Main sponsor of Crossover Project testifies that Xtron’s main mission was saving souls and not making profits.
CN PHOTO: Daniel Poh
Spiritually, they are the same. Physically, they are different.
That was how Wahju Hanafi described City Harvest Church and production company Xtron in court this afternoon. Hanafi had been asked by deputy public prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng about the relationship between the church and the company, and he explained that while CHC has the “vision”, Xtron was the “business arm” to finance the Crossover Project.
Hanafi took the stand again this afternoon, continuing from last Friday when the prosecution’s questioning began.
The Indonesian businessman said in court that the Crossover Project was a church mission rather than Sun Ho’s singing career. Hanafi and his wife were named in CHC’s annual general meeting minutes, dated April 2003, as sponsors of the Crossover Project. He said that they were prepared to make annual contributions of about a million dollars or more each year towards the Crossover mission. As it was a mission, said Hanafi, he did not look towards making profit for Xtron, but towards winning souls.
The afternoon’s line of questioning by DPP Tan also revolved around the identifying the main persons in charge of making major decisions regarding the Crossover Project. Hanafi replied that these were Kong Hee and Tan Ye Peng, while the other four defendants were only responsible for the financial aspects.
As Xtron director and the Crossover’s main sponsor until he officially stepped down from Xtron in 2008, Hanafi was not concerned that Xtron suffered losses because of the Crossover Project. Furthermore it was immaterial to him, as he had given the money as a form of giving unto God. He said that any profits Xtron made would have been used for the next mission or donated to temples in Singapore and orphanages in China. When DPP Tan commented that he was more of a donor than an investor in the Crossover Project, Hanafi again likened his giving to Xtron as giving to God.
In the re-examination of CHC trustee Susan Ong earlier that afternoon, DPP Ong asked if she would have been surprised to know that in 2007 and 2008, Xtron had suffered losses of S$2.4 million and S$9 million respectively. This was in relation to Ong’s confidence in Xtron’s quality as a company, which she testified to in the morning.
Ong replied that she did not base her confidence on the figures alone but in the overall potential of the company, its pending contracts and the government’s plan to turn Singapore into a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) hub which would create a wealth of business opportunities. She said Xtron was perfectly positioned to take on such business.
Court resumes tomorrow at 9.30 am.
