<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#000000 colSpan=2><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" bgColor=#000000 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12w>Ask yourself how much you earn before you judge </TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12w>By Ng Tze Siong</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12w>April 13, 2009</TD><TD width=30>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD class=rightline vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=font12 vAlign=top align=left>I WAS having supper with a friend last week when, out of the blue, he started ranting about New Creation Church.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]IN COURT: Former Ren Ci Hospital chief Ming Yi is accused of cooking the books. ST FILE PICTURE <COPYRIGHT></COPYRIGHT>[/SIZE][/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The mega church raised eyebrows recently when its congregation raised $19 million in one Sunday alone, for a glitzy lifestyle hub it is building in Buona Vista.
Rumours of its pastor's high pay have also circulated for years.
I was intrigued, listening to my friend.
In our two decades of friendship, I have never seen him talk about anything so passionately.
The curious thing was, my friend is not a Christian. He's not even religious. In other words, it's not about his God and it's not about his money.
So what got him all worked up?
Religion is strange in this way.
Whatever we believe in, and even if we believe we believe in nothing at all, religion speaks to us at the gut level.
In placid and apathetic Singapore, seeing pastors and monks earn big bucks is one of the few subjects that can get people all fired up.
With former Ren Ci Hospital chief Ming Yi in the dock now for allegedly cooking the books, and revelations of his $20,700 monthly salary surfacing, the questions are flying faster than ever.
With millions starving around the world, why do they have to earn so much?
But there is a more important question to ask.
What is our indignation based on?
Is it envy? Is it disgruntlement?
It may stem purely from our morals, our common sense about what is appropriate for monks and pastors to earn.
But even if it's that, have we subconsciously allowed it to develop into self-righteousness, to cover our own inadequacies?
We say such things should not matter to monks and pastors. But getting worked up over it betrays the fact that somewhere in our own hearts, there may be a corner where it still reigns.
If not, we might not have cared as much, for we know the real treasure lies elsewhere.
Whichever way the verdict goes eventually, this is not about someone else's pay.
It's about our own spiritual journey.
It's about how we are walking around the temptation to feel envious, angry and judgmental.
=> Sure, just be an obedient sheep and accept being psycho and fleeced by the 154th and its masters?
It's not about the chance to watch a monk being cross-examined on the witness stand, but about the opportunity to examine ourselves.
The Buddhists say: Do not look for faults in others, but look for faults within yourself, and purge them like bad blood.
Similarly, the Bible asks: Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?
It warns that we will be judged by the standards with which we judge others.
So before we ask about the pay of our monks and pastors, maybe we should ask about our own.
How much do I earn? How much is enough?
At whose expense has it come?
Our family? Our dreams?
Or our God?
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
=> At the expense of the Peasants?
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD><TD width=10> </TD><TD width=30>
</TD><TD width=40> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=font12w></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2 height=0>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]IN COURT: Former Ren Ci Hospital chief Ming Yi is accused of cooking the books. ST FILE PICTURE <COPYRIGHT></COPYRIGHT>[/SIZE][/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The mega church raised eyebrows recently when its congregation raised $19 million in one Sunday alone, for a glitzy lifestyle hub it is building in Buona Vista.Rumours of its pastor's high pay have also circulated for years.
I was intrigued, listening to my friend.
In our two decades of friendship, I have never seen him talk about anything so passionately.
The curious thing was, my friend is not a Christian. He's not even religious. In other words, it's not about his God and it's not about his money.
So what got him all worked up?
Religion is strange in this way.
Whatever we believe in, and even if we believe we believe in nothing at all, religion speaks to us at the gut level.
In placid and apathetic Singapore, seeing pastors and monks earn big bucks is one of the few subjects that can get people all fired up.
With former Ren Ci Hospital chief Ming Yi in the dock now for allegedly cooking the books, and revelations of his $20,700 monthly salary surfacing, the questions are flying faster than ever.
With millions starving around the world, why do they have to earn so much?
But there is a more important question to ask.
What is our indignation based on?
Is it envy? Is it disgruntlement?
It may stem purely from our morals, our common sense about what is appropriate for monks and pastors to earn.
But even if it's that, have we subconsciously allowed it to develop into self-righteousness, to cover our own inadequacies?
We say such things should not matter to monks and pastors. But getting worked up over it betrays the fact that somewhere in our own hearts, there may be a corner where it still reigns.
If not, we might not have cared as much, for we know the real treasure lies elsewhere.
Whichever way the verdict goes eventually, this is not about someone else's pay.
It's about our own spiritual journey.
It's about how we are walking around the temptation to feel envious, angry and judgmental.
=> Sure, just be an obedient sheep and accept being psycho and fleeced by the 154th and its masters?
It's not about the chance to watch a monk being cross-examined on the witness stand, but about the opportunity to examine ourselves.
The Buddhists say: Do not look for faults in others, but look for faults within yourself, and purge them like bad blood.
Similarly, the Bible asks: Why do you see the speck in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?
It warns that we will be judged by the standards with which we judge others.
So before we ask about the pay of our monks and pastors, maybe we should ask about our own.
How much do I earn? How much is enough?
At whose expense has it come?
Our family? Our dreams?
Or our God?
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
=> At the expense of the Peasants?
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
