. "They just go on and on. It's very touching to read (what they wrote)," she said.

In earlier court sessions, defence lawyers said Ms Ho achieved success in the US under the Crossover Project, a church mission that started in 2002, so she could preach to those who do not usually associate themselves with the church and Christianity.

But it did not stop there.

The US was just a stepping stone to the ultimate goal: China.

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Previous documents submitted in court also showed a multi-million-dollar budget had been set aside to produce and promote her English album in Asia, which has yet to be released.

The sum included the cost of lining up a star-studded list of possible collaborators, like famed music producer Wyclef Jean and The Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am.

Serina Wee: 'She always has good dress sense'

Even though the trial is about how money was allegedly moved from the church building funds to sham bonds, there was considerable interest in what former church finance manager Serina Wee was going to appear in.

And within hours of her court appearance yesterday morning, netizens went online to re-create her look, with one suggesting her dress looked fit to be donned by an upmarket beer auntie.

Cruel jibes aside, there was little dispute that in cyberspace at least, Ms Wee and the other women, including Ms Ho, were the main attraction.

What they said, wore and how they styled their hair, mattered to many.

On the Serina Wee: Goddess Facebook page, some fans left marriage proposals, along with printable remarks like "Weeu weet!"

There was even a new thread on one forum, stating: "A good start for 2014 court session. Serina as always has good dress sense."

The comment ended with an emoticon of hearts.

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Tiang Yii: Audits can never be absolutely accurate

She's one of the partners at Baker Tilly, the external auditor that City Harvest Church hired to look through its books.

Ms Tiang Yii took the stand yesterday and continued where a senior partner of the same firm had finished in the last round - that she had found some issues of concern, highlighted them to the church and adjustments were made.

Audits can never be absolutely accurate, Ms Tiang said, as they were based on the information provided by the clients.

With more than 20 years' audit experience in Singapore, Ms Tiang was the engagement partner, or the person who has final responsibility over church audits from January 2006 to June 2007.

She was also the engagement partner for Xtron Productions, which used to manage pop singer Sun Ho, in the financial years 2006 to 2007.

Ms Tiang had highlighted several issues of concern, including how money from the church's building fund was used for investments and asked Xtron to disclose related party transactions in its financial statement.

She had not seen e-mails shown by the prosecution, in which the accused, church board member John Lam and deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng, discussed concerns that Xtron could not repay the money it had borrowed through the bonds in time.

She had only seen cash flow projections from Xtron, which indicated that the firm could repay the bond money.

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About the case

City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee and five deputies are on trial for allegedly misusing more than $50 million of church funds through sham bonds.

This includes $24 million to fund Kong's pop singer-wife Sun Ho's music career and another $26.6 million to cover up the first amount.The six face varying charges for criminal breach of trust (CBT) and/or falsifying accounts.Those found guilty of committing CBT can be jailed for life or for up to 20 years and fined on each charge. Those found guilty of falsification of accounts can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined on each charge.

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