CT received this e-mail from someone overseas. We believe that what this brother/sister has expressed may be something that some of you out there reading this blog have in mind also. As such, we have decided to reply this e-mail as an Open Letter to all the followers of CT, who may have similar questions. The e-mail reads like this:
"My name is __________. I attended Calvary Church for many years until I moved to _________ in 2000. I am currently residing in ____________. I have been following your blog and the writings with great interest. I also keep in contacts with current Calvarites.
I don't believe in condoning what is wrong. However, I also believe that what the bible says about "he who has no sin casts the first stone". Also, vengeance is mine, says the Lord.
I am a person of vengeful spirit especially when someone does me wrong. The anger that boils inside me wants me to strike back. Recently, a brother in Christ shared with me and made me realized that anger and pride goes hand in hand. God wants us to be humble and approach everything and every situation with humility. I pray that you would do the same. I also pray that you would not hide behind a blog but be open and reveal yourself. Hiding behind a blog and throwing darts is not helping. Going on our knees in humility and prayers before God will.
God bless you."
Our reply to this e-mail:
It is great to know that God has helped you deal with your anger problem and your lesson on humility.
We, the concerned members of Calvary Church, KL, on the other hand, have been called, led together and have responded to God’s leading to do what we are doing not because we have anger in our hearts for any of our Pastors or the Church. In fact, many of us have been in church for many years and some may even be considered the “pillars” of the early Calvary Church.
As individuals, we are all tremendously blessed by God with good jobs, wonderful families and have a passionate heart for God’s work and many are currently actively involved in Christian ministries. Many are also supporting different Christian organizations financially. We believe God has brought us together to stand up firmly for Him to declare His Righteousness and Holiness in this time and age. We are to be the "salt" and the "light" and to be a “city on the hill” for His Name’s sake. We cannot bend or try to blend in together with any form of unrighteousness and ungodly practices especially in the management of God’s Church and God’s money.
We don’t fault you for not knowing who the TTG concerned brother and sisters are.
CT is only a tool used to disseminate information to interested church members (but now includes others like yourself also) who may otherwise have no access to information about the CC Saga from ordinary church members' point of view. The only information that we have gotten from the church leadership so far have been heavily "sugar coated" resulting in "half truths" information, which by the way, was only privy for church leaders and some selected few privileged members. What is announced from the pulpit are sweeping statements, specially tailored to make us "feel good" as someone said earlier in another post. So, your statement that CT is someone "hiding behind a blog and throwing darts," is wrong deduction. We don't blame you since you are residing half way across the world from us. Just to let you know, the darts that you are referring to are the TRUTH of the matter at hand. Truth, sometimes if not always hurts.
Now as to revealing ourselves, we are a group of no less than 50 people at any one point in time. If you are here in KL, you will know us. TTG have no membership. TTG only have volunteers who feel led by God to contribute their share of expertise as and when needed for a specific task. People respond to God’s leading at the perfect timing, to lend the group a helping hand to fulfill the purpose that God has, to carry out His Will at very specific times, in this journey. TTG have not been in any desperate need to ask anyone for help to get things done. We don't need to because God has always sent someone with the right expertise to do the job that was needed to be done.
To recollect such occasions, we relate to you this incident. When Dr Lum's interview was published, a brother volunteered his help to translate that post into the Chinese language to benefit our Chinese congregation. After doing that, he decided to worship in another church. He was really a man sent by God to fulfill His plan. Then when all the documents were complied for distribution to members at the EGM held on 15 August 2008, another brother volunteered to print the pages for free. Then another brother volunteered some workers to stand outside the church and at the carpark area to distribute the handouts. Everything was done so smoothly because God sent people to do a little part each. No one went out of the way to scout for helpers. People came on board to support the group's effort on their own accord after hearing about the task at hand. TTG have only so far asked for support in the form of signature campaigns during the earlier “teh-tarik” meetings.
We do nothing in our personal capacity but everything is done in unity of spirit among brethren, always being mindful of the Holy Spirit's leading and guiding, even though we are a group made up of many individuals from diverse backgrounds and personalities. It is really amazing to see how God motivates each one of us to move very differently and at different times and yet at the same time, to coordinate so well as a group, is unbelievable. Only God in His great wisdom and understanding, can unite a group of people with such diversity and only God’s people who are responding to the call that God has impressed on them, that the cause for TTG – Truth, Transparency and Godly Governance, can be accomplished and persevered on till this day. When one person completes his task, God calls another one in to carry on the next task, and this has been going on from the beginning. So how do you “reveal” the TTG people? TTG is many brothers and sisters in Christ, called by God, brought together by the Holy Spirit, all with a common love and dedication for our Lord Jesus Christ, so that no one can claim glory for themselves.
As to your exhortation for us to go on our knees to humbly pray, we would like to ask you to read back the past articles in the category of “Prayer & Testimonies” in this blog.
At very important thresh holds of time in this journey, God spoke to us through the "rainbows" that was shared by one church member which gave us encouragement to continue on the journey even though we have no clue what to do next. He has sent many prayer warriors to talk to different individuals which has brought light and understanding to the group when we needed it.
Many in the group also network with Pastors and friends, locally and overseas, who are constantly praying for God’s will to be accomplished in Calvary Church. The most recent word from the Lord which was delivered to us through someone is this: Someone while praying for our CC Saga received a vision of many "tears" as in someone crying. In the last two weeks, different individuals have shared that during their personal devotion and Bible reading time, they were impressed to read Jeremiah. One person read Jeremiah 8 & 9. Another was impressed to read Jeremiah 12 & 13. We hope that you too will read the Book of Jeremiah and allow God to speak to you personally. Ask God to reveal to you, who have cried those tears?
Every “revelation” in this blog, has been timed by God Himself and actually furnished by God Himself too. The different articles written by different individuals were written and sent in by their own accord. Others were already written by members and CT only sought their permission to publish – CT did not ask for it to be written. Including this e-mail of yours which today serves as an Open Letter so that many readers like yourself can have a better understanding of this whole CC Saga and TTG. To the group, your e-mail is by no means accidental. Like many of us, we believe you have responded to God’s soft prompting without even realizing it and CT and TTG give praise to God for that.
CT would like to put on record once again, our gratitude to our Sovereign God and our Lord Jesus Christ for sending the Holy Spirit to be our constant guide in this journey through a very difficult and trying time in the history of Calvary Church. Indeed, without God, CT can do nothing. If you are thankful for the information that you have gotten from visiting CT, please express your "thanks" to God our Heavenly Father to whom Calvary Church belongs to. There is no one you can say "thank you" to, except to God and our Lord Jesus Christ, without whom, CT would have been wiped out long ago. The fact that you, who is residing half way across the world is reading what is published in CT, is a testimony of God's hand and faithfulness to us all.
It will be Christmas time again very soon. CT wish you a Blessed Christmas and God Bless You Too.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
PG And Wife Continues To Deceive???
Pastor Prince Guneratnam (PG) is scheduled to preach at Evangel Family Church (EFC) in Singapore on 8 November 2009.
EFC is the home church of his good buddy, Rev Robert Lim. EFC is the generous church which PG had claimed gave him a brand new Volvo XC90 4WD and Sis Petrina Guneratnam, a new Honda Civic a few years ago. Whether this is true or false, no one knows? It is inconceivable that EFC will give such generous gifts to PG and his wife especially since Rev Robert is well-known for his sacrificial giving to church planting and actual missions work while denying himself of such luxuries. We hope that someone from EFC will enlighten us on this mystery.
Coming back to the subject in hand, EFC published an online advertisement on PG’s coming preaching engagement. Click on the following link to see the advertisement:
http://www.evangel.org.sg/advertisem/prince/prince.html
If you read through the write-up on the credentials of PG and Sis Petrina, you will be shocked that they are both still proclaiming (by implication) that Calvary International Ministries (CIM) is still alive.
The write-up states that “ Prince Guneratnam is also the President and Founder of Calvary International Ministries.”
The write-up on Sis Petrina Guneratnam states that “She is also the co-founder and Vice President of the Calvary International Ministries.”
CT does not think that EFC would publish this without getting the clearance from PG. It is more likely that EFC was given this write-up to publish.
If this was the case, PG and his wife are certainly a recalcitrant couple, still bent on misleading fellow Christian brothers and sisters and his own peers.
For those unfamiliar with the background, CIM was the personal ministry of PG. CIM became a major issue among Calvary Church members when it was discovered last year that the Board of Deacons and the Missions Department, both headed by PG, had transferred a total of RM1.9m from church coffers into CIM’s account between 2002 to 2007, without the knowledge or approval of the church members.
The FACT is that CIM has been de-registered by NECF last year because it does not qualify to be a member. CIM had originally been registered as a member of NECF as a result of misrepresentation by PG. After the exposure by concerned members of Calvary Church, CIM was removed from the membership register of NECF. The misrepresentation has also been confirmed by the Assemblies of God Malaysia after conducting their own investigations. CIM, therefore, no longer exists as a Christian body.
CIM’s bank accounts in Malaysia are believed to have been cancelled after the de-registration of CIM by NECF but no one knows if its banks accounts in Singapore or US or elsewhere are still existing. Presumably, they still are.
CT does not know the reason behind PG’s “wanting to keep CIM alive”. One can only speculate that CIM is where all the love offerings which PG receives from his preaching engagements and all donations to his ministry are channeled to.
With “Calvary” in its name, none of the churches and pastors out there can be faulted if they thought that CIM was part of Calvary Church when actually it is not. Therefore, any donation meant for Calvary Church could have been addressed to and channeled into CIM’s bank account/s in Singapore or elsewhere and no one would even be aware of it.
Calvarites have often wondered why, after all these years of our Church giving to the building funds of other churches, none of the overseas churches (except for EFC and Cho Yonggi’s church) have made contributions to our CCC building fund. Perhaps, the answer lies in CIM.
On the topic of deception, another interesting thing to note is that in his wife, Sis Petrina’s write-up, it was stated that she “pioneered the first Assemblies of God church, the Glad Tidings Assembly of God in Klang, Malaysia”.
Perhaps it was a genuine grammatical error in the way the statement was structured but it does give an impression that she started the first Assemblies of God church in Malaysia and that that church was the Glad Tidings in Klang. For the benefit of readers, the first Assemblies of God church in Malaysia was in Jalan Sayur, Kuala Lumpur and she certainly was not the one who started it in 1934 as she was not born yet.
You can read the History of the Assemblies of God church in Malaysia at :
AOG History
So, dear Pastor Prince Guneratnam, what are you up to now?
EFC is the home church of his good buddy, Rev Robert Lim. EFC is the generous church which PG had claimed gave him a brand new Volvo XC90 4WD and Sis Petrina Guneratnam, a new Honda Civic a few years ago. Whether this is true or false, no one knows? It is inconceivable that EFC will give such generous gifts to PG and his wife especially since Rev Robert is well-known for his sacrificial giving to church planting and actual missions work while denying himself of such luxuries. We hope that someone from EFC will enlighten us on this mystery.
Coming back to the subject in hand, EFC published an online advertisement on PG’s coming preaching engagement. Click on the following link to see the advertisement:
http://www.evangel.org.sg/advertisem/prince/prince.html
If you read through the write-up on the credentials of PG and Sis Petrina, you will be shocked that they are both still proclaiming (by implication) that Calvary International Ministries (CIM) is still alive.
The write-up states that “ Prince Guneratnam is also the President and Founder of Calvary International Ministries.”
The write-up on Sis Petrina Guneratnam states that “She is also the co-founder and Vice President of the Calvary International Ministries.”
CT does not think that EFC would publish this without getting the clearance from PG. It is more likely that EFC was given this write-up to publish.
If this was the case, PG and his wife are certainly a recalcitrant couple, still bent on misleading fellow Christian brothers and sisters and his own peers.
For those unfamiliar with the background, CIM was the personal ministry of PG. CIM became a major issue among Calvary Church members when it was discovered last year that the Board of Deacons and the Missions Department, both headed by PG, had transferred a total of RM1.9m from church coffers into CIM’s account between 2002 to 2007, without the knowledge or approval of the church members.
The FACT is that CIM has been de-registered by NECF last year because it does not qualify to be a member. CIM had originally been registered as a member of NECF as a result of misrepresentation by PG. After the exposure by concerned members of Calvary Church, CIM was removed from the membership register of NECF. The misrepresentation has also been confirmed by the Assemblies of God Malaysia after conducting their own investigations. CIM, therefore, no longer exists as a Christian body.
CIM’s bank accounts in Malaysia are believed to have been cancelled after the de-registration of CIM by NECF but no one knows if its banks accounts in Singapore or US or elsewhere are still existing. Presumably, they still are.
CT does not know the reason behind PG’s “wanting to keep CIM alive”. One can only speculate that CIM is where all the love offerings which PG receives from his preaching engagements and all donations to his ministry are channeled to.
With “Calvary” in its name, none of the churches and pastors out there can be faulted if they thought that CIM was part of Calvary Church when actually it is not. Therefore, any donation meant for Calvary Church could have been addressed to and channeled into CIM’s bank account/s in Singapore or elsewhere and no one would even be aware of it.
Calvarites have often wondered why, after all these years of our Church giving to the building funds of other churches, none of the overseas churches (except for EFC and Cho Yonggi’s church) have made contributions to our CCC building fund. Perhaps, the answer lies in CIM.
On the topic of deception, another interesting thing to note is that in his wife, Sis Petrina’s write-up, it was stated that she “pioneered the first Assemblies of God church, the Glad Tidings Assembly of God in Klang, Malaysia”.
Perhaps it was a genuine grammatical error in the way the statement was structured but it does give an impression that she started the first Assemblies of God church in Malaysia and that that church was the Glad Tidings in Klang. For the benefit of readers, the first Assemblies of God church in Malaysia was in Jalan Sayur, Kuala Lumpur and she certainly was not the one who started it in 1934 as she was not born yet.
You can read the History of the Assemblies of God church in Malaysia at :
AOG History
So, dear Pastor Prince Guneratnam, what are you up to now?
__________________________________________
Just Added on 7 November 2009.
To read, "The Bible View on Forgiveness" by Gordon Rumford as recommended by Bro. Vijay on November 7, 2009 11:02 PM, click here :
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
PG Chickens Out!
In a last-ditch mediation effort, a prominent Calvarite together with the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Malaysia, made arrangements to bring representatives from the concerned members or the TTG group (as it is more popularly known) and Pas Prince Guneratnam (PG) and his team together to discuss how to resolve the ongoing saga in Calvary Church.
Parameters for the meeting from both sides were given to the two mediators who then came out with a harmonized set of parameters for the meeting. The date of the meeting, which was to be held in the hotel of the said Calvarite, was mutually agreed upon and set for this Thursday, 29th October.
The proposed meeting was to be attended by 4 representatives from the TTG group and 4 from the Church leadership including PG. The Chairmen would be the 2 mediators. Another 3 council members from the Assemblies of God Malaysia were expected to attend as observers.
Admittedly, the concerned members were pleasantly surprised that PG finally agreed to meet with the concerned members to seek an amicable solution to the many issues in our Church.
The members had renewed hope that there will be a positive outcome to this meeting so that everyone can return to Calvary Church to rebuild the Church and to move forward.
Sadly, this hope was dashed today (Tuesday). PG has decided not to proceed with the much anticipated meeting. He came out with a flimsy excuse that his deacons cannot make it. This is akin to saying that out of his 7 deacons and 8 pastors, he could not get 3 of them to join him.
Parameters for the meeting from both sides were given to the two mediators who then came out with a harmonized set of parameters for the meeting. The date of the meeting, which was to be held in the hotel of the said Calvarite, was mutually agreed upon and set for this Thursday, 29th October.
The proposed meeting was to be attended by 4 representatives from the TTG group and 4 from the Church leadership including PG. The Chairmen would be the 2 mediators. Another 3 council members from the Assemblies of God Malaysia were expected to attend as observers.
Admittedly, the concerned members were pleasantly surprised that PG finally agreed to meet with the concerned members to seek an amicable solution to the many issues in our Church.
The members had renewed hope that there will be a positive outcome to this meeting so that everyone can return to Calvary Church to rebuild the Church and to move forward.
Sadly, this hope was dashed today (Tuesday). PG has decided not to proceed with the much anticipated meeting. He came out with a flimsy excuse that his deacons cannot make it. This is akin to saying that out of his 7 deacons and 8 pastors, he could not get 3 of them to join him.
If indeed this was true, then all the deacons and pastors ought to be sacked. Just a few months ago, they spent many evenings holding small group ceramahs to defend PG and to justify their sacking of Dr Lum for speaking the truth. (Click the link to read SP and BOD Divides Church Further).
Now they cannot even spend one evening to try to save a dying Church. If this is the real situation, then the Pastors ought to re-examine their calling seriously and the deacons should give way to others who have a heart for the welfare of the church.
Furthermore, if it is really true that none of the deacons and pastors can accompany PG to the meeting, let it be known that even if he came alone, he would have gotten the respect of the TTG (and the entire Church) for keeping the appointment.
If, however, the above is not true, then PG is outright lying.
The concerned members had, time and again in the past, initiated steps to seek legal redress, only to hold back each time, always, in the hope that PG will come to his senses and agree to resolve the issues in an amicable way. In a final attempt, the group recently, issued a letter through a lawyer to PG to request him to re-convene an EGM to re-consider the resolutions which were thrown out by Rev Ronnie Chin at the last AGM. PG promptly replied that he cannot accede to the members’ request. In his reply he said,
“I humbly implore upon your goodselves to advise your clients (concerned members) that the Deacons and I are ever ready and willing to discuss any concern that they (concerned members) may have in respect of the Church.”
So, after all that rhetoric about wanting to resolve the ongoing saga in Calvary Church the Christian way and about his ever willingness to meet the concerned members, Pastor Prince Guneratnam has once again proven that he is not a man of his words.
This is just real sad!
“I humbly implore upon your goodselves to advise your clients (concerned members) that the Deacons and I are ever ready and willing to discuss any concern that they (concerned members) may have in respect of the Church.”
So, after all that rhetoric about wanting to resolve the ongoing saga in Calvary Church the Christian way and about his ever willingness to meet the concerned members, Pastor Prince Guneratnam has once again proven that he is not a man of his words.
This is just real sad!
Monday, October 19, 2009
PG’s Vision Begins To Crumble
Pas Steven’s announcement over the pulpit yesterday morning on the Calvary Convention Centre (CCC) situation was brief and general. But what he said was misleading and a gross misrepresentation of the seriousness of the situation affecting the extravagant project. He said that the main contractor, Nam Fatt Bhd had defaulted on the contract to complete the CCC by 14 October 2009 and consequently, the Church had issued them a Notice of Default. He went on to say that the deacons are now studying various options and as a result, the completion of the CCC has been moved to 2011.
Pas Steven and Pas Guneratnam (PG) and his deacons probably thought Calvarites are little kids who can be easily fooled.
The news of the failure of Nam Fatt to complete the project on schedule did not shock anyone because most of the members already know that work at the site stopped months ago. The rest are probably simply blinded by the pastors' charm to recognise the truth. And now, this announcement comes just 4 months after our recent AGM, during which, ex-deacon Han assured the members that work at the site is progressing and has not stopped. It is obvious now that Bro Han and the Board of Deacons lied through their teeth at the AGM.
What irk most members was that Pas Steven could nonchalantly announce that the completion of the project is now moved to 2011. Anyone with some knowledge of the construction industry or even some common sense can tell you that in a situation like this, it takes months and sometimes, years to resolve the many issues and disputes that arise with such stoppages. Unless, of course, the Church is willing to throw extra millions to clear the claims by Nam Fatt and or the sub-contractors and to induce a new contractor to quickly re-commence and complete the abandoned project without going through the rigmarole of project due diligence, engineering surveys and valuation.
Just like PG’s past failed visions for Calvaryland, a 5,000-seat church in Sri Hartamas and a redevelopment of the existing Damansara Heights sanctuary into a multi-storey horse-shoe design church, his vision of the RM200 million 5,000- seat CCC now appears to be heading the same direction of another failure.
With the impending CCC Fund-raising Carnival that will be held later this month, we wonder what propaganda would be churned out to mitigate this damaging news. Be prepared to hear comments like "It's not that serious", "Just a slight delay only", "Don't listen to the devil", "Trust God" and all those 'feel good' factors, the 'Calvary Boleh" and 'all is well' messages.
BY God's divine wisdom and guidance, CT received the following article just 3 days ago from a member. CT wanted to verify the statements therein before publishing it. Yesterday’s announcement has confirmed that the CCC project has indeed stopped. There are many interesting questions raised by the author, which only PG and his deacons can answer. With what has happened, the situation now demands that PG and his deacons come out openly with truthful answers. No more lies, Pas Prince Guneratnam!
(The following article was contributed by a long-serving member)
ABRAHAM WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THE CITY……
Received ‘very reliable’ confirmation that construction works for CCC had stopped due to non-payment to the Sub-Contractors (SC). Sources revealed that the church had been paying, but the problem is on the Main Contractor’s (MC) side. Another interesting revelation is that, 14th. Oct. 2009 is the official Date of Completion for the project.
Pertinent questions are begging for answers now.
1) Was there any proper due diligence done in selecting the MC; such as:-
i) Pre-tender qualifications,
ii) Tender interview conducted after submission of tender with such questions as to the ability & capability of the MC to take on a project of this magnitude with regards to financial, technical, human resource & job commitment.
iii) What was documented in the tender reports?
2) If the church decides to determine the contract, we still have to pay the MC for all the work done as per the certification of the QS, & then we are saddled with a host of problems;
i) What happened to the warranties to the work executed by the MC & his SCs, bearing in mind, whosoever tenders for the remaining portion of the work would put in a premium for this warranties as well as responsibilities for all the works previously executed.
ii). What about the defects, whether discovered earlier and documented and waiting to be rectified or yet to be discovered as well as latent defects (defects appearing in later stage). Who will be responsible, do we pay extra to the next MC to undertake the rectifications.
iii). Would the contracts of the existing SCs be determined as well, would the new MC have to work with the existing SCs, can he get along with them, or get his own SCs, what about warranties & responsibilities of the existing SCs?
All these problems have a weightage to the amount the new tenderer would bid for the job and notwithstanding that, the current cost of materials & labour.
3) What happened to our rights and remedies under the contract?
Contractually, if the MC fails to complete the project on time and if he had exhausted all avenues for application for Extension of Time, Certificate of Non-Completion would be issued and then Liquidated & Ascertained damages would be recommended by the QS, giving the client the prerogative to deduct whatever monies due to the penalty for every Certificate of Payment presented by the MC. Could the MC still continue when monies are deducted, when even he had difficulty paying his SCs when money was not deducted.
Question is, does the MC have any application of time pending, as we have heard of ‘numerous changes’ being made. If these changes are caused by the client & consultants, the MC has valid grounds.
In the light of the MC non-performance in paying the SCs & his failure to complete the project on schedule, why did the church accept the Performance Bond in the form of ‘Corporate Guarantee’(on hindsight). The church has never been in the construction business & do not know the reputation and background of contractors, why did it trust the MC to the extent of accepting a ‘Corporate Guarantee’.
‘Corporate Guarantee’ is an exception rather than the norm, as most Performance Bonds are in the form of ‘Bank Guarantee’ or at worse, ‘Insurance Guarantee’. What recourse do we have, besides determining the contract. We have to console ourselves with the tattered reputation of the MC as Performance Bond. Normally, even when the MC have submitted a Bank Guarantee as Performance Bond, the client still will be on the losing side, should the contract be determined prematurely, due to non-performance of the MC. More so in this case.
The church lost out in terms of time & money as the new premises would not ready for occupation for quite a while, should the contract of the current MC be determined.
Two examples of the ‘feel good factors’ :-
1) When the church bought the land at Bukit Jalil, it highlighted that it had got a discount for the commercial portion of the land. Even though it was at a discounted price, the church is not putting up a commercial building, for all intent & purposes, it’s a church building, so, we paid extra for a commercial land to build a church building; it is akin to buying a piece of commercial land, even though at a discounted price, but building a residential building on it. This was not made known, only a half-truth was disseminated that we got the land at a discounted price…and everyone was so happy.
2) When the construction price shot up to RM150 million, they told us that there was a reduction in the ‘contingency sum’. Now a ‘contingency sum’ is for the purpose of….A CONTINGENCY. It is prudent for any project to allocate a 5% of the total construction cost for ‘contingency sum’. However you might not have to utilize this sum. So, for them to increase the cost from RM50 million and then throw in a feel good factor that the contingency sum is being reduced is a deception. You might as well jack up the construction cost to include in the contingency sum and tell all and sundry that this project is so well planned, that there is no need of a contingency sum.
Going back a little bit further, Calvarites have all along been led by the nose in accepting the building of a 5000 seating capacity 'church', it's "God's vision" and it had to succeed come what may. Wonder whether this so-called "God's vision" encompassed the following :-
1) A RM100 million mistake. This was acknowledged by the renowned architect who wants to build a signature building. Has the BOD practiced due diligence with our money and questioned how and why this RM100 million mistake was committed.
i) Has anyone thought of filing a 'professional negligence' suit against the architect or at least lodging a complaint with Lembaga Akitek Malaysia or Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia to suspend his practice?
ii) After all, has anyone ever heard of a RM100 million mistake?
iii) Was the decision to award to him, even after knowing his religious leaning, with consensus & above board?
2) During the 2007 AGM, HJK challenged the congregation by saying that "God asked, am I not worth that much?". Yet during the 2008 AGM, he spinned a tale that 'by value engineering (which actually is another name for cost-cutting, albeit a better sounding name), the church saved RM40 million, without compromising on design intent and quality. When questioned how did he managed to do that, he was dumbfounded and had to be 'rescued' by the Project Manager who said that they changed the material for the roof from 'enamel' to 'alucobond'.
i) Is that not a compromise for quality?
ii) The question is still ringing in my ears, "Am I (God) not worth more than that?", why need to cost-cut?
If you can saved RM40 million by cost-cutting and without having to compromise on the design intent and the quality, it means in the first place, you have jacked up the actual figure and then bringing it down to look good. HJK might now clarify that he was wearing different shoes when he spoke up during the different AGMs, remember how he said that he spoke in the capacity of a life-group leader & not a deacon, when promoting Calvary Kini. Anyway, I have never trusted people with multiple personalities.
3). The building had to be scaled down due to the exorbitant cost and yet with a lower construction cost, the MC could not performed and did not pay his SCs.
i) What would have happened had the cost not be scaled down, would the stoppage happened earlier?
ii) Was the decision to award to the MC done above-board?
iii) Was there a pre-determined plan to award to the current MC despite and in spite of whatever adverse reports?
Your guess is as good as mine. Most of us have not seen the drawings, specifications & documents pertaining to CCC, much less the tender reports. There are no monthly or bimonthly updates on the building, how much was paid out, what stage had the building been up to, whether the progress of construction is ahead or delayed, nothing, zilch. The whole project is shrouded in secrecy, more stringent than the official secrets act. You only give and don't question is the mantra not only applicable to tithes & offerings but also to CCC.
iv) How long had the MC not been paying the SCs and when was this brought into the open? It surely cannot be an overnight affair.
v) What has the consultants, especially the architect been advising, since he is the superintending officer of the project and would have known all this, or is he still busy looking at his design, first thing in the morning & the last thing at night that he had forgotten to administer the contract professionally or is there another RM100 million mistake in the making?
vi) What actions have been taken by the project team and the client to resolve the situation, like making direct payments to the SCs, so that the project can continue?
vii) Why is the church still paying the MC until now, is there something you & I don't know?
Anyway you look at it, the church members will have to bear the brunt of this fiasco.
SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP……… ANYBODY……….. P L E A S E ……
“ Abraham was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:10) ; Calvarites are forced to look forward to a building without foundations of Truth, Transparency & Godly Governance, whose architect is a Free Mason and the builder is a default-paying MC.
“Abraham believed in God and it was imputed to him as righteousness” (Rom 4:3); Calvarites were made to believe in a Tan Sri/Dato’/Dr but it can only be imputed to them as blind or misguided faith.
Pas Steven and Pas Guneratnam (PG) and his deacons probably thought Calvarites are little kids who can be easily fooled.
The news of the failure of Nam Fatt to complete the project on schedule did not shock anyone because most of the members already know that work at the site stopped months ago. The rest are probably simply blinded by the pastors' charm to recognise the truth. And now, this announcement comes just 4 months after our recent AGM, during which, ex-deacon Han assured the members that work at the site is progressing and has not stopped. It is obvious now that Bro Han and the Board of Deacons lied through their teeth at the AGM.
What irk most members was that Pas Steven could nonchalantly announce that the completion of the project is now moved to 2011. Anyone with some knowledge of the construction industry or even some common sense can tell you that in a situation like this, it takes months and sometimes, years to resolve the many issues and disputes that arise with such stoppages. Unless, of course, the Church is willing to throw extra millions to clear the claims by Nam Fatt and or the sub-contractors and to induce a new contractor to quickly re-commence and complete the abandoned project without going through the rigmarole of project due diligence, engineering surveys and valuation.
Just like PG’s past failed visions for Calvaryland, a 5,000-seat church in Sri Hartamas and a redevelopment of the existing Damansara Heights sanctuary into a multi-storey horse-shoe design church, his vision of the RM200 million 5,000- seat CCC now appears to be heading the same direction of another failure.
With the impending CCC Fund-raising Carnival that will be held later this month, we wonder what propaganda would be churned out to mitigate this damaging news. Be prepared to hear comments like "It's not that serious", "Just a slight delay only", "Don't listen to the devil", "Trust God" and all those 'feel good' factors, the 'Calvary Boleh" and 'all is well' messages.
BY God's divine wisdom and guidance, CT received the following article just 3 days ago from a member. CT wanted to verify the statements therein before publishing it. Yesterday’s announcement has confirmed that the CCC project has indeed stopped. There are many interesting questions raised by the author, which only PG and his deacons can answer. With what has happened, the situation now demands that PG and his deacons come out openly with truthful answers. No more lies, Pas Prince Guneratnam!
(The following article was contributed by a long-serving member)
ABRAHAM WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THE CITY……
Received ‘very reliable’ confirmation that construction works for CCC had stopped due to non-payment to the Sub-Contractors (SC). Sources revealed that the church had been paying, but the problem is on the Main Contractor’s (MC) side. Another interesting revelation is that, 14th. Oct. 2009 is the official Date of Completion for the project.
Pertinent questions are begging for answers now.
1) Was there any proper due diligence done in selecting the MC; such as:-
i) Pre-tender qualifications,
ii) Tender interview conducted after submission of tender with such questions as to the ability & capability of the MC to take on a project of this magnitude with regards to financial, technical, human resource & job commitment.
iii) What was documented in the tender reports?
2) If the church decides to determine the contract, we still have to pay the MC for all the work done as per the certification of the QS, & then we are saddled with a host of problems;
i) What happened to the warranties to the work executed by the MC & his SCs, bearing in mind, whosoever tenders for the remaining portion of the work would put in a premium for this warranties as well as responsibilities for all the works previously executed.
ii). What about the defects, whether discovered earlier and documented and waiting to be rectified or yet to be discovered as well as latent defects (defects appearing in later stage). Who will be responsible, do we pay extra to the next MC to undertake the rectifications.
iii). Would the contracts of the existing SCs be determined as well, would the new MC have to work with the existing SCs, can he get along with them, or get his own SCs, what about warranties & responsibilities of the existing SCs?
All these problems have a weightage to the amount the new tenderer would bid for the job and notwithstanding that, the current cost of materials & labour.
3) What happened to our rights and remedies under the contract?
Contractually, if the MC fails to complete the project on time and if he had exhausted all avenues for application for Extension of Time, Certificate of Non-Completion would be issued and then Liquidated & Ascertained damages would be recommended by the QS, giving the client the prerogative to deduct whatever monies due to the penalty for every Certificate of Payment presented by the MC. Could the MC still continue when monies are deducted, when even he had difficulty paying his SCs when money was not deducted.
Question is, does the MC have any application of time pending, as we have heard of ‘numerous changes’ being made. If these changes are caused by the client & consultants, the MC has valid grounds.
In the light of the MC non-performance in paying the SCs & his failure to complete the project on schedule, why did the church accept the Performance Bond in the form of ‘Corporate Guarantee’(on hindsight). The church has never been in the construction business & do not know the reputation and background of contractors, why did it trust the MC to the extent of accepting a ‘Corporate Guarantee’.
‘Corporate Guarantee’ is an exception rather than the norm, as most Performance Bonds are in the form of ‘Bank Guarantee’ or at worse, ‘Insurance Guarantee’. What recourse do we have, besides determining the contract. We have to console ourselves with the tattered reputation of the MC as Performance Bond. Normally, even when the MC have submitted a Bank Guarantee as Performance Bond, the client still will be on the losing side, should the contract be determined prematurely, due to non-performance of the MC. More so in this case.
The church lost out in terms of time & money as the new premises would not ready for occupation for quite a while, should the contract of the current MC be determined.
Two examples of the ‘feel good factors’ :-
1) When the church bought the land at Bukit Jalil, it highlighted that it had got a discount for the commercial portion of the land. Even though it was at a discounted price, the church is not putting up a commercial building, for all intent & purposes, it’s a church building, so, we paid extra for a commercial land to build a church building; it is akin to buying a piece of commercial land, even though at a discounted price, but building a residential building on it. This was not made known, only a half-truth was disseminated that we got the land at a discounted price…and everyone was so happy.
2) When the construction price shot up to RM150 million, they told us that there was a reduction in the ‘contingency sum’. Now a ‘contingency sum’ is for the purpose of….A CONTINGENCY. It is prudent for any project to allocate a 5% of the total construction cost for ‘contingency sum’. However you might not have to utilize this sum. So, for them to increase the cost from RM50 million and then throw in a feel good factor that the contingency sum is being reduced is a deception. You might as well jack up the construction cost to include in the contingency sum and tell all and sundry that this project is so well planned, that there is no need of a contingency sum.
Going back a little bit further, Calvarites have all along been led by the nose in accepting the building of a 5000 seating capacity 'church', it's "God's vision" and it had to succeed come what may. Wonder whether this so-called "God's vision" encompassed the following :-
1) A RM100 million mistake. This was acknowledged by the renowned architect who wants to build a signature building. Has the BOD practiced due diligence with our money and questioned how and why this RM100 million mistake was committed.
i) Has anyone thought of filing a 'professional negligence' suit against the architect or at least lodging a complaint with Lembaga Akitek Malaysia or Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia to suspend his practice?
ii) After all, has anyone ever heard of a RM100 million mistake?
iii) Was the decision to award to him, even after knowing his religious leaning, with consensus & above board?
2) During the 2007 AGM, HJK challenged the congregation by saying that "God asked, am I not worth that much?". Yet during the 2008 AGM, he spinned a tale that 'by value engineering (which actually is another name for cost-cutting, albeit a better sounding name), the church saved RM40 million, without compromising on design intent and quality. When questioned how did he managed to do that, he was dumbfounded and had to be 'rescued' by the Project Manager who said that they changed the material for the roof from 'enamel' to 'alucobond'.
i) Is that not a compromise for quality?
ii) The question is still ringing in my ears, "Am I (God) not worth more than that?", why need to cost-cut?
If you can saved RM40 million by cost-cutting and without having to compromise on the design intent and the quality, it means in the first place, you have jacked up the actual figure and then bringing it down to look good. HJK might now clarify that he was wearing different shoes when he spoke up during the different AGMs, remember how he said that he spoke in the capacity of a life-group leader & not a deacon, when promoting Calvary Kini. Anyway, I have never trusted people with multiple personalities.
3). The building had to be scaled down due to the exorbitant cost and yet with a lower construction cost, the MC could not performed and did not pay his SCs.
i) What would have happened had the cost not be scaled down, would the stoppage happened earlier?
ii) Was the decision to award to the MC done above-board?
iii) Was there a pre-determined plan to award to the current MC despite and in spite of whatever adverse reports?
Your guess is as good as mine. Most of us have not seen the drawings, specifications & documents pertaining to CCC, much less the tender reports. There are no monthly or bimonthly updates on the building, how much was paid out, what stage had the building been up to, whether the progress of construction is ahead or delayed, nothing, zilch. The whole project is shrouded in secrecy, more stringent than the official secrets act. You only give and don't question is the mantra not only applicable to tithes & offerings but also to CCC.
iv) How long had the MC not been paying the SCs and when was this brought into the open? It surely cannot be an overnight affair.
v) What has the consultants, especially the architect been advising, since he is the superintending officer of the project and would have known all this, or is he still busy looking at his design, first thing in the morning & the last thing at night that he had forgotten to administer the contract professionally or is there another RM100 million mistake in the making?
vi) What actions have been taken by the project team and the client to resolve the situation, like making direct payments to the SCs, so that the project can continue?
vii) Why is the church still paying the MC until now, is there something you & I don't know?
Anyway you look at it, the church members will have to bear the brunt of this fiasco.
SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP……… ANYBODY……….. P L E A S E ……
“ Abraham was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:10) ; Calvarites are forced to look forward to a building without foundations of Truth, Transparency & Godly Governance, whose architect is a Free Mason and the builder is a default-paying MC.
“Abraham believed in God and it was imputed to him as righteousness” (Rom 4:3); Calvarites were made to believe in a Tan Sri/Dato’/Dr but it can only be imputed to them as blind or misguided faith.
