Some may know me as a property developer, but I am really a servant of the most high God whom I know through my Lord Jesus Christ. Property development is for me, just a way of making a living. Before I came to faith in God, I had always wanted to know Him, perhaps in an intellectual way. I did not realise that knowing God involved a relationship. So I searched, as there was something missing in me.
In 2000, I attended the Alpha Course to find out more about Christianity, and that was where I got to know Jesus. Coming to faith was a struggle until one of my friends in the Alpha Course told me, “Believe so that you may understand and not understand so that you may believe.” I dwelled on that and I believed. I knew then that life only had meaning in God and through God.
As I read the Bible, to me, the most stirring, piercing statement that Jesus made is in John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life.” This life is not just about the after-life, but our earthly one. When we come to see Jesus and accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, our life begins anew. We have a new life and we are renewed as people. It is for me also a journey of transformation.
Fourteen years into this journey, I have learned much from Jesus. Let me make reference to this wonderful truth in Matthew 6:20-24:
These are stirring words. I am in business and business is about money. But money and possessions can possess us. How then do I serve God as a business person? The way to do this is to realise that I am a steward; God has entrusted money to me to be managed responsibly. At the end of the day, we take nothing with us. As a steward, I do not, therefore, have to contend with building treasures on earth, where moth and rust do destroy. As a businessman, I also have to guard against covetousness. If you have much, you will worry because you do not know what can happen; markets can go awry, property and stocks and share prices can change suddenly. So you see the wisdom of Jesus telling us to store our treasures in heaven.
In this world, we trade in the currency of money. But the currency in the kingdom of God is love. How do we make that conversion from the currency of money to that of love? Jesus will teach us how. Guided by Jesus’ teaching, I tell my people in the organisation that we want to do good business and do good in business. This is my call to them. My values in life and business are informed by my Christian faith, but we welcome and certainly include those from other faiths. We hope that our message of love can truly find a place in their hearts.
I count myself so blessed to have had this journey of transformation. I know this transformation must always start with oneself in Christ; the old self must die with the Lord and be resurrected as new. I have aspirations to serve God and share His message of truth. It now behoves me to be a light for my family and my organisation.
What is the difference between the time that I did not know Christ and now? Situations are the same, in a sense; there continues to be turmoil in the world. We continue to be faced with problems and are vulnerable to temptations. What has changed is that there is only one certainty now: my certainty of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ – without whom life would have no meaning.
Edited excerpts reproduced with permission from Diocesan Digest,
Issue No 262 – November 2014. ©The Diocese of Singapore.
Philip is the Chief Executive Officer of Far East Organization, a family-owned property development and investment group operating in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. As a Christian enterprise, Far East Organization seeks to be a community of love and a workplace of grace that welcomes Christians and non-Christians alike to work joyfully together, operating the business on the solid foundation of values and rock of Jesus Christ. Philip and his wife, Vy-vyen, have six children and worship at the Church of The Holy Cross.
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