Tabitha Tay Affidavit

Tabitha Tay’s affidavit is essentially self-explanatory and details the systematic child abuse that she personally witnessed within The Westminster Tradition over a protracted period of time.

Different cultures have different approaches to the raising of children; different governments have different expectations of parents; different law courts have different criteria for what constitutes child abuse. But those who here make such serious accusations grew up in a similar cultural context (Malaysia/Singapore) to Elijah Chacko and aren’t voicing mere cultural prejudices. Forcibly submerging children’s heads in buckets of water is unjustifiable – whether culturally or by God’s holy Word. There are several factors that make Elijah’s behaviour even more abusive:

1. As the ‘presiding pastor’ of The Westminster Tradition, Elijah exercises a spiritual role. It is legitimate for a preacher to reprove and rebuke, but not to slap, kick and choke those entrusted to him. Child discipline is the responsibility of parents and not spiritual leaders. Every Bible passage which makes reference to the discipline of children does so in the context of parents. Peter, chief amongst the Apostles, was charged by his resurrected Lord to ‘feed My lambs’ (John 21:15), not to beat them.

2. Elijah has kept his maltreatment of children hidden from many of their parents. The contents of Jeshaiah Lim’s affidavit are likely to be a surprise to many within The Westminster Tradition. Some of the missionary pastors may have been unaware of Elijah Chacko’s use of water-torture to punish the young children, much less their ‘unspiritual’ parents.

3. Elijah supports his behaviour by teaching that children need to have the evil spirits driven out of them. The Bible speaks about the ‘rod of correction’ driving foolishness far from a child (Prov 22:15), but this has nothing to do with exorcism. Though Jesus touched many who were physically diseased, we nowhere read of Him making physical contact with those possessed with demons. Elijah’s abuse is the more terrible because after beating or torturing young children, he instills into them the belief that they are unclean and inhabited by evil spirits.

Elijah Chacko would do well to remember Jesus words in Matt 18:6-7, Mark 9:42 and Luke 17:2.

‘But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea (Matt 18:6).’

AFFIDAVIT OF TABITHA TAY

I, Tabitha Tay Geng Sang (S6805939I) a Singapore citizen, residing in [redacted] Singapore [redacted]. I am 51 years old this year.

This is my testimony concerning the abuse I witnessed under Elijah Thomas Chacko and in his organisation The Westminster Tradition.

1. During the period from 2003 to 2007, I was working in Block 173 Yishun Avenue 7 – a residential high rise flat/apartment block in Singapore as a matron cum helper to Elijah Thomas Chacko.
2. I was also paid by other members of The Westminster Tradition to take care of their children. These members resided in the same or nearby blocks.
3. I worked on rotating shifts with Magdalene Lau a fellow matron cum helper. Magdalene and I were given instructions to use the cane both as a deterrent and punishment on the children if they refused to obey the instructions given by the adults.
4. Eating slowly was a sufficient cause for the children to be physically disciplined.
5. I’ve personally witnessed Elijah use the cane and belt to beat up the children.
6. Toddlers as young as two years old were held upside down by their feet and slapped. Elijah Thomas Chacko claimed that children needed to be disciplined because they had evil stubborn spirits. He claimed the way to rid them of their evil spirits was through physical discipline.
7. All the children were terrified of Elijah Thomas Chacko so we frequently used the mention of his name to subdue the children when they were disobedient.
8. I have also personally witnessed Elijah pushing the heads of the children into buckets of water as punishment for the children eating slowly.
9. Another method of punishment Elijah Thomas practiced was using the water hose to spray water on the children’s faces.
10. The children were also severely punished if they did not pray or participate in spiritual activities.
11. Children as young as two to four years old were locked in rooms and kept in the dark for long periods when they misbehaved. The punishment only ended when they stopped crying. Many times they urinated due to fear or slept when exhausted from crying. In the end, the children were subdued and obeyed Elijah because they feared to be punished again.
12. One occasion I vividly remember was when a young girl called Kezia Yeoh was forced to eat her own vomit when she had not liked the food.
13. This was the kind of physical discipline practiced by Elijah Thomas Chacko. The leaders and matrons were instructed to do likewise.
14. During these periods, I was taught by Elijah Thomas Chacko that physical discipline is necessary to get rid of evil spirits and good for the children’s spiritual growth so I obeyed his instruction without question.
15. I was also taught that he is the man of God and there is a spiritual side to everything. Therefore I did not argue or resist as I was fearful that if I did not obey him, I would suffer divine judgments.

I hereby state that the information above is true, to the best of my knowledge. I also confirm that the information here is both accurate and complete, and relevant information has not been omitted.

Tabitha Tay Geng Sang (15th April 2019)