After all, said the 47-year-old founder of the charitable hospital, Yeung was - in substance - an employee and was in charge of managing Mandala, a shop selling Buddhist artefacts.

Even if the money had gone straight from Ren Ci to Yeung, that would have been fine by Ming Yi as Yeung had contributed to the hospital as well.

Ming Yi said this on the third day on the stand when he was questioned by his lawyer Senior Counsel Andre Yeap on the $50,000 loan that is at the heart of the current trial.

The prosecution has alleged that it was not proper for Ming Yi to have approved the loan in 2004, from Ren Ci to Yeung, as the 34-year-old Australian citizen had no employment pass at the time.

The prosecution alleged that Ming Yi and Yeung tried to cover up this by categorising the sum as a loan to Mandala.

He told the court that on May 17, 2004, Yeung approached him saying that he needed money urgently to pay for his house in Hong Kong but his housing loan had not been approved.

'That was the first time that Raymond has opened his mouth to ask for a loan. He has contributed tremendously to Mandala since he came to Singapore in 2001... so I agreed to it,' said Ming Yi.

He said he was not aware at the time whether Mandala had enough cash for a loan, and that Yeung as the manager, would be in a better position to know.