Former Methodist Bishop Rev Yap Kim Hao passed away on 16 Nov 2017 at age of 88. Born in Port Dickson to a Hakka family in 1929, he has a fighting hakka spirit that made him a giant during the transition from colonial Christianity in the 60s to head the Methodist Church in Malaysia/Singapore as Bishop from 1968 to 1973, the liberal ecumenical movement of the Christian Conference of Asia 1973 to 1985. His compatriot, Anglican Bishop Chiu Ban It died in 2016. They went their separate ways in 1973.

When he retired from the Methodist Conference in Singapore in 1994, he was then effectively demoted to the role of an assistant pastor to a church that has changed from a bastion of western liberal colonial christianity to the evangelical and charismatic movement of the 70s and 80s. Christianity had changed as Singapore increasingly became the Antioch to Asia to preach the redeeming Gospel of Salvation. Rev Yap became a reminder of a prophetic voice of liberal social justice of the past.  Continue reading →