BUSINESS TIMES
Indonesian businessman and City Harvest Church (CHC) member Wahju Hanafi said yesterday that he doesn't know, and doesn't want to know, how the church spends his or other people's donations, to avoid being "disappointed". (A truth-fearing church member?))
He also gave an entirely different explanation, from the two he tendered earlier, as to why the church was in a hurry to redeem $11.5 million in bonds that his company, The First National Glassware (Firna), had issued to Xtron Productions.
Mr Hanafi, who is into his second week on the stand, likened the church's spending of donations to "kids (being) given money by their father". "They will use it very easily, unlike me, as a parent, who makes the money, every dollar, every penny of it," he told the court yesterday.
"They (the CHC pastors) might go on . . . whatever class of airfare they go on. I don't care. I mean, I still go on economy class. I don't care what the pastors or the church use because, otherwise, we will be disappointed, and then we might not receive the teaching from the pastors, because we already have this disappointment in our hearts." (This tells us his stupid mentality).
He added that the way CHC approaches the spending of money would be different from his, as its purpose is to "win souls". (He still believes in what Kong Hee feeds him? What an idiot!)
"(The church spends on) buying gifts for all the children . . . I remember my kids always come back with something . . . at the end of the day, they (the church) attract a lot of young people . . . my kids were begging us to (take them to) church every Sunday, because they know they will get something.
"The church is really using the money to bless and to win souls . . . it's like a package . . . we used to go to the kopitiam for a coffee, but today we are willing to pay $5-6 to go to Starbucks, just because they have Internet, good surroundings, and all that. We try to make our church like a whole package," he said. (Same stupid shit from his mouth)
He was then told off by Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng, for straying from the focus of the question: "I (gave) you the opportunity to explain. But you must stay focused, listen to the question and answer the question. Not ramble on and on to achieve whatever agenda you have."
Later in the day, DPP Tan again said he felt Mr Hanafi was not paying attention to his questions: "Please, if you don't want to stay here longer, you had better focus."
Mr Hanafi: "I'm being paid to stay here. If you want to spend more government money, that is your choice."
"As long as it takes for us to get the truth out of you," DPP Tan retorted.
DPP Tan also brought to Mr Hanafi's attention that he had given the court two different explanations for why CHC wanted to redeem the $11.5 million in bonds that Firna had issued to Xtron, which had managed Sun Ho's career, in December 2009.
Mr Hanafi had testified last week that the church was keen to unravel the bond issue ahead of time because it had received a threat from an anonymous person in March 2010 "to open up all our connection with Xtron and Sun (Ho's music) project, etc".
The next day, he agreed with Senior Counsel N Sreenivasan when the latter said that his client, CHC deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng, had told him that CHC was in a hurry to get the bonds redeemed because it wanted to buy an interest in Suntec City. To fund that acquisition, CHC needed to get back the advance rental from Xtron, and Xtron (to pay back that rental) had to get back the money it lent to Firna for the bond issue.
"Which version is the right version regarding the redemption of the Xtron Firna bond?" DPP Tan asked.
"Well, there's only one version from me," Mr Hanafi said. "After (news of) our case (the six CHC members charged in court) came out, I felt I can borrow the money from the bank (borrow commercially), and I rather replace all that money with the loan from the bank - to prove to the authorities that I don't have to rely on the money of the church or Xtron or whatever it is."
"You are giving a third version now," DPP Tan said.
"There's only one version . . . That I redeemed the bond because I wanted to pay back and I can afford to borrow from the bank."
"Then why didn't you wait for (the bond) to mature before you paid back? Why didn't you tell this court (earlier) that you want to show your muscle?" DPP Tan pressed.
"Well, I was not asked if I wanted to show my muscle, so I didn't answer that," Mr Hanafi replied.
The defence, in its cross-examination earlier in the day, tried to show that its clients were not involved in the relevant transactions. Mr Hanafi, under questioning by Edwin Tong, who represents CHC pastor Kong Hee, said Kong was not involved in the financing arrangements for Xtron or in any of the drawdowns of the bond issues. Under questioning by SC Andre Maniam, who represents ex-CHC finance manager Serina Wee, Mr Hanafi testified that Wee was not involved in Xtron's financing arrangements and that her involvement was mainly administrative.
Indonesian businessman and City Harvest Church (CHC) member Wahju Hanafi said yesterday that he doesn't know, and doesn't want to know, how the church spends his or other people's donations, to avoid being "disappointed". (A truth-fearing church member?))
He also gave an entirely different explanation, from the two he tendered earlier, as to why the church was in a hurry to redeem $11.5 million in bonds that his company, The First National Glassware (Firna), had issued to Xtron Productions.
Mr Hanafi, who is into his second week on the stand, likened the church's spending of donations to "kids (being) given money by their father". "They will use it very easily, unlike me, as a parent, who makes the money, every dollar, every penny of it," he told the court yesterday.
"They (the CHC pastors) might go on . . . whatever class of airfare they go on. I don't care. I mean, I still go on economy class. I don't care what the pastors or the church use because, otherwise, we will be disappointed, and then we might not receive the teaching from the pastors, because we already have this disappointment in our hearts." (This tells us his stupid mentality).
He added that the way CHC approaches the spending of money would be different from his, as its purpose is to "win souls". (He still believes in what Kong Hee feeds him? What an idiot!)
"(The church spends on) buying gifts for all the children . . . I remember my kids always come back with something . . . at the end of the day, they (the church) attract a lot of young people . . . my kids were begging us to (take them to) church every Sunday, because they know they will get something.
"The church is really using the money to bless and to win souls . . . it's like a package . . . we used to go to the kopitiam for a coffee, but today we are willing to pay $5-6 to go to Starbucks, just because they have Internet, good surroundings, and all that. We try to make our church like a whole package," he said. (Same stupid shit from his mouth)
He was then told off by Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng, for straying from the focus of the question: "I (gave) you the opportunity to explain. But you must stay focused, listen to the question and answer the question. Not ramble on and on to achieve whatever agenda you have."
Later in the day, DPP Tan again said he felt Mr Hanafi was not paying attention to his questions: "Please, if you don't want to stay here longer, you had better focus."
Mr Hanafi: "I'm being paid to stay here. If you want to spend more government money, that is your choice."
"As long as it takes for us to get the truth out of you," DPP Tan retorted.
DPP Tan also brought to Mr Hanafi's attention that he had given the court two different explanations for why CHC wanted to redeem the $11.5 million in bonds that Firna had issued to Xtron, which had managed Sun Ho's career, in December 2009.
Mr Hanafi had testified last week that the church was keen to unravel the bond issue ahead of time because it had received a threat from an anonymous person in March 2010 "to open up all our connection with Xtron and Sun (Ho's music) project, etc".
The next day, he agreed with Senior Counsel N Sreenivasan when the latter said that his client, CHC deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng, had told him that CHC was in a hurry to get the bonds redeemed because it wanted to buy an interest in Suntec City. To fund that acquisition, CHC needed to get back the advance rental from Xtron, and Xtron (to pay back that rental) had to get back the money it lent to Firna for the bond issue.
"Which version is the right version regarding the redemption of the Xtron Firna bond?" DPP Tan asked.
"Well, there's only one version from me," Mr Hanafi said. "After (news of) our case (the six CHC members charged in court) came out, I felt I can borrow the money from the bank (borrow commercially), and I rather replace all that money with the loan from the bank - to prove to the authorities that I don't have to rely on the money of the church or Xtron or whatever it is."
"You are giving a third version now," DPP Tan said.
"There's only one version . . . That I redeemed the bond because I wanted to pay back and I can afford to borrow from the bank."
"Then why didn't you wait for (the bond) to mature before you paid back? Why didn't you tell this court (earlier) that you want to show your muscle?" DPP Tan pressed.
"Well, I was not asked if I wanted to show my muscle, so I didn't answer that," Mr Hanafi replied.
The defence, in its cross-examination earlier in the day, tried to show that its clients were not involved in the relevant transactions. Mr Hanafi, under questioning by Edwin Tong, who represents CHC pastor Kong Hee, said Kong was not involved in the financing arrangements for Xtron or in any of the drawdowns of the bond issues. Under questioning by SC Andre Maniam, who represents ex-CHC finance manager Serina Wee, Mr Hanafi testified that Wee was not involved in Xtron's financing arrangements and that her involvement was mainly administrative.
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By his testimony, one can tell he is actually enjoying the limelight. Those charged are squirming in their seats! 
