JP - Chan Kai Yau

third_8

New Member
Does anyone know how is DR CHUNG TANG FONG? I am looking for puntucal and professional; and I would like to know more about him!
 


angeldoll

New Member
hey merry,

thanks! i was reading the earlier posts and they said that he actually opened the ang bao on the spot and asked the couple for at least $100 to cover his transport..
 

edea_12

New Member
Hi Sara,
Dr Chung Tang Fong solemnize my close friend, my brother and my ROM.
happy.gif

I think he was great. Definitely was early for the ROM.
He was short simple and sweet, inject a bit of humor into it. A lot of initiative, like after the whole ceremony, organize photo taking. Haha..
Most importantly, i think he wasn't long winded! Haha, coz i didnt wanna bore the guests!
 

jawslyn

New Member
Hi edea! I engaged Dr Chung after reading your recommendation here.. care to elaborate more?
My AD is this coming Oct, previously i engaged ms Jennifer Lim last nov, but few days before her asst call me saying she'll be out of town during that period..so started to look again and finally Dr Chung is free! =) He seems friendly n prompt in his sms response although he told me he's in Beijing..
 

edea_12

New Member
Hi Jawslyn,

Like I mentioned, he was punctual.
Short and simple solemnization.
I have attended ROM, where JP start to talk about financial mgmt and another one that went on and on about the importance of marriage.Definitely what these JP said was meaningful and they all meant well. But what I wanted was a straightforward one that will not bore the guests.
So that was what I liked about Dr Chung.
And he was very prompt in reply. I engaged him quite last minute, about 1 month before my wedding. If you read the earlier thread, you will know why (of coz is because of Mr Chan)...
But he was really helpful and the whole process of changing JP went smoothly.
I think i really appreciate the fact he is easily contactable & I could just fax the form to him.
I will be very touch if I were you, knowing that he replied your msg even though he is in Beijing.

Not sure what else you want to know about him... But having seen 3 wedding solemnize by him, I think you can be assured it will be problem free. During your big day, I'm sure you have enough on your mind already than to worry about JP.
Bottom line- Nothing fanciful. Just short and sweet.
happy.gif
 

jawslyn

New Member
Thanks edea! Needed some reassurance. Hee. After the previous JP that "Pang seh" me cos she'll be out of town (i don't blame her laa), but i can't take anymore shock that they last minute cancel on me.. =)

Really thanks for your feedback =) I also like short,sweet and simple JPs.. I had a fren JP held the whole ceremony for 30mins! Hee. Can i also check how much ang bao u gave? =)
 

missy380

New Member
Dear all,
Would appreciate if you can share the contact (email & contact no) for MR Chan Kai Yu to [email protected]
I am a Dec BTB and am currently looking for a JP to solemnize my wedding. appreciate all your help! Thank you in advance.
 

just4dar

New Member
Hi, may I have Mr Chan's and Dr Chung's contacts as well? Both email and mobile would be good.

Am a Dec GTB, and am trying to look for a JP as well. Thanks in advance!
 

ting729

New Member
Hi! Does Dr Chung meet up with you before the ROM day?
happy.gif

E.g go thru the consent form and maybe run thru what to expect during ROM ceremony?
 

moodyliser

New Member
Dear BTB,
I will never recommend Mr Chan Kai Yau to any of you.
(1) He was 35 mins late for my solemnization. He didn't even apologise for his lateness. Daring enough to say we were not prepared for the ceremony. Reason: everyone is looking for him. Even myself, i was running around with my gown. My guests were stretching their necks and we have other plan after ROM. thanks to him to spoil our plan.
(2) No Sincerity or Heart to conduct ceremony. Kept chase us to finish. give the "Can't wait to leave" behavior. Com'on He just reached only. After signed, he ran off and so i had to stop him cos haven't even take photos
(3) As per ROM regulation, we just need to give a token of "transportation" for him. Thus we did give him angpow. when we were out of crowd, he came to us and ASK for Valet Parking Money. This is definitely not honestly and against the ROM regulation. It should be inclusive all in the angpow.
(4) I told him my Solemnization time is at 5.30pm, many times. His reply YES YES. When called him up to know where to meet him, he said my solemnization was 6pm and Blamed me why i changed the time. If he had so many couples to handle, be honest. We can find other JP and not to squeeze in between with other couples , which is also not so nice for other couples.
(5) Meet up, he even wrote wrongly my wedding date. Faintz~~~!
(6) No Handphone is a real headache. Cannot find where he is and get him. and his Attitude wife will answer the house call. She will reply all the nonsense thing.
His classic meetup place is at wheelock place. I never visit this place b4, can't find the classic fountain. He has no HP, how i know where he is and in case he left because we no show. So many unnecessary worries.
 

jerryteo

New Member
Please don't engage Mr Chan Kai Yau!!!!

I engaged him as my solemnizer Oct 2012 and it was a TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE!
My wife read somewhere in the forums before our solemnization that ang pows are in the range of $28 -$48.
My wife and I decided to give him $48 as a token of appreciation.
While we were in the midst of tea ceremony, the JP asked one of our helpers to ask me out..
"Mr Chan, yes?" He said "you may have forgotten to include my transportation in the ang pow".
I felt so pai seh hearing it and went back immediately to give him another ang pow of $20.
To my surprise, he asked for me again while I was still in the midst of tea ceremony..
I was thinking to myself.."what now?"
He then said "City to here is at least $60..don't tell me you don't know??".
I was shocked to hear that...but just gave him what he requested for so that we can proceed with our joyous occasion.
Many of our friends and relatives asked us why your JP keep asking you out when you are in the midst of tea ceremony??
ROM should do QC (quality control) on JP..not one who treat solemnizing as a fee based business.
WARNING: Pls do not engage him!!!!!
 

korkenarden

Member
It was not nice of him demand for more money.
But it was also not right of you to have shortchanged him in the first place.

Bear in mind that the JP might have come from his office in town especially to officiate your ROM solemnization and would need to get back to work right after.
Nowadays, $20 is only good for a one-way trip in a cab.
If CBD is involved, that's likely another $10, making $30.
Then x2 since it is a return trip.
Essentially, what they get for signing your paper is not a lot considering the time spent.

$48 is the going rate for solemnization at ROM.
$88 ONWARDS is the going rate for JPs solemnizing outside of ROM.
The difference is to cover their transport.

If everyone gave like you, very soon no JPs who would bother solemnizing outside of ROM.
 
Whatever the reason it may be, the JP's attitude must be right. If you've engaged one that treats this sideline job as another source of income, just hope he/she dont embarrass u in the presence of the guests. If you've engaged one that really bless u from the bottom of the heart, it's your luck! Not everyone can afford to give generously. Give the couple the benefit of doubt and there wont be hard feelings.
 
korkenarden, in the first place to solemnize at ROM, there is no indication that we must give a red packet to the solemizer. We only need to pay for the administrative fees. So what going rate is there for solemnizing at ROM?
And to quote the ROM site "As a gesture of goodwill and basic courtesy, you may choose to give him a token of appreciation and reimburse him for transport (the guideline for transport is between $50 and $100). " Jerry gave him a a total of $68 before the JP called him out a second time. If the taxi fare to Jerry's place is $30 per trip, this would mean that the transport is fully reimbursed , with $8 token of appreciation. And like what is indicated in the site, you MAY, not you MUST
 

korkenarden

Member
@èµµæ•:

Sure, then be prepared to bear the consequences for being cheap.

Seriously, that means you expect to give $8 for at least 1 hr of the JP's time and his/her goodwill to mail in your cert copy to ROM.
Won't be surprised if the JP tears up your cert copy after he sees how little you gave.

If that's the case, I suggest you get a service crew from MacDonald's to sign your ROM cert instead.

Trust me, it's more of an insult to your own marriage than it is to the JP.

I'm just stating the numbers to save yourself the unnecessary embarrassment.
You MAY take it or leave it. Not a MUST.
 

korkenarden

Member
@Priscilla:

Yes, I do recognize there will be couples who are more constrained financially.
So they usually go to ROM to have their papers signed.
 
Haha..I have already signed at ROM. :D
Oh and yes, it isnt that my husband and I are financially constrained. And our cert is nice and intact despite us not paying anything more than the admin fee of $24. \^_^/
Who ever said that poor souls can do the solemnization only at the ROM? ;)
 

korkenarden

Member
The ROM JP sits there all day officiating for couples back to back, 10-15mins per couple. She is a paid staff. No need to travel around Singapore.

You got away with not giving because the JP has couples in the queue and a schedule to keep. All collections need to be declared as well.

But not giving or giving too little is just bad taste, especially for a self-proclaimed princess. So it's nothing to be proud of. But I won't stop you from blowing your own trumpet.

And I only said financially constrained usually go to ROM. But I never said everyone else cannot go.
Dunno why you are suddenly so sensitive and need to declare you are not a poor soul?
 
Wow, I know korkernarden is very generous and oh-so-righteous, but unfortunately seems that korkernarden has some problems understanding english. i said "Who ever said that poor souls can do the solemnization only at the ROM?", and not "Who ever said that only poor souls can do the solemnization at the ROM?". sad case
 
Oh and yes, I, the self-proclaimed princess deeply appreciates the kind and constructive suggestion that I should get a McDonald's crew member to sign my cert, and that I should not insult my marriage. I figured that this didnt come easy for a self-proclaimed moron. :D
 

korkenarden

Member
So, let me get this straight, you are saying that:
You only paid the administrative fee at ROM and signed your cert at ROM without presenting an ang pow. (SCORE!!!)
Your solemnization held at ROM is over and you are telling others engaging a roving JP to just follow the bare minimum instructions, even though that roving JP took time to travel to their wedding venue, officiate their ROM solemnization in a meaningful way and even specially say nice words of blessing to them.

Assuming you have attended an ROM Solemnization officiated by a good roving JP, (e.g. Dr Phua) you still think giving the bare minimum is totally alright.

So it's a bit like a Toyota owner saying someone should pay the price of a Toyota car for a Lexus?

Hmm...

Anyway, very entertained that you bother spending your princess time on a moron. You took a while to realize my intentional nickname. I'm pretty sure you had as much fun as I did.
 
Korkernarden,

Just also to get things straight, in my very first post in response to yours, there was no malice in it. I was cordial and just only stated the fact that the ROM recommends that we give an AP of between $50-$100. And as you indicated to Jerry, it was not quite right for Mr. Chan to demand for more ang pow not once, but twice. Yes, $48 may have been a bit "too small" in the eyes of some, and while Mr. Chan could have requested for more (Already very distasteful to do this, especially when Jerry was in the midst of conducting the tea ceremony) to recover the supposed $60 in transport costs , there was absolutely no case in asking Jerry for more after Jerry gave him $20 more, since $68 is within the guidelines given by the ROM.

Second point: "You only paid the administrative fee at ROM and signed your cert at ROM without presenting an ang pow. (SCORE!!!) " I don't know if there was any hidden meaning behind (SCORE!!) but if you were of the opinion that I should have given an ang pow, then I'd say, just as what was indicated by you above, the ROM staff are paid to do it, and everything is done in 10-15 mins, unlike a "good" roving JP,I don't see why an ang pow is needed in the first place. To add, I am not aware of anyone who actually gave an AP to the ROM solemnizer, and there is the question of whether they are supposed to accept it, as I believe they are considered to be civil servants, unlike a JP?

And unlike comparing a Lexus vs a Toyota, where there are clear, objective criteria (e.g. horse power etc), how do you define a "good" JP? One that is very humorous, or one that gives you a long talk about managing the relationship? And how much of an ang pow do you consider "too small"? How much would you consider sufficient for a "good" JP then? $120? $200?

It's helpful that ROM provides a rough guideline on how much one may give. If a couple gives more than $100 (the maximum amt of the range), that's a bonus. But is it correct of the JP to demand an ang pow, like what Mr Chan did? Somehow that defies the spirit of voluntary public service, no?

I am just airing my views in a polite manner in tis post, just like anyone else here can, and should. But I do not expect to be flamed the way I was yesterday for no good reason.
 

korkenarden

Member
Well, not much additional meaning to "Score!!!"
I thought your celebratory emotion looked like you were gloating at people who gave ang pow lor. I just thought it wasn't quite right.

Bear in mind the roving JP is doing solemnization voluntarily and that's in addition to probably a full-time public service designation.

And precisely the point I was making. If everyone thought like that, I'm not surprised JPs will need to continue doing the ugly thing of demanding extra.

Just because people would do you a favor, doesn't mean it is a right to take advantage.
So if your friend is in public service, then is he obliged to do whatever you ask him to do for free? No right?

But you know what?
Since i offended you, i apologize.
Our fight is not useful for other forummers.

For experiences like Jerry's, suggest that complaints be lodged with ROM.
They might just revise that amount to protect their JPs.
 
Ok, seems that the air is cleared. I was not gloating at people who give ang pows. It was just that at that time I was kinda upset when u said my cert will be torn up if I gave only $8 as a token of appreciation and was trying to say "Hey, who ever said u need to give a nice ang pow to have an intact cert"...Everyone should have a nice intact cert no matter how, regardless of status, princess or pauper.

Not that I expect it to be done for free, but perhaps the benefit of doubt should be given to the couple, be it ignorance, or true financial distress.

Do agree on the point that a formal complaint should be lodged with the ROM for Jerry's case. And I am doubtful as to whether increasing the recommended rate would help in making the JPs less likely to demand more. Perhaps it may be easier if the rate could be fixed by the ROM, at say $80 or $100. Then everything is determined upfront
 

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