Just for Dad — Fathers’ Day 2009

As the man of the house, fathers have an equal share in the burden of raising the family. Although their responsibilities may differ from mothers, there is no doubt that a father figure sets the leadership model for the children to look up to.

On the weekend of 20 to 21 July, 2009, City Harvest Church (CHC) acknowledged fathers with a special Father’s Day weekend in all 4 of its worship services.

A special guest performance during the service was Norihiko Hibino, a well-acclaimed saxophonist famous for his work on the music for video games like the “Metal Gear Solid” series. Here in Singapore to perform in the Video Games Live! 2009 concert, the Japanese composer wowed the audience with several arrangements, including the gospel classic “Amazing Grace” and his own rendition of CHC’s “Elevate”.

For CHC’s member, Mark Lim, this year’s Fathers’ Day was a double celebration for him as it happened to coincide with his thirtieth birthday. Attending with his wife and 4 year old daughter, he was greatly moved by a sense of God’s love in the whole service. “I was very touched by the musical performance, it is something unique that we don’t often get to experience,” said Lim. The energizing performance left a deep impression on many in the congregation. As did the highlight of the service, which was the highly anticipated Fathers’ Day drama production.

Performed by an experienced team of volunteers from the CHC Drama Ministry, the drama brought about peals of laughter as well as tears from the crowd. The story about the strained relationship between a father and son resonated with the crowd, and showed how the son eventually realized the importance of restoring his relationship with his father as the latter laid in a coma.

Student Priscilla Woo, 20, brought her parents, for the first time, to the service on this special occasion, and the whole family thoroughly enjoyed the drama. Speaking on behalf of her father, Woo said, “There were tears in my eyes. I could tell that my parents enjoyed the drama! We definitely had a great time today.”

Following the drama, Tan Ye Peng, Deputy Senior Pastor of CHC, shared about how as children of God, Christians have to be willing to wait on God’s timing, just as a young child needs to wait for the father’s timing. Although everyone has needs and wants them to be met immediately, patience and trust in God is needed as He alone knows the right timing for all situations. Tan concluded that God indeed has the best in store, if His children would learn to wait on His promises.

A relatively new member to CHC for six months, Lim Tse Nan, was greatly impacted by the entire day. The 36 year old father of one said, “I found the drama meaningful and the entire service well planned out. It really reminded me of many issues of father-son relationships that people face. I’m also encouraged to be the best father that I can be for my daughter.”

PHOTOS: Cristopher Teh, Daniel Poh

So for members and first-time visitors alike, Fathers’ Day at CHC was definitely a memorable and heart-warming experience for all.

SME Fiesta: PIAS — Back To Basics of Investment

In light of the current global economic meltdown, perhaps the best way to invest one’s money is to go back to basics. At the recent SME Fiesta, the Professional Investment Advisory Services (PIAS) offered simple investment products like unit trusts and endowment funds for risk-adverse investors, instead of complex bank products such as derivatives.

Established in 2001, PIAS is the second largest financial advisory firm in Singapore, which offers a broad range of financial and business development services which range from risk and tax planning to business income and retirement planning. For their core clientele which range from mid- to high-income earners, the company conducts regular in-house seminars. PIAS has also recently been participating in road shows to attract a wider range of investors.

Celebrity Weekend: A Gathering Of Godly Stars

Contributed by Alan Cheng

Superstars love City Harvest! Famous people love God! City Harvest Church’s celebrity weekend on 13 and 14 June proved it beyond a doubt.

Liu Geng Hong & F.I.R.

This special weekend, the congregation was treated to a mega-concert with stars like F.I.R, Will Liu (Liu Geng Hong), Milk (Niu Nai), Vanness Wu (Wu Jian Hao), actress Jacelyn Tay and other luminaries, singing, dancing and most astonishingly, telling all how they came to know God and how being a Christian has changed their lives and influenced their art.

As the service began, the atmosphere turned electric with anticipation. Popular DJ Danny Yeo was the charming host, introducing the stars as they appeared on stage to perform. Moluccas, a popular R&B trio from Indonesia, sang songs from their new album — their first worship CD. After that, it was like a Taiwan superstar show. Will Liu Geng Hong, who with his wife Vivi Wang (a former Miss Taiwan), leads a celebrity cell group in Taiwan’s New Life Church, led by Pastor Abraham Ku. This very unique cell group includes the three members of F.I.R. Liu and Wang performed a song they sang at their own wedding, while F.I.R rocked the crowd with their chart-toppers like ‘Fly Away’ and ‘Get High’. But what left a lasting impression was each of their testimonies about how coming to know the Lord has changed them on the inside.

Moluccas	Liu Geng Hong and Vivi Wang

The crowd went wild for Ocean Ou De Yang, the singer with the voice of gold who spent the first two years of his career hiding behind a cartoon face, because of his father’s disapproval. His sincerity touched the congregation.

Ocean Ou De Yang	Milk (Niu Nai)

But the screams were loudest for the baby-faced Milk (Niu Nai), who wowed the hall with his singing and dancing. Kong Hee, the senior pastor of City Harvest Church, prayed a corporate prayer over Milk, with every arm in the room stretched towards the young star.

Allan Moo and Celest Foo	Celest Foo, Danny Yeo and Genecia Luo

As the hours passed, the atmosphere grew more and more worshipful. Jacelyn Tay gave her testimony about how she, a fervent follower of another faith, had a dream about a pregnant woman and a dragon. On her first visit to church — for the sole purpose of converting the church’s pastor to her faith! — she opened the Bible in the pew and read Revelations 12. “Right there and then, I was converted,” she declared to the applause of the crowd.

Celest Foo and Genecia Luo	Jacelyn Tay

Performances by dance crew TBC and testimonies by beauty queens Wang, Celest Foo, Genecia Luo and Indonesia’s Sandra Angelia, who brought the evening to a fitting close with a beautiful worship song.

It proved to be a very special evening for the congregation, who witness that no matter how famous a person is, everyone goes through struggles and God is no respecter of persons. Even though each of the stars and each person in the audience came from completely different backgrounds, all were equally touched and called by God.

Vanness Wu PHOTOS: James Lee

Perhaps the most memorable moment of this service was when Vanness Wu, actor and former member of prominent pop-group F4 took the stage. After his song and dance, he shared about his time in F4, how it was a rollercoaster ride in his life — he had all that he could ever want, but at the same time he felt so empty inside. This hole was something only God was able to fill. Wu,with his friend Edward Huang, surprised the hall with a heartfelt, unplugged version of ‘I Give You My Heart’, which had the congregation worshiping along with them.

Churchgoers were visibly impressed and touched by the evening. “I was very inspired by all the stars and celebrities, how they can remain faithful and stand up for God even through all the pressure they are facing each day,” said Junrong Teo, 25, School of Theology Student. “It was a wonderful experience, getting to know the stars up close and personal. Learning about their struggles and how God have impacted their lives,” said Wilson Woo, 29.

Drama Review: Mark Lee Rally 2009

There is no dispute that Singapore homegrown comedian-actor Mark Lee is one of those people who have the ability to make you laugh, no matter what type of mood you may be in. That talent was evident at his stand-up comedy talkshow, Mark Lee Rally 2009, staged to celebrate his 20th year in the entertainment business.

The 40-year-old self-confessed Ah Beng had the entire audience at the Drama Centre roaring with laughter throughout his two-hour performance that was delivered in a trilingual stream of English, Mandarin and Hokkien. Though this was not highbrow theatre, it certainly was truthful and heartfelt. And yes, funny.

In his loud and forthcoming style, Lee entertained his audience with what seemed like an endless stream of taxi-driver jokes, riffing off commonly discussed quips about MM Lee, PM Lee and nationalism, among other familiar topics. Even when he was being funny, he was able to provoke thought about issues that affect the country. Of course, who didn’t love his ditty ‘Count On Me Ah Beng’ (to the tune of ‘Count On Me Singapore’)?

Lee was funniest when he was being self-deprecating even as he pretended to be defensive. He explained to the audience the difference between an “Ah Beng” and a “Lo Muah” (”gangster” in Hokkien). Lee had no qualms in being labeled an “Ah Beng”, but he drolly expressed his frustration at being referred as a “Lo Muah” throughout his years in showbiz. A Lo Muah and Ah Beng may both be lowly educated people whiling away their time at the kopitiam, but according to Lee, an Ah Beng was one level higher than a Lo Muah because an Ah Beng does not pick fights. Rather he watches other people fight, or “kuah lang sio pak”.

The Hokkien-savvy crowd lapped it up.

Actor and humorist Bernard Loh, 29, was bowled over by Lee’s wit and creativity. “He (Lee) is really sharp and spontaneous on stage,” says Loh, referring to Lee’s catlike ability to land on his feet even when he made a mistake. At one point, Lee pointed at the wrong display screen, and swiftly made a joke of it by blaming the multi-media team for not informing him of the change. “He never missed a beat.”

Another audience member Cassandra Oh, a 46-year old homemaker who is a loyal fan of Lee’s said she turned up to show her support, and was delighted to witness his success over the years.

“He has been successful because he is very real as a person and tells it as it is,” said Oh. “It is his ability to identify with the common Singaporean that helps him connect with his audience.”

It was good fun to watch the veteran comedian weave lessons from his personal life as an Ah Beng into a hilarious comedy routine. Despite this being Mark’s first stand-up performance, he used the best platform to pay tribute to his fans and to win over his critics.

Dreams Come True

On 27-28 May 2009, a total of 180 youths gathered together at City Harvest Church’s premises at 1 Jurong West St 91 for an event named Dream It On. The event aimed to give participants an opportunity to ignite dreams and passions through the performances and workshop sessions. To kick-start the event was a fun-filled session of the ‘Scissors Paper Stone’ game followed by a time of praise and worship led by Raymond Low and Nicole Lim.

Before commencing with the programs of the day, Cindy Koh, social worker and event organizer, shared about ‘dreaming it on’ and the importance of having a dream as a youth. Having a dream in life isn’t just wishful daydreaming, but about knowing one’s purpose and direction in life instead of dribbling around and cruising through life. At the end of the session, Cindy encouraged the youths to live life fully and to discover their purpose by knowing God.

There were a total of five different workshops namely Singing, Dance, Make-up, Modeling and Photography offered to the youths over a course span of two days.

Conducting the singing workshop was Aldrich Tjahjadi, one of City Harvest’s Worship leaders. The veteran taught the students the importance of the vocal cords, how to protect it and even gave advice to the youths on how to become a better singer! Perhaps we might even see some Singapore Idols emerging from this group of aspiring young talents!

At the makeup workshop, established makeup artist Cindy Ng whose track record consist of various projects such as the Miss Singapore World Charity Event, Escada fashion show, Style Weddings magazine’s Bridal Bash event and more, taught the young ‘palawans’ the authentic makeup techniques. Besides the theory behind the skill, the youths also got a chance to do some hands-on on one another!

Meanwhile at the dance workshop, impacting the grooves to the students was Theresa Yee, one of the dancer and choreographer from O school, who also bagged the Emerge Talentime 2006 Champion along with other stage accomplishments. Students who hoped to be able to take center stage in the dance platform soon found out, to their dismay that, all that would come with a hefty price; hours of body conditioning and down-right practice! While the students were looking a little flimsy at first, they managed to put it off towards the end, showing that they do have what it takes to groov-ey!

Over at the modeling workshop, Asian Conference finalists, Deborah Chan and Desmond Kwan taught the runway hopefuls the theory behind all the glitz and glamour of runway modeling. After going through all the technical aspects of modeling, the runway hopefuls must now employ what they learnt by flaunting their thing on the runway! All were hesitant at the beginning, but after walking the runway for first time, you can see almost all of the youths wanting a second shot at runway!

PHOTOS: Mikki Charis

Cherie, 19 years old O level student commented “I didn’t know that dance can look this good! In the past, I always wanted to learn more about dance but never have the finances to do so. But today, ‘Dream It On’ event has really allowed my dreams to come true”

Xin Ying, 17 years old Singapore Polytechnic student said “Through the workshop, I learnt more about singing, how to protect my voice, what food to eat and how to improve my vocal range. The workshop also helped me to become a better choir member.”

Event organizers, Lee Faji and Cindy Koh shared with us, “The idea of ‘Dream It On’ came about simply because every single young person do have dreams, be it modeling, dance, singing, make-up or photography or others, but some may not have the financial resources to pursue their dreams. Hence, ‘Dream It On’ allows the youths to have a taste of living their dreams and to hopefully one day, achieve them.”

At the end of the day, all the youths had a ball of a time at the various workshops, and were really excited and all pumped up to pursue their dreams. Indeed, dreams do come true, if you are willing to dream it on.

MJ Showtime!

The energy, the screams from excited young people, the amazing vocals — these are what make a popular celebrity concert. This very same ambience was experienced at MJ Zone welcome party on 2 May 2009 at the Singapore Expo Hall 8, Conference Room 4. “MJ Showtime” showcased both promising talents along with a guest performance by artiste Allan Moo.

Lui Ai Ming, one of the main organizers of the event, commented, “The response was so overwhelming that we literally ran out of room and had to turn people away. It’s great to see so many people helping to make the event a success.”

With a total of 22 cell groups participating in the event, this combined zone effort made up a whopping 256 attendees. Out of these, 81 were first-timers to City Harvest Church (CHC). It truly resembled a mini-concert as “disco lights” lit up the stage, and the energy level fueled by the excited young people literally went through the roof. The eager audience was not disappointed as the performances lined up for the day were filled with excitement and creativity.

The youth were up on their feet as soon as three-piece band Resound hit the stage, dancing and swaying along to their two contemporary songs. Other highlights included impressive performances by Ocean Butterfly students presenting a medley as well as original compositions. There was also a duet by MJ Zone’s very own Jiahui and Si Hui, singing a Chinese song “ 如果的事 ”. Gerald and Vanessa’s rendition of Rihanna’s hit, “Umbrella” also drew cheers from the audience. Drawing inspiration from the chorus, the duo also went on to encourage the youths to form strong friendships and relationships.

PHOTOS :Gay Sen Min

The best performance of the day belonged to none other than special guest Allan Moo. He provided a rare treat as he performed an original composition entitled “ 起初的愛 ”by his late mentor for the first time in public. Allan also encouraged and inspired the young people by sharing his own testimony on how he became a Christian as well as the personal challenges he faced as an artiste. He challenged the youth to “dare to be different” as well as to have the right motivation as they pursued their individual dreams.

Ben, a newcomer from N457, was one of the attendees that enjoyed himself tremendously. He said, “The event was very lively. It was also impactful to see so many people cheering the talented performers on. The atmosphere was really electrifying!”

Another newcomer, Junwei, from N276 said he definitely would not mind coming back to CHC again. “I enjoyed myself during the entire event especially the performance by Vanessa and Gerald. They were really good. Furthermore, the disco lightings made the event very ‘happening’,” says Junwei.

Well, it looks like “MJ Showtime” was a tremendous hit, and we look forward to the next big event and expect more surprises from the newly-inspired youth!

Next Page »