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Lawrence Khong, the senior pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church (FCBC) known for his support towards keeping Section 377A criminalising sex between men, said in a recent interview with a local family magazine website that he is “not just against homosexuality”.
“As a Christian, I am against any form of sexual immorality – whether it’s pre-marital or extra-marital, whether it’s heterosexual or homosexual,” he told Family and Life.
“Objecting to it doesn’t mean that I go around condemning this behaviour,” he added. “I have friends who are divorced or have slept around, but we still hang out even though I don’t agree with their lifestyles.”
He stressed that he has worked with homosexuals and “never had any problems accepting them”, as he would evaluate them based on their competence.
“My main concern is making this particular sexual behaviour a societal norm, where marriages are redefined,” the 62-year-old pastor, whose megachurch released a guide on how to support Section 377A of the Penal Code last February, explained.
He believes that children should be raised by a father and a mother for them to understand the “concepts of masculinity and feminity”. However, he laments that Singapore has become “a society where anything goes and where the traditional family model of a father and a mother is breaking up.”
Apart from the topic on homosexuality, Khong had also shed light on his personal life.
In the same interview, Khong spoke about how he had met his wife of 36 years, senior pastor Nina Khong, while studying at National Junior College, where he was also the classmate of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
The father of four, who is also a magician, shared how he had regretted not being there for his children during their adolescent years. At that time, he was busy with frequent work travels and was not able to engage with them, especially with eldest daughter Priscilla Khong, who performs magic with him.
“(Priscilla) formed her own set of values during adolescence based on her interactions with her friends. I’ve come to realised that, at that age, friends are more important than family. Of course, as you know, she became a single mother.”
He noted, “This whole episode of her being a single mother and me accepting it has demonstrated to her that I love her even though I might disagree with the choice she made.”
