Pastor sues club after
suspension
He was formerly Singapore Polo Club's
honorary secretary
MAGICIAN: Mr
Lawrence Khong with one of his props.
FOUNDER:
Mr Khong, the founding pastor of Faith Community Baptist
Church is a member the Singapore Polo Club.
PICTURES:
ST FILE PHOTOS
REPORTS: HEDY
KHOO
HE'S a pastor, owns
horses and sometimes performs as a magician.
But Mr Lawrence Khong. 61, has yet to conjure up
the skills to make controversies disappear.
Yesterday, it emerged that the 10,000-strong Faith
Community Baptist Church (FCBC), of which Mr Khong is the senior
pastor, had to compensate a former staffer· after sacking her when
she was found pregnant with the child of another church
employee.
Earlier this year Mr Khong campaigned against a gay
couple's attempt at a constitutional challenge to S377A of the
Penal Code.
Now, The New Paper has learnt that Mr Khong, a
former national polo player, was recently suspended by the
Singapore Polo Club (SPC) where he is the honorary secretary.
Following his suspension from the SPC, Mr Khong
filed a suit against the SPC.
Legal papers filed in the high court revealed
another club member had also filed a suit against the SPC. (See
other report.)
Mr Khong, who is also the chairman of the board of
directors of Touch Community Services, had his right and privileges
as a member of the SPC suspended for two months With effect from
Aug 7.
He is represented by his lawyers, Mr Daniel Goh and
Mr Adrian Wee of Characterist LLC.
The Singapore Polo Club has 1,600 members.
Mr Khong, an SPC member since the early 1990s, was
elected the club's honorary secretary in March.
SPC general manager, Mr Alan Jones, told TNP the
matter was being handled internally. He declined further
comment.
The pastor owns four ponies which are stabled at
the SPC. In a copy of the suspension notice included in Mr Khong's
affiavit, it was stated that during the period of suspension, .Mr
Khong will be allowed to keep his horses stabled at the club.
But Mr Khong will not have the right of access to
the club nor the right to the services of a personal professional
polo player.
Mr Khong has had a long relationship with the SPC.
He served on the club's committee for five years in the 1990s as
vice-president, honorary secretary, polo captain and a riding
convenor.
He had also helped Singapore win a silver medal in
polo in the 2007 SEA Games in Bangkok.
In his affidavit, Mr Khong said he is one of the
charter playing polo members of the club, which is the only place
to play polo in Singapore.
The SPC suspension is the latest controversy to hit
the pastor.
Compensation
The Straits
Times reported yesterday that the Government ordered FCBC to
compensate a church worker who was fired last September when found
pregnant because of her alleged adulterous relationship.
While the Church has agreed to compensate the
woman, Mr Khong said it will not concede that the dismissal was
unjust.
He said doing so would mean condoning adultery and
it would weaken church's moral and spiritual authority.
Mr Khong founded the FCBC in 1986 and set up Touch
Community Services for the needy in 1992.
He made the news in January when he read out a
prepared statement, expressing concern about homosexuality, to
Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong during a walkabout in Marine
Parade.
As the chairman of LoveSingapore, an informal
network of about 100 Churches, Mr Khong requested a dialogue with
Law Minister K Shanmugam, and met him in February to discuss
views on gay community.
Mr Khong is also a well-known magician and the
chief executive officer of production company Gateway
Entertainment, which he started in 2000.
He is also the first person in Asia to receive the
Elite Diamond Merlin Award in the Magician of the Year category
from the International Magicians Society in 2010.
Other member suspended
THE other member suspended by the Singapore Polo Club,(SPC) is
Dr Ali Namazie, a theoretical physicist by profession.
He had been elected in March as polo captain of the
SPC.
He filed an originating summons against the SPC at
the High Court on Friday.
The New Paper understands that Dr Namazie, who has
been an SPC member for 15 years, was suspended by the club around
June this year.
The duration of his suspension is 1½ years.
Dr Namazie was the honorary secretary as well as
the grounds and facilities convenor of the club two years ago.
News, The New Paper, August 21, 2013, Wednesday, Pg 6
