City Harvest Church: New Co-owners of Suntec Singapore

By Ron Chua

City Harvest Church has paid $310 million to be the co-owner of Suntec Singapore. This purchase was disclosed by senior pastor and founder Dr. Kong Hee during the Mar. 6 service at the Singapore Expo.

Reading from a legal statement, Dr. Kong said, “City Harvest Church has acquired a substantial stake in a consortium company that owns 80 per cent of the JV (joint-venture) fund that holds Suntec Singapore.”

Dr. Kong first told his congregation six weeks before that the church had acquired a prime piece of downtown real estate land for their new building. However, he could not reveal the exact details then due to non-disclosure agreements.

City Harvest Church revealed that 25 other plots of land were considered but 19 were unsuitable and six unsuccessful. In choosing the land, Dr. Kong said that the main consideration was it had to be “able to house 12-15,000 people”, “be centrally located and easily accessible via public transport” and “have facilities for everyone”. He added that Suntec Singapore is also near its corporate office at Suntec Tower Three, and its co-office at Riverwalk.

The sum of $310 million includes rental costs, renovation costs and the cost of share acquisition in the consortium.

The Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre has 78 years left in its lease. As co-owners, City Harvest Church will have exclusive use of levels six and seven, where the convention hall is located. Levels four and five, which are regularly used for exhibitions and conferences, will continue to be available for public lease.

The church will carry out all its services in this new location as well as its current building at Jurong West. They will move in on Mar. 2011 when their current contract with Singapore Expo expires.

Churchgoers were excited upon this new revelation. Cindy Chung, a student from the National University of Singapore, said, “Finally we can go to church and shop and eat all in one place.”

Others were delighted with the location. 56-year-old retiree Peter Lee, who stays in Clementi, said, “This is great. Going to Suntec for service will cut my travelling time by almost half.”

Coinciding with the announcement was the launch of the Arise & Build campaign, which aims to raise $17.3 million over the next four months to fund the fifth installment in a series of 13.

Citing a confidentiality agreement, City Harvest Church could not reveal the full details of how the $310 million would be spent, nor the number and price of the shares the church had bought.

However, “all material details” have been disclosed to the Commissioner of Charities and the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

Singapore’s top triathlete proves himself once again

By Gloria Lee

In the wake of his record‐breaking performance at the recent Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, national triathlete Mok Ying Ren was the crowd favourite to win this year’s Singapore Biathlon.

On Saturday, he did not disappoint as he breasted the tape four minutes ahead of closest rival Lim Zhi Ming to defend his title in the Men’s Open category.

With a finishing time of 55 minutes 38 seconds, Mok not only broke his previous year’s race record by a half minute, but also achieved a personal best in the 10‐kilometer run segment. His timings for the 1.5‐kilometre swim and the 10‐kilometre run were 21:45 and 33:54 respectively.

The win was rendered all the more exceptional by the fact that an ankle injury sustained two months earlier had forced Mok to adopt an alternative training plan that did not include his usual 100‐kilometre weekly run mileage.

“Mok Ying Ren was in top form. Those who didn’t know about his injury wouldn’t have been able to tell from his performance, “ said 21-year-old Benjamin Yap, a recreational biathlete who also competed in the Singapore Biathlon.

Jointly organized by SAFRA and the Republic of Singapore Navy, the annual Singapore Biathlon is widely regarded as the largest and most competitive event of its type in Southeast Asia.

Mok first entered the local sporting limelight when he won the triathlon gold at the 2007 SEA Games. He turned to the 5,000‐metre athletics event when his core sport was excluded from the 2009 SEA Games, but unfortunately missed the cut.

A third-year undergraduate from the National University of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, the aspiring doctor believes that his course of study aids his training because it allows him to be more aware of the way his body works.

“Those who have seen Ying Ren train are all in awe of his discipline and ability to balance both studies and training,” said 25-year-old Samson Han, who stays in the same hall of residence as Mok.

When asked for his formula for success, the 21-year-old athlete said, “Be patient in whatever sport you do. Do not find short cuts.”

This philosophy is reflected in his rigorous training regime. On a typical day, he wakes up at 6 a.m. for a morning run, attends school for seven hours from 8 a.m., before resuming training at 5 p.m.

“My goal is to be the fastest that I can be,” said Mok, who has been the National University of Singapore’s “Sportsman of the Year” for the last two years.

Big Losses Make a Winner

By Nadya Huang

Asia’s first Biggest Loser is David Gurnani, who produced staggering numbers in the finale to trump three other finalists.

The 25-year-old Indonesian shed 83 kilograms off his original frame in six months.  His sum of weight and fat loss at 53 per cent and 45 per cent respectively gave Gurnani his victorious 98-point score during the finale on Mar. 9, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The finale video showed how each of the four finalists prepared for the final weigh-in after graduating from the show’s 13-week long boot camp.

In contrast to the other contestants who had resumed their regular lives, Gurnani had chosen to continue a similarly – if not more – rigorous routine as that during boot camp.

Foo Peiwen, a second-year Japanese Studies major at the National University of Singapore, was impressed with Gurnani’s achievement.

She said, “I think it’s quite inspiring to people who have had similar problems; they can follow by example and shed the weight with exercise and a good diet.”

However, many others carry reservations. 54-year-old Wong Fook Nyen is among them.

“It’s ridiculous to lose so much weight in five or six months. At first when you look at him you think he’s skinny, but his face looks so haggard,” said Wong, who is a loyal fan of the show.

His opinion appears to be shared by many others on the internet. Shemah, a blogger, wrote, “I just can’t help but feel sorry for him because he looks so sickly. He looks really haggard. He’s only 25 years old and he looks scary ill.”

The forum on the official site has also been abuzz with such comments. One user, BoyStar, said, “He may have won but he sure made a mockery of the show contradicting the very purpose of the show.”

In the finale video, Gurnani said, “I exercise eight to ten hours a day,” adding that he kept to “the strict diet” and “had no trouble resisting temptation.”

However, in the post-show press conference, he said, “Eight to ten hours a day is extreme. I did that because it was part of a competition. I would suggest that eight to ten hours a week of exercise would be enough.”

Gurnani’s closest contender was 32 year-old Carlo Miguel from the Philippines, who lost 49 kg in six months to emerge as first runner-up.

Gurnani walked away with US$100,000 and a brand new Renault car.

Record sales at IT Show 2010

By Clara Huang

The four-day IT Show 2010 generated a record $67.5 million in sales over the weekend, an increase of $10 million over last year’s taking.

With more than 807,000 visitors, the show also recorded its highest turnout in its eight-year history.

Ho Wei Xuan, sales director of Starhub, said, “The crowd has been fantastic so far. It is a good sign that consumers are receptive in spending now since the economy is picking up.”

Regarded as the largest electronic fair in Singapore, the fair occupied five levels of Suntec Singapore. This exhibition space exceeded last year’s by 1,500 square feet.

The 820 exhibitors had reserved some of their best deals for this annual fair.

27-year-old marketing executive Huang Youde was one of the satisfied shoppers. He carted away a Fujitsu laptop and a free 19” LCD Monitor.

“The freebie makes this my best buy today. I believe the shops out there are not able to offer this attractive deal,” Huang said, referring to complimentary gifts offered by retailers.

In the exhibition halls, the aisles along the booths were flooded with people making enquiries and purchases of popular products such as high-definition televisions, laptops, digital cameras and printers.

Goh Wan Ling, a third-year NTU undergraduate, who visited the IT Show for the first time, said, “Singaporeans are surely very tempted by the special offers here.”

The showcase of cutting-edge technological innovations also drew many interested visitors. There were long queues at the Sony 3D pavilion to watch 3D-content screened on a 270-inch screen.

IT Show 2010 ran from Thursday to Sunday.