A CUPPA with Pastor Ho Wei Liang

I’m married to Nicola, and we have three daughters, Paige, Grace, and Elise.

I’m 42 years old this year. To my kids, that is horrifyingly old!

I became a Christian when I was in secondary three. It was during the December school holidays. My mother’s childhood friend, Aunt Kemmy, invited me to join her church’s youth camp. My mother, who had recently become a Christian at the time, encouraged me to go. Since I was bored out of my mind at home, I agreed.

At the camp, I was very attracted to the loving interactions and gracious conversations among the youths and adult volunteers. Everything was radically different from what I’d known. During the camp, prayers were made and answered. This opened my eyes to the reality of a present God.

Yes, I did! I remember during the final evening of the camp, everyone was expecting a big turnout with many parents of the youths coming, with a big barbecue dinner. However, it began to pour heavily around 5.00pm, and the whole sky was filled with storm clouds. We were all worried the program would be affected. At that point, one of the preachers gathered all the campers to pray, and 10 minutes later, the heavy rain suddenly stopped! We were very surprised as the rain had looked like it would continue all evening.

Well, I was very excited to embark on a new adventure with a loving and omnipresent God in my life. Right after believing, there was an indescribable joy which radiated from my innermost. God grew my faith through answered prayers, and He taught me the wisdom of His word.

Once, I remember praying for a lighter and less bulky Bible, as the only one I had, which Aunt Kemmy gave me, was a heavy bilingual Bible. The very next morning, around 6.30am, just as I alighted the bus to school, my prayer was answered! Volunteers from The Gideons International were handing out Bibles at the bus stop opposite my school. It was the first time I’d ever seen them in my three years of study there.

Aunt Kemmy was very involved in my life, and often called me to touch base with me and pray with me. She was a paid ministry staff. She encouraged me to spend time in reading the Bible and prayer.

Yes, my mother and I joined Aunt Kemmy’s church, Zion Presbyterian Church.

I was there from age 15 and continued till I was 29, when Nicola and I got married and I moved to Orchard Road Presbyterian Church. Nicola’s parents got married there. In fact, Nicola was baptised as an infant there. I was a very active member at Zion Presbyterian Church, which, by the way, is a Chinese language independent Presbyterian church and not part of the Presbyterian Synod that many of us are familiar with. For a number of years at the start of my Christian journey, I found myself attending four services every Sunday -- at 8.00am, 11.00am, 3.30pm, and 8.00pm. The first two morning services were in a preaching point of Zion; the afternoon service was at a different church whose pastor was the brother of my then-senior pastor from Zion. The night service was at yet another preaching station of Zion. I also attended Christian Education classes at a seminary on Mondays and Wednesdays, church prayer meetings on Thursdays, and fellowship meetings on Saturdays.

You can say that. But through listening to the sermons and talks, I grew in knowing the Word, and in knowing God.

I think my mother was surprised at the amount of time I spent at church, but because I could manage my studies, she didn’t have much objection.

My father is not a Christian and he was based overseas for much of my growing-up years. I had an absent father.

Having Christ in my life totally transformed my perspective. The excitement to share this newfound joy with my friends came naturally to me. I think when we love those around us, that love helps us overcome our fears, makes us open with our faith. Don’t forget we also have Christ, who is Immanuel! So there is no need to fear, and we should strive to share our faith.

I believe it was during my university days when my Zion Presbyterian pastors affirmed my calling. I think I was around 22 or 23 years old. Zion is a Chinese language church that offered translations into English. I was translating Chinese sermons into English in the pulpit for my pastors. That really grew me. I also taught in both the children’s ministry and youth ministry. As a teacher in the children’s ministry, I knew all the kids in church. One day, one of the boys, around 8 years old, suddenly walked up to me and said, “I think Gor Gor Wei Liang will become a pastor one day!”

I became a teacher with MOE. While God’s call was always on my mind, my pastor and spiritual mentor advised me to enter the workforce for a period of time after graduating from university. They felt a regular job would equip me for Christian ministry and help me understand the common challenges that many in the congregation face. While working as a teacher, God’s call became stronger. After I got married and joined Orchard Road PC where my call was affirmed and supported, I enrolled in Trinity Theological College.

I taught in a primary school in the heartlands in the north-western part of Singapor. In my 5.5 years there, my eyes were opened to a level of brokenness that I didn’t know existed in Singapore. For example, I had a student who ran away from home, and another who endured abuse in her foster homes. I had students who had no money for recess. Many had complicated home environments. In spite of their circumstances, they displayed a resilience that inspired me.

Teaching is a vocation like no other. While I entered teaching knowing I would leave it in the near future, the season still mattered. It gave me the opportunity to shape young lives – particularly in the formative years of primary school students.

This was tough, and I struggled with it for many years. The demands of teaching were never-ending, and the hours were long. I learned to truly base my identity and worth on being God’s child, and not in my performance reviews, or how others thought of me. I embraced my limitations. I learned to rest and entrust my work to God’s hands.

I believe that the call to pastoral work is fundamentally a holistic call to shepherd the entire church community, rather than minister to certain demographics, like children or youth. That said, I recognise it is still important to have focused ministries to children or youth, young adults, and even to adults and seniors. However, these generational ministries should be doors to minister to entire families.

After my theological training, there was a need for me to serve in the youth ministry at Orchard Road. I eventually also took on the missions portfolio after it was left vacant for two years. Incidentally, that also gave me the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Thailand with True Way. This was where I had one of my first interactions with True Way!

I love to eat delicious food! So, whether it is outside of work, or during work, doing ministry over food, you may find me at various food centers all over the island.

Other than good food, I love J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. I try to impress upon my kids the beauty of Tolkien’s works by making them sit with me through the movies. The Return of the King is undoubtedly my favorite in the trilogy. There are many moving scenes where friends show up for each other, and honour each other, like when Sam returned to fight Shelob even though Frodo had wronged him, or when Aragorn marched on Mordor to distract Sauron while Sam and Frodo destroyed the ring, and when Aragorn honoured his hobbit friends, even bowing to them as the King of Gondor.

I also enjoy Japanese anime! For me, it’s a close tie between Solo Leveling and Demon Slayer. If I have to choose one, I think I’d choose Demon Slayer for its thicker plot and better character development. Also, I love its portrayal of sibling love between Tanjiro and Nezuko, and its friendship themes.

My family and I have experienced the warmth and welcome of True Way since we started attending in December 2025. My children greatly enjoy their interactions with their peers, the youths, and even with adults and seniors! This is something Nicola and I are very thankful for. The effort put in to welcome and include little children – and by extension, everyone – in worship resonates deeply with me.

I think the younger generations, and by that, I mean the Gen Z and Gen Alpha, struggle with anxiety because they know a lot more about what’s going on around the world. Their access to the internet and social media has changed their world. When they grow up, they will face financial stress, a higher cost of living, and increased workplace competition.

We should be careful not to “talk down” to them, or impose our way of doing things on them. However, our older generations have wisdom and are very faithful. We must first be interested in our younger generations, to see them as God’s unique children whom God wants to mould into the likeness of His Son.

I am ok with the church knowing me thoroughly, even the difficult parts like having an absent father. I want to point our readers’ attention to this, that the Father adopted me into His family. And I experienced healing and love. I met wonderful examples and models of present, earthly fathers and healthy families, and I’m learning to become a good father and husband each day 

Kevin Chua is a lawyer and Lee Chung Horn a medical doctor.
Photos by Lee Chung Horn

Editor-in-chief Lee Chung Horn • Subeditors/writers Joyce Peh, Soh Lay Bin, Michelle Cheong, Kevin Chua, Jakin Heng, Gracia Lee, Yang Hai Kun • Photographers Ang Li Yan, William Neo, Jimmy Ang, Ronnie Koh, Erick Kencana, Jethro Fernandez, Ho Wenxuan (intern)• Design Tony Cheung, Daniel Lim. TOGETHER is produced up to three times a year. Current and previous issues of TOGETHER are available at trueway.org.sg/newsletters.