Suntec for CHC

There is a lot of discussion since CHC bought a stake in ARA Harmony Fund.
Most of the discussion offers little encouragement. Here are some of the highlights and my personal comments:

Why do we need such a big place?If yes why choose Suntec? Sembawang have alot of space.

CHC have 30000 members. It is conducting 4 back to back main services on Saturday and Sunday at Jurong West and Singapore Expo. Therefore it is only logical and render more effective to find a place big enough to house 12000 for a single or two services.

Suntec is readily available and it is central to all parts of Singapore. With due respect to the likes of Sembawang, it in highly inaccessible. The next best possible site is Jurong East which is a far-cry convenient to the easterners. Any new site would require time to get the building up. By the time the building is up, CHC would probably have started its 6 services.

Do we overpaid the 310 SGD million?

I think CHC could have pay a bit high for the stake but the future value would appreciate inevitable over time. We are here to stay for a long time. If CHC didn't pay higher than market rate, would the sellers be tempted?

Why so much cristism?

People are not use to seeing churches in shopping centers. I have heard of people saying, CHC is not like church at all, a church should be like the ones in Europe. If CHC is like traditional kind of congregation, I would be the first to fell asleep attending the service. It is all about being effective and relevant. If CHC is not effective, would it outgrow its Jurong and Expo premises? All these problems would not have arise then.