New government guidelines reveal that while religious organisations can make use of commercial premises for their activities, these must be done within limits.
Over the years, it has been common for Christian groups to use venues like hotel function rooms and convention centres for their activities on weekends.
However, with new guidelines set, no more than 20,000 sq m of a commercial complex’s gross floor area (GFA), or 20 per cent of GFA, whichever is lower may be used for religious purposes. In addition, such activities may not be held for more than two days a week.
Religious organisations are also limited to using 10,000 sq m, equivalent to about one and a half football fields. This serves to ensure that no particular commercial complex is dominated by a religious organisation.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports(MCYS) explained in a joint statement that they were willing to be more flexible with commercial premises like hotels, auditoriums, function halls, convention halls and cinemas. This is as long as the locations are used in a “limited, non-exclusive way” by religious groups that hold large gatherings and on condition that the events do not cause noise, traffic or parking problems.
Other guidelines state that there should be no use of religious symbols or signage, and the interiors should not be furnished to resemble a worship hall when not used by the religious group. These rules are meant to ensure the secular nature of the venues.
These guidelines will take effect immediately and apply to all religions. All religious organisations using commercial space will need to register with the URA.
Most churches received the new land use rules with relief as most are not at risk of violation. The URA discussed the guidelines on Monday with representatives of the larger megachurches including 33,000-strong City Harvest Church, 20,000-strong New Creation Church and 10,000-strong Faith Community Baptist Church. Their landlords, Singapore Expo and Suntec Singapore were also included in the discussion.
On City Harvest Church’s controversial S$310 million investment to become a co-owner of Suntec Singapore and hold services in the 12,000-seat auditorium there, the URA states that it does not regulate property ownership.
“However, the actual use of the premises must adhere to the planning and land use zoning intentions regardless of the ownership. The contractual agreement between City Harvest and Suntec City is a private matter between two parties,” a URA spokesman told The Straits Times.
While Senior Pastor Lawrence Khong of Faith Community Baptist Church felt such explicit guidelines could be restrictive and preferred to leave it to the market to “self-regulate”, others like Nicholas Mak, a real estate lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, agreed with the new guidelines.
“Rather than let religious organisations slowly take over commercial spaces and make other users feel uncomfortable, the guidelines ensure that members of the public of all religions can use the premises,” he said.
