New government guidelines reveal that while religious
organisations can make use of commercial premises for their
activities, these must be done within limits.
Over the years, it has been common for Christian groups to
use venues like hotel function rooms and convention centres
for their activities on weekends.
However, with new guidelines set, no more than 20,000 sq m of a
commercial complex’s gross floor area (GFA), or 20 per cent of GFA,
whichever is lower may be used for religious purposes. In addition,
such activities may not be held for more than two days a week.
Religious organisations are also limited to using 10,000 sq m,
equivalent to about one and a half football fields. This serves to
ensure that no particular commercial complex is dominated by a
religious organisation.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and
Sports (MCYS) explained in a joint statement that they were
willing to be more flexible with commercial premises like hotels,
auditoriums, function halls, convention halls and cinemas. This is
as long as the locations are used in a “limited, non-exclusive way”
by religious groups that hold large gatherings and on condition
that the events do not cause noise, traffic or parking
problems.
Other guidelines state that there should be no use of religious
symbols or signage, and the interiors should not be furnished to
resemble a worship hall when not used by the religious group. These
rules are meant to ensure the secular nature of the venues.
These guidelines will take effect immediately and apply to all
religions. All religious organisations using commercial space will
need to register with the URA.
Most churches received the new land use rules with relief as
most are not at risk of violation. The URA discussed the guidelines
on Monday with representatives of the larger megachurches including
33,000-strong City Harvest Church, 20,000-strong New Creation Church and 10,000-strong Faith Community Baptist Church. Their landlords,
Singapore Expo and Suntec Singapore were also included in the
discussion.
On City Harvest Church’s controversial S$310 million
investment to become a co-owner of Suntec Singapore and hold services in the
12,000-seat auditorium there, the URA states that it does not
regulate property ownership.
“However, the actual use of the premises must adhere to the
planning and land use zoning intentions regardless of the
ownership. The contractual agreement between City Harvest and
Suntec City is a private matter between two parties,” a URA
spokesman told The Straits Times.
While Senior Pastor Lawrence Khong of Faith Community Baptist
Church felt such explicit guidelines could be restrictive and
preferred to leave it to the market to “self-regulate”, others like
Nicholas Mak, a real estate lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic,
agreed with the new guidelines.
“Rather than let religious organisations slowly take over
commercial spaces and make other users feel uncomfortable, the
guidelines ensure that members of the public of all religions can
use the premises,” he said.
-Yahoo! News Sg