After nearly a year of renovations, most of Suntec City is ready to face the world again.
CN PHOTOS: Daniel Poh & Michael Chan.
September 12 marked a new milestone for Suntec City with the opening of Phase 1 of its convention and exhibition centre. At the soft launch of the new Suntec City last Thursday, guest-of-Honor, Mr S Iswaran—Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Trade and Industry—graced the event and took a tour around the newly renovated mall.
Hosted by Mr Arun Madhok, chief executive officer of Suntec Singapore, the tour included a visit to City Harvest Church’s latest worship location at level 6, four exhibition halls on level 4, as well as 36 meeting rooms on level 3. One of the highlights of the tour was “The Big Picture”, a three-storey high definition digital wall that overlooks the external facade of Suntec Convention Centre.
“The Big Picture” welcomes CHC members to church every weekend with a splash of pictures of the church family on the LED display. CHC returned to Suntec Singapore for its worship services on the weekend of July 6 and 7 this year after a nine-month wait.
The modernization program, which began in August 2012 and cost S$184 million, saw the church returning to a completely revamped Suntec City. Asked how he feels about the move back, executive pastor of CHC, Aries Zulkarnain said, “I’m very happy and it’s not just me who feels this way. The entire church is celebrating together with Suntec. At the end of the day, I believe all our members will benefit from being here.”
On the retail front, members can now look forward to exploring exciting retail and dining experience after church services. The restaurants around the Fountain of Wealth reopen with an array of new dining concepts featuring both Asian and international cuisine.
With newly created retail spaces at Suntec Singapore, the completed Phase 1 of Suntec City now offers approximately 100 retail outlets and 50 food and beverage restaurants. Key fashion tenants include Uniqlo’s largest outlet in Singapore, H&M’s first outlet in the Marina Bay Precinct and UK fashion brand Lowry’s Farm. One highly anticipated opening has been that of supermarket Giant—apparently Singapore’s first green hypermarket—which opened this week.
Reflecting on the past two months since the church returned home to Suntec Singapore, Zulkarnain said, “I’m very grateful to the members for their giving and for their support. The love that the members have given us is exceptional, and it’s a driving force for all. We are working very hard to ensure that all the little details that have not been sorted out will be completed soon.”
Since 2005, it has been a mission of the church to build a church in the marketplace, for the marketplace, to serve the marketplace. Zulkarnain added, “This is the vision that God has given to us as a church and God has fulfilled this vision for us. Now that we are settling back in Suntec, let’s not lose the purpose that we are called to. This is itself not an easy feat but God has fulfilled His vision. So let us not be discouraged and continue to unite together and grow City Harvest for His glory.”
