2008

Channel News Asia report on the eviction of our Church (3/21/2008)

Church members locked out of premises over tenancy confusion

By Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 21 March 2008 2139 hrs

Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church

Church members locked out of premises over tenancy confusion

SINGAPORE: While many were commemorating Good Friday, a group of church goers were shocked to find themselves locked out of their place of worship.

Members of the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church at River Valley Road had found out on Wednesday that the locks at the premises had been changed.

The next day, contractors removed items from the church, they claimed.

Kelvin Lee, honorary secretary of the church, said: "We had to move within an evening, literally, hundreds of icons, books, religious objects to disperse them among the homes of members of our congregation. We need to bring all these together. All our services have been interrupted."

"They have entered the Holy of Holies. They have removed the relics and the holy cup of Christ. That is enough to be considered vandalism for us. Spiritual vandalism," said church member Christos Giakoumatos.

The church said it received a letter last year to move out by 1 March. But it also said it had a tenancy agreement up to next year.

To make matters worse, no one is sure who the real landlord is at the moment.

Channel NewsAsia contacted the person whom the church believes to be the real landlord but that person said he had "sold the building years ago".

To complicate matters, a Japanese woman living above the church claimed most of her belongings were also taken away by the movers.

Allan Chan, a lawyer from C.H.Chan & Co, said: "The first thing we will do is, do a title search and find out who is the real landlord and for my client, she is now wearing the clothing of her friend. She wasn't allowed to bring anything from her residence, no passport, no bankbook, no jewellery."

The church has about 50 to 60 regular members, made up mostly of Greeks, Russians and local Singaporeans.

For now, they are looking at alternative places to hold their services.

Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Good Friday on 25 April this year, and will hold many services leading up to that day. - CNA/ir

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Church-goers locked out over lease dispute

THE STRAITS TIMES

By Yeo Ghim Lay, March 22, 2008

WHILE other Christians were observing Holy Week, the members of a Greek Orthodox church in River Valley Road found themselves locked out of their own place of worship.

The parishioners of Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church first found the locks changed on Wednesday; and then, on Thursday, found movers carting away their things.

'We saved some things like church relics, but they took away the rest, including the pews and the holy table from our altar which only the priest could touch,' said Mr Seraphim Lim, 34, the church committee's president.

A Japanese expatriate who lives on the third floor said her things were taken too.

Things got worse yesterday, when the man they claimed was their landlord and to whom they paid rent, denied that he was.

The congregation of about 50 Greeks, Russians and Singaporeans has been renting the first floor of the three-storey shophouse from one 'Cheng Fong Company' for $2,000 a month since 2001.

The rent is paid to company director Han Ong Guan.

But Mr Han told The Straits Times that the building was sold 'years ago', and then sold again a few months ago.

He claimed he 'does not know' who the most recent buyer was, but said he collected the rent on the owner's behalf. He also said he had nothing to do with the eviction.

At the root of Holy Resurrection's problems seems to be a typographical error on its lease.

The church showed ST the tenancy agreement, which says it has the unit for 36 months from February 2006. But the stated dates that follow put the expiry date as Jan 31 this year.

And in October last year, Mr Kelvin Lee, the honorary secretary of the church committee, said he got a letter telling them to move by March 1. But he claimed the landlord said it was okay to stay.

Lawyers that ST contacted, including Mr Rakesh Vasu, felt the error on the lease was 'very clear' since the contract explicitly states that the lease runs for 36 months. So evicting the parishioners would have been in breach of the agreement.

For now, the church's services are suspended while it looks for an alternative venue. The parishioners will not miss Easter tomorrow, though, because the Greek orthodox Christians go by a different calendar and celebrate it late next month.

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Church-goers locked out over lease dispute

THE EARTH TIMES

DPA, March 22, 2008

Singapore - Members of a Greek Orthodox Church found themselves locked out of their place of worship in Singapore while other Christians were observing Holy Week leading to Easter, news reports said on Saturday. The congregation of the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church numbering 50 Greeks, Russians and Singaporeans found the locks to their place of worship changed on Wednesday and movers carting away items.

"We saved some things like church relics, but they took away the rest, including the pews and the holy table from our altar, which only the priest could touch," The Straits Times quoted Seraphim Lim, the church committee's president, as saying.

The parishioners have been renting the first floor of a three- story shop building from the Cheng Fong Company for 2,000 Singapore dollars (1,459 US dollars) a month since 2001.

Han Ong Guan, whom the church-goers claimed was their landlord and to whom they paid rent, denied they had been paying him and told the newspaper the building was sold years ago, and was then sold again a few months ago.

A typographical error on the lease appears to be at the root of the problem, the report said.

The tenancy agreement said the church had the unit for 36 months from February 2006, but the stated dates that follow put the expiry as January 31 this year.

Lawyer Rakeh Vesu said the error on the lease was "very clear" since the contract explicitly says the lease runs for 36 months, the report said.

The church's services have been suspended while the congregation looks for another meeting place.

However, the parishioners will not miss Easter Sunday services because Orthodox Christians go by a different church calender than other Christian denominations and celebrate the holiday April 27.

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Videos / Photographs of Recently Evicted Church

BEFORE

AFTER

Relics still missing a year after church evicted

Church suing ex-landlord for unlawful eviction and loss of property valued at $27,000

By Yen Feng, The Straits Times | Posted: February 9, 2009 Monday

The church, evicted last March, is still looking for a suitable home. Services are now held in a school where its parish priest, Father Daniel (right), teaches. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

SACRED religous ornaments belonging to the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Christian Church of Singapore remain mysteriously missing a year after the congregation was evicted from its premises.

The religious group, widely known for its worship of holy icons and traditional practices, is suing its former landlord for the loss of the property and breach of contract.

In court documents filed last year, the church claimed that its landlord 'changed the lock on the front door', 'wrongfully entered' the church and removed its property before the lease ended.

The items said to have gone missing include holy objects such as crosses, altar tables and baptism fonts. A large screen, known as an iconostasis, used to separated the altar from the parishioners, was also nowhere to be found.

The estimated cost of these objects, including some furniture, is $27,000.

Both parties will appear in the Subordinate Courts in May, at which time Cheng Fong Company will defend the suit for unlawfully evicting the church from its River Valley home last March, a year before the tenancy was up.

The contract shown to The Straits Times states the term of the lease was 36 months.

Company director Han Ong Guan, a used-car dealer, has denied any involvement with the eviction. He also denied any knowledge of the removal of the church's property. He said he does not know where the items are now.

By filing a civil suit against the company, the church hopes the court will agree that the 2006 tenancy agreement was in fact a lease for a period of three years, not two.

It also hopes that the case will shed some light on the identity of the person who put the locks on the church doors last year.

Almost a year after the eviction, the 70 or so parishioners of the church remain 'homeless'. For 11 months, they have sought shelter in a classroom at a school near Holland Village, ACS (International), where the church's archimandrite, or senior priest, is a teacher.

The Holy Resurrection Orthodox Christian Church was set up in 2001, and serves a fellowship of Greeks, Russians and Singaporeans.

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