nkf, please explain

why do you need to have a reserve of 3 or 6 or 10 or 20 years. please explain your rationale to the donors. please also explain why profit making hospital can charge $180 per dialysis while nkf's cost is $162. forget about the old nkf's figure of $200. that everyone knows why.

when must charities be closely watched?

when should we be concerned or start to worry? when a charity or organisation tells us that it is ok not to disclose their financial data or reveal what they are doing. or when an organisation says transparency is not necessary. or when an organisation says they are managed professionally, so trust them. or when they say they cannot find suitable people or qualified people to join them. or when they say they cannot find any volunteers. or when they say they have powerful patrons. or when they say it will take time for them to produce the data. or when they say the data are unavailable. or when they say it is on a need to know basis. or when they refuse to let in new members into the organisation. it was reported in the straits times today and i quote, 'ms maureen sung of asian women's welfare association thought it would be tough to find donors who are also experts on charity work. "we can't just pull anyone to be a board member. whether the person donates money is irrelevant." " what is needed is not people who are expert in charity work. there are enough experts in the organisation doing charity works. but people who can be the watchdog, to keep a check on these organisations. to make sure there is not going to be another case like nkf. you do not need someone to be an expert in charity to be in a charitable organisation. you need an honest and decent man to watch out for wrong doings. and when an organisation finds all sorts of excuses not to bring in independent people, the more it is necessary to bring in independent people.

nkf: where is the moral leadership?

so far only khaw boon wan has spoken and condemned many of the misdeeds, to the extent of calling people dishonest and indecent. his seems to be a voice in the wilderness. a lone voice amidst many other voices that actually praised the wrongdoers or glorified some of the acts. with conflicting views of eminent people being articulated, the public could be confused. what is right or acceptable? some wrongs seem to be not so wrong and some rights are not so right. khaw boon wan's position cannot be seen as the only right position when opposing positions are not denounced and allowed to continue to stand. for the public to know what is the official position, more must be said to endorse what is deemed the proper and correct way. this is sorely lacking for the time being. maybe many are not saying anything to prevent influencing the court as the case is still pending. but politicians must have a way to say things in a political manner without having to corner the court's thinking or decision when the case is heard. what does the country stand for? what is morally right and acceptable must be stated clearly. these cannot be compromised. the people needs moral leadership and guidance. what they are getting is a loud silence. where is the moral leadership when it is needed in a time like this?

noordin sopiee, the passing of a malaysian intellectual

malaysia, your time is near. probably the best brain in malaysia, had to pass away at a very young age of 61. it is a great pity and a great loss to malaysia. who else is there to carry on the intellectual flag? when the good and brilliant depart prematurely, is it a sign that all the greatness there is to be will not be there anymore?

sick people in the air

a forumer complained about the sick joke of a 'ghost' that frightened a newsreader in the straits times today. it was a very stupid thing to do as a joke. it takes a team of very sick people to choreograph it and air it as something they should be proud of, a great achievement. fortunately the poor girl did not die of shock. or she might end up in a mental hospital. you can never understand different individual's treshold for fear and pain. it just shows how dangerous when immature people are put in charge. this is another version of trying to compare annabel as a national hero.

when zen is not zen

i have a lot of admiration for sim wong hoo and his combative spirit to fight with apple. this is real talent. i would not want to mention anything that would be not complimentary to him or his products. but for him to get it right and fight a winning battle he must know where he went wrong. his zen is anything but zen. and apple's ipod is anything but zen. it is what zen is all about. quiet simplicity and elegance. nothing gaudy or confusing or distracting. that is the beauty in zen. the spirit of zen is in the ipod. being beautiful without trying. it is so unassumingly dignified. its design and colour is so quiet while the creative zen's design is just too noisy for zen.

sia: mm taking charge

is this a good sign or bad sign? from the positive angle, mm is still hands on, still active and committed and full of energy to take on a difficult task. from another angle, i am getting worried. are we saying that no one is capable to handle the sia unions except mm? what next if he is not around? what happens to all the highly paid super talents? it is a worrying sign.

goodbye malaysia. see you in year 600 ad.

the last few bill changes in malaysia and the right of the state to own the body of a dead man instead of the family are the signs of where malaysia is heading. i think they will find it more to their liking if they can transport the peninsula to the middle east and rewind the time to the time of the prophet.

independent schools: cocky frog in the well

many parents still think that they can buy quality education. and if their child did not do too well in psle, they can buy a place in a better independent school. and the administrators in independent schools also think so. this parent applied for one. and the independent school agreed to accept his daughter on condition that he pays the full school fees in advance. 4 years of school fees in advance is only $22,000. so cheap. but this parent found it ridiculous and rejected the offer. one week later the school called again renewing the offer. the parent asked how come still got vacancies. answer, someone just rejected and a place is available and he is given 24 hours to accept. the parent is not so stupid. he knew that not all parents are suckers and will fork out $22,000 in advance. but this independent school administrators probably still believes that there are many desperate parents or suckers around. and this independent school is not even top notched, just a so so secondary school. sure there will be a few rich and desperate parents who have all the money to splurge, and going to an expensive school is good enough. how many more suckers are out there?

nkf: 38c not good enough

the new nkf clarified that 38c of donations will go to the patients. is this good enough? obviously not. the donors donate their money to treat the patients, not for nkf to put into a kitty as a savings. like someone said, god's money will never be finished. it will keep on flowing. this charity money comes from the hearts of the people is like god's money. it is given with no strings attached. it will pour when the real need asks for it. now the real need is being questioned. all the figures given by nkf, new and old, are being questioned. the new nkf must come clean and give the donors a complete and accurate picture and discard the mindset and myths of the old nkf. the numbers given by a cheong wing lee in the today paper forum contributes to more doubts about the financials of the nkf. he claimed that he is a renal patient and is receiving private dialysis treatment at $180 per treatment. and the treatment centre is a profit making organisation. if a profit making centre can charge $180 per treatment and makes money, how can the old nkf claimed that its treatment cost is $200 and the new nkf is $162, when both are supposed to be non profit making? if nkf is not efficient and has to live with such a high operating cost then something is fundamentally wrong. yes, they better farm out their treatment operations to the private profit making centres.

nkf: forgive and forget

a forumer, carol chua siew gek, wrote to straits times asking the people to forgive durai as he is human after all. (i hope people will not take this as an admission of guilt.) and he had done a lot of good in transforming nkf into what it is today. personally, forgiving a wrongdoer is acceptable, especially for such a great talent. what i think durai should do is to make a public apology to the people, especially the donors and those kidney patients whom he had turned away. and then pay back whatever ill gotten money he took from nkf. he can then be reemployed by one of the glcs to raise fund or make money for the country. he can also sell his memoir and produce a film on his adventure in nkf. that will bring him a lot of money from royalties. he could also go on a world tour to give public lectures on motivation and creativity. and the govt can showcase to the world that we are a very forgiving nation and we really value talents, including fallen talents. and he can be the poster boy for the yellow ribbon project. the forgiveness shall also extend to all the board directors and excos and all the employees who received extra ordinary pay and bonuses. but they must also make a refund to nkf for money not rightfully theirs. and apologise as well. we must also engage chia teck leng as the senior consultant for our two casinos. pin on him a yellow ribbon as well.

corporate governance: transparency not necessary

this is the view of a writer in today paper, chong lee ming. his view is that good government, ie honest, trustworthy, incorruptible govt, will bring about good governance. i am wondering what is he trying to say behind this argument. does he have a different agenda? but one question which he did not address and could not appreciate, how to know whether a govt is good, honest, trustworthy and incorruptible without transparency? just like nkf, without transparency, you will never know. and by the time you know the truth, it is too late. transparency is the key to good and honest governance. or at least it is one of the keys to it. without transparency, everything is in the dark. you can't see anything in the dark.

education: mixing wine with vinegar

the moe is under pressure to respond to the public's whinning about 'problem' gep kids. i just hope our politicians do not behave the same way as their counterparts in the north, playing to the gallery and compromise on why certain programmes and policies were put in place. the gifted programme is introducted for a specific purpose, not to hold back but expedite the progress of a small group of highly gifted children. there are pros and cons, but generally it is a practical solution to a practical problem. these are very different individuals and they are expected to be different. the problems that are being harped, that they have lost touched with realities and the less fortunate is true. but how to overcome them is another matter. i hear immersion loudly. mix them with the less gifted and all will be well. try mixing wine with vinegar and see the result. the objective is laudable. but the result may be undesirable. mix the good students with drug addicts and see what you get. the same kind of thinking appeared in the ypap forum where one forumer suggested that because students of different races do not mix well in schools, so there must be enforced mixing for them to understand each other. this kind of thinking is so superficial. it is like putting as child in a room full of books and he will learn and be more scholastic. can serious people please look at issues seriously and apply some serious thoughts before implementing changes? a person who wants to learn, just point it out and he will learn. a person who refuses to learn or unable to learn, will not learn even if you shaft it into their mouth. people are all different. some are gifted academically. some in sports and arts. all are talents. but the gifted must mixed with the less fortunate to understand them better? what rubbish. so we put the less academically endowed together with the bookworms for them to appreciate and understand the bookworms better? or like the forumer who posted racist remarks and forced him to work with other races to learn to be nicer to them. it could work. it could become worst as his hatred could be intensified. imagine some of the protected children enlisted for national service and dumped together with a platoon of pai kia or drug addicts and ended up like them. how to answer to the parents? understanding another group does not demand immersion or physical togetherness. it is what education is all about. what good will it do to force einstein to play ball with the punks in the street? their life missions are different. they have different roles and responsibilities to play.

opposition talk

heard this in the kopitiam. the slogan for opposition parties. 'we will donate 50% of our pm and ministers' salaries to charity if we are elected to parliament.'

searching for singapore's soul

this was a heading in an article on edwin thumboo's search for singapore's soul in the today paper. my immediate reaction is that we have sold our souls to the god of money. our new soul is money and nothing else. just look at the comments on durai. nothing personal. many are still praising him for his brilliance in raising so much money for nkf. for the sake of money, the issues of morality and ethics are no longer important. many people in high positions even vouched that they respected him for what he had done. do you have any soul? oops, i mean do you have any money?

spp's mission statement

1) Give all Sinaporean Education at least College Degree (Lower Diploma) 2) Let their parent had more time with family ( Family Love) 3) Society need to help them when they are in trouble (Social Care) 4) Family Financial has no problem (career and business) above are 4 points posted by a spp member(darkbrightside) at the ypap forum. i would not call this their mission statement as it is just a forum statement. but it did indicates the direction the party is thinking or looking at. if i were to be in their position i will be looking at the following: 1. reduce the cost of essential services. 2. reduce the cost of jtc factories and offices. 3. reduce the cost of hdb shops and lease properties. 4. reduce the cost of education esp in colleges, universities and independent schools. 5. reduce the pay of ministers, public sectors and glcs by 10-50% for those earning above $15k per month. 6. introduce a citizens first policies. good foreign talents are still welcome. 7. review the cpf policies of withholding the withdrawal of cpf savings. allow full withdrawal at 55 years but retain $10k -$15k to purchase an annuity policy to provide an allowance after the age of 65 for 10 years. the above are just preliminary thoughts and need to be modified with actual data.

icpas' position on the role of auditors

what icpas said is very simple. their job is to give a view as to whether the accounts are done according to whatever system. and if they said, after the audit, they believed that the accounts were done in a proper manner, any discovery of fraud or misrepresentation later is not their problem. they are not accountable even after expressing their opinion that it is ok when it is not ok. can all companies send me their accounts for audit. i charge only half price.

i am going to give singapore a new year gift

khoo swee chiow has given singapore a christmas gift, another guinness world record. i also intend to give one record to singapore. i will spend one month inside my hdb flat. i think nobody has done that since hdb flats only exist in singapore. so it must be a new record. but if other people have stayed longer inside a cubicle, i will increase the number of days by one week to beat the record. all i need now is a sponsor who will give me $1 million. singapore's name will be carved in the guinness book of world record again. i think this is the next easiest way of getting some money other than organising a charity show.

sgx must shame errant brokers

this is reported by a goh eng yeow in the straits times today. the sin of the remisier is to key in big orders that he had no intention to fill but to withdraw minutes later. and goh eng yeow wants sgx to name the culprit. would sgx be fair and shame all the big funds and brokers who executed similar fake entries and other misdeeds to mislead or create a false market? or would the stick be applicable to the small boys? he also said the practice is rampant as he was a dealer himself. would he like to tell the public what he knew, without prejudice and tell on what his broking house did? would he also reveal to the public whether he wrote this article on his own initiative?

nkf, 3 years reserve more than enough

nkf is not a financial institution. it is not there to raise fund to keep in the kitty. the funds are to be used for the patients it is supposed to help. 3 years of reserve is more than sufficient. the public are generous and will donate whenever there is a need. with such a fat reserve, for the time being nkf shall only raise enough to cover operating expenses. and nkf shall not have wild ambition to build another 2 or 10 hospitals and tell the public it needs more money. it shall operate the charity within its means. now i can understand why everyone is trying to build more and bigger charities. if that is the case, all the hospitals shall be taken over by the charities and let the charities run all the medical services. they can even run all the public services...and ask the public to donate for it.

how to rob an organisation lawfully

just a couple of years back they appointed this guy to be the chairman of the new york stock exchange. america is a country that works under the rule of law. so we can expect everyone to work within the legal framework. but these people at the board have their own ideas. new york stock exchange is a public company, bo cheng hu. they are the main trustees and can do what they want with the money in the exchange. so how to dip into the coffer and share the loot? and to do it legally? they appointed a chairman and approved to pay him us$200 million a year or about s$360 million. simply put, s$30 million a month of s$1 million a day for 360 days a year. who in his right mind would think or accept such nonsense? probably the board and the ceo agreed to share $30 million each from the payout, at the expense of the sleeping shareholders. fortunately in america the rule of law is operated to the last word, and the us$200 million must be approved by an agm. and the shareholders voted against it and booted out the chairman before they pay him all the money the board wanted to pay him. and the board is working within the law, all legitimate. there is no corruption!

nkf board and exco were misled!

there is an article by adrian tan(in today paper) taking the line that nkf board and exco could have been misled. that they did not have the full picture when approving all the extravagance. this is not too farfetched from another view that the board and exco were mesmerised by a charismatic ceo. how silly! are the board and exco all boy scouts and girl guides? these are top notched people who have rose to the top of their profession, with a whole life of working experience and professional trainings. would they be like school girls looking gaga at their idol, the ceo? or were they all sleeping at board meetings, not knowing what was happening? let's wake up and face the hard realities. the whole thing would not have gone that far without the acquiescence of the board and exco. and please do not claim that they were volunteers and shall not be held responsible for fraud and neglect of fiduciary duties. no volunteer shall walk away free if they are part and parcel of a fraud. anyone who does not have the time or dedication to serve must not accept such an important appointment. it is simply irresponsible. are singaporeans really that stupid to even think of such reasonings as possible and real?

why paying for honesty does not work

an honest man does not need to be paid to be honest. some may think that an honest man is a stupid man. but he believes in what is honestly his and will not take anything that does not belong to him. paying more does not make any difference to him. and there is no need to reward his honesty as it is already there. pay him his fair wage. by paying more and thinking that a dishonest man will become honest is a fallacy. such logic presumes that everyone is dishonest, or may be greedy. pay him enough and he will refrain from becoming his evil self. in the recent case it is proven that a dishonest man will always be honest. or is it that they have not paid him enough? then what is enough? very likely enough will never be enough. the other issue is how much to pay for job worth? many in mega organisations think that they must be paid proportional to the value of their decision and responibility that come with a big job. up to a point. other wise the president of usa must be paid the most. then there is paying for the value of the person instead of the job. how much is this man worth? what is his market value? can he get a similar paying job elsewhere? there are many factors that are used in the computation of a job. special skills, connections, risk, risk of life or job. not risk of making multi million dollar decision. that is already paid in the value of the job. and if one makes a wrong million dollar decision, one gets fired. there are qualification and experience etc. but no one pays for honesty. that is expected. so are integrity, being responsible, dedication, doing a good job. all these are expected from the employee. and if he is dishonest then he will go to jail. imagine what it would be like if an organisation got to pay for all these factors.

how to unwind 15 years of reckless policies of grandeur?

the coe prices are crashing down. so are the prices of cars. but these come with a price. people and businesses will be hurt. we are seeing the new buyers happily buying new cars. the people who have paid for expensive cars of yesteryears are bleeding. the secondhand car dealers are bleeding. fortunately the pain in this industry is not so severe as there are some residue values for scrap cars. also people are used to the 10 year lease. the more serious areas will be housing and high pay. housing is one area that is a huge problem that can never be unwind without hurting all the house and flat owners. the bigger the investment cost, the greater will be the lost. and the problem of negative assets will be massive. the inability to unwind the high cost of properties will also mean that high wages cannot be unwind as hdb flats are priced to affordability. then there are the high cost of essential services and hospitalisation. without unwinding the high wages, our workers are going to be uncompetitive. and the political cost is also going to be very high. cutting wages is going to cost a lot of votes. without cutting wages, we are suffocating ourselves to death, slowly. money and businesses will gravitate to where value can be found. we will price ourselves out of businesses in shopping, office space, manufacturing etc if we think that we are of great value when reality speaks otherwise. then there is the slow cooking of the stock exchange, dying without knowing. a neighbourhood roti shop selling 100 brands of roti to 100 customers has thoughtlessly and rapidly been transformed into one selling 100 local rotis, 100 foreign rotis, 100 muffins and 100 tarts to the same 100 customers. actually 30 customers left, as the other 70 either died or faded away. and they are still going to bring in another busload of rotten rotis from malaysia. this would only turn all the local rotis and foreign rotis into mould. and the muffins and tarts will be left to dry on the shelves. and the beauty of it all is that they did not know why the roti shop is dying a slow death. why there are no customers? they even formed committees to try to revive the roti shop, trying to be creative and innovative to stimulate more businesses. on the other hand they are strangling it with their own hands. anyone who studied econ 101 will tell you that with supply increasing by 3 or 4 folds but with demand dwindling, the system will collapse on its own. a small neighbourhood roti shop must not pretend to be the 5th avenue of new york or bond street of london. the year is coming to a close. can we see light at the end of the tunnel? or are we spiralling deeper into darkness? the leader is shouting that there is light everywhere. but the followers are only seeing dark clouds. perhaps the followers are all blind.

santa claus is an unfair old man

i have lived a very clean life, no drinking, no smoking, no gambling, no cheating, no telling lies, and work very hard every day of the week. i earned every cent with my blood and sweat. all honest money. i look at my stocking this morning and found it empty. where is my bungalow and mercedes and my million dollar bank account? where is merry christmas? where is santa claus? he dropped his presents to the wrong house again. merry christmas to those who did not receive any present from santa claus. smile and sleep well.

how to improve corporate governance? back to basics

the nkf fiasco has been an enlightening lesson to everyone. all the myths were destroyed in one stroke. all the big names, rich, professional, highly paid...people are just people. we need a few good men. and good men are not measured by all these. corporate governance must be revisited from the basics. we not only need independent directors who are really independent. we need people who step forward to serve to really serve and have the time to serve. we need responsibility and accountability. people who accept the appointments better have the time to do a good job and not be on holiday all the time. and telling people that they are volunteers is not an acceptable excuse. if they are not prepared to commit the time and dedication, they must not accept the job. it is highly irresponsible to do so. the job comes with a lot of prestige for the ego, some even pay big directorship fees, honour, and recognition. it also comes with a heavy responsibility. and everyone must be held accountable for negligence, mismanagement or fraud under their watch. there is no excuse and no escape from taking the rap. and the authorities must get this message through. no tea party in public service or as directors of commercial organisations. the rest of good corporate governance like regulations and procedures, training, corporate authorisation, checks and balances, legislation, duties of watchdogs etc will only be useful if there is a heavy hand on accountability. otherwise, for some cheap thrill of recognition and fame, and worst still, for director fees, people will just grab as many directorships as possible with no concern of whether they can contribute or have the time to contribute to the good governance of the organisation. lets hope that the party is over and people get down to serious business.

nkf annual income $108.7 million

the straits times published that nkf had an income of $108.7 million last year. and yesterday it was reported that it raised $75 mil in 2004. there is thus an additional income of $33.7 mil. earlier in several discussions in the media it was reported that nkf's annual expenses was $19.6 mil and was receiving a pledged donation of $20.4 mil. and it was asking the govt for a grant of $4 mil. all these prompted a public to write in the straits times forum that there is an additional income of $7.8 mil from interest not taken into account. and nkf has announced that it is going on a fund raising campaign again. and it gave the same reasons that it needs to build more reserves. all the figures published gave a very distorted picture of the financial health of nkf. how much does it cost to run nkf, how much is its income and reserves? is it running on a surplus or a deficit? any journalist think it is his or her duty to do a proper investigation and report to the public on the true picture? the public needs to be well informed before they start pouring money into nkf again, new or old. it will be preferable for the new nkf to lay bare its financial status and start from a clean slate of transparency. all the figures are creating more doubts and it is no good to the new nkf.

chicken...egg...chicken

can the management of a company shortlist and select their own board of directors. then the directors approved everything that the management wants. pay the ceo and whoever anyhow, pay employees 3 or 4 increments in a year, suka suka pay bonuses, any amount to anyone, approved management expenses, even all charges to corporate credit cards to a tune more than their monthly pays? and ceo said everything is approved by board of directors. and no one is at fault and nothing can be recovered? ceo is free, board of directors just walked away. nothing can be done. no crimes, no intent to deceive or cheat. just bad management decision by very able professionals?

corporate governance: a christmas wish

companies appointed people to their board of directors for various reasons. public listed companies have to as provided by the companies act. given a choice, companies would want to appoint all their fathers, mothers, grandpas and grandmas and uncles and aunties as directors. better to pay themselves than outsiders. some people were invited to join the board as a reward, some for the connections they can bring along, some to lend credibility and prestige, some to curry favours, and some to share expertise. no one is invited as a watchdog. no watchdog is welcome in the board of directors. whoever try to be a smart alec and want to be a watchdog will soon be shown the door. how then can the system caters for this important function when it is a non starter in the first place? my christmas wish is for the mas to make it compulsory for public listed companies to appoint 2 to 3 directors from an independent approved institution. preferably this institution be the sias which represented several hundred thousand investors. they have a genuine and vested interest to want to make sure that public listed companies are managed in a way that do not compromise the interests of public shareholders. sias can then work out their own procedures to provide a list of qualified directors for public listed companies. and one of the main role of these directors, in fact the most important role, is to be watchdog. of course the companies will not be too happy with this. but if corporate governance is to work, this is it. the companies can still appoint all the other directors they want. but the independent directors must sit in the audit and remuneration committees to keep an eye on things. their tenure of directorship will be decided by the independent institution ie sias. not the management. as for private companies or vwos, they can also tap their directors from this same institution or from another govt appointed institution. perhaps ncss could be tasked to perform the same function as sias. then we will have a really independent watchdog body of independent directors to ensure things are done in a more transparent way. not that this is the cure all formula. but it will help in many ways. the current procedure is flawed as independent directors are not independent.

i had a wonderful dream

i dreamt that i was the head of a big charity organisation. and me and my senior executives were flown to a little island retreat to scheme our plans for the future of the organisation. we were all told to make ambitious plans. the bigger the better. and we decided to build 5 big hospitals, bigger than the govt hospitals, located north, south, east, west and centre. and the objective is to help people with all kinds of major illnesses. no need to worry about money. there are plenty of opms. other people's money. and with such a big mission, we will have the support from everyone. helping people in trouble will always be supported by the people and even the authorities. we worked out that we will need $2.5 billion. estimate $500 mil for each hospital. operating cost can come later. now we know how much to raise for the next 15 years, projected to build one hospital every 3 years. wow, we will be kept busy for the next 15 years and more as we will need to raise more money for the operating cost. when we retire we will all leave a legacy behind us. 5 big hospitals. our names will be carved in gold, or on gold plated boards hanging everywhere. they might even name the hospitals after the top executives. and we earn all these, good names, and a handsome income, all from public money. create jobs and recognition for ourselves. and that is only the small part of the goodies. imagine how many people will be grateful to us? the patients and their families and the public. and those whom we pay them very well with public money to make them beholden to us for life. and of course they better know how to take care of us with the money we throw at them. at the end to the day i woke up in cold sweat.

nkf: concern and respect for public money

one of the major sore points in the nkf saga is the reckless disregard of public money. money was splashed and splurged everywhere, given to people excessively as if they fell from the sky. it gave the impression that all the donation money is there for people to spend anyhow they like. ah kong's money. no need to account for it. no one seems to appreciate that a lot of these monies are skimmed from the savings and little incomes of uncles and aunties and the pocket monies of school boys and girls. a dollar at a time. the old nkf is unforgiveable for the way they squandered away the money. if the new nkf does not make any effort to recover these monies, would it give the same impression that they are treating all these public donations lightly? lost, carelessly given away, cheated, stolen, misappropriated, all does not matter. never mind. it is public money. not enough, just ask some more. if this is the attitude, then people will think twice to surrender their monies voluntarily to the charity. the people responsible must show that they will handle the money with care, that they will guard them carefully and account for every cent they have. and if taken away by wrongful means, it is their duty to tenaciously fight to recover them. i think the public would want to see this happening. so far it seems that what was taken illegitimately was seen as water under the bridge. forget them, go and ask the public for more money. that is much easier to do. this lackadaisical attitude will not go down well with the donors and the general public.

honesty cannot be bought

honesty could be part upbringing, part inborn. as a young officer, earning $2-3k salary, it may be presumed that the temptation to take advantage for a few dollars would be highest. nobody taught me what to do when i submitted my transport claims. i either underclaimed or round down the cents to the lower dollar unit. and this was the first instruction i gave to my son on his first day to work. better to underclaim that over claimed by a few cents. as a young officer, i was in a position that did a lot of entertainment and meetings with clients. often there would be the little gifts from appreciative clients. what should i do with them? my secretary told me standard procedure was to submit a list of all gifts received to the head of administration. i was as innocent as a school boy and did exactly as told. to my pleasant surprise they were all returned to me for keeps. they were not expensive stuff. my next surprise was to overheard that the head of administration was shock at my submission. because nobody ever done that, not even my predecessor. the bigger surprise and shock came several months later. my innocence had offended many people. for it had made them looked bad. and i was bad. these are stories of a young salaried employee who would be grateful for every dollar saved. who would imagine people who are worth millions and with monthly paychecks in excess of $20k, to stoop to claim what was not deserving? the conventional wisdom is that once a person has enough, gone pass the stage of wants, they are expected to be honest. how wrong this assumption is in reality. maybe that's the reason why i am as poor as a church mouse.

maybe singapore should thank durai

without nkf, there will be no respect for corporate governance. it will still be a form rather than substance concept. without nkf, all the hypocriscies will not be exposed. without nkf, there will be no revamp of checks and balance procedures. without nkf, singaporeans will still be as gullible as children. without nkf, many people will still be gaga over efficient, professional and highly qualified people and people with big names. without nkf, all the wolves in sheepskin will still be walking with their heads in the clouds. without nkf, people will still believe paying high salary will ensure honesty. without nkf, many people will still be sleeping. complacency. without nkf, the party will still go on. we must thank durai and nkf for the shake up and for making singapore a better place. there is this saying that your enemy is your best teacher. i am not saying that durai is anyone's enemy. it may be his karma to contribute to society in this way. on first impression there is a lot of harm. but the aftermath is a lot of good.

what nkf says

1. corporate governance is a serious thing and must be seriously implemented with truly independent directors. the directors must be appointed by an independent body. not internally like i know you, he knows yo, so i appoint you. 2. highly trained and capable professionals are not necessarily good men. 3. paying crazy sums of money does not ensure honesty. or maybe nkf did not pay enough. no one knows what is the price to pay enough. 4. big names are equally flawed as human beings. 5. people who appear to be decent and honest may not be so. 6. no one or organisation must be allowed to run away from responsibility and accountability. anyone or organisation appointed to hold office or tasked to do a job must do the job or be held accountable. 7. no one or organisations can be trusted. 8. transparency is fundamental to accountability. 9. a big house cleaning is needed in all public organisations.

nkf: immediate things to do

the first thing that nkf should do is to claim back all erroneous payments due to miscalculations or wrong decisions. these should include leave computations, overtime claims, payment for weekends and overtime during overseas trips, and payments for claims that were not supported or approved. and also unauthorised payment to staff. these are legitimate claims that nkf can demand from its staff. if they do not know how, i will volunteer my service for free. never mind if people laugh and say only fools work for free and good talents must be paid well.

nkf: one good man and one good woman

kpmg has more or less put all the blame on one man, t t durai, for his imperious way in running nkf. is that so? are the exco and board of directors all men or fools? look at the hands in the kitty! was there a big birthday party? for the innocents, it is unfair for their reputations to be ruined by the guilty. what you need is one good man to turn off the music. sadly he was not around. the one good man came in the gold tap contractor, plus one good woman, susan long.

the nkf affair

i hear silence.......................................... all the insignificant people in the street, stop whining. my wife took out her little saving and count, one dollar, two dollars, three dollars....to make one phone call to the nkf. they splurged and squandered in hundreds of thousands, and millions away. so sinful. so wasteful, so painful.

god is kind

god has let a rotten apple to fall and let all the worms to crawl out for all to see. it is his way of letting man know in advance, an early warning, that things are getting bad. that the whole apple tree is rotten and more rotten apples are going to drop. and if nothing is done, the whole apple tree will also rot to death. amen.

i have one complain against kpmg

they forgot to classify their report PG! the report is like a tsunami that swept through the pathetic and laidback populace. some may die of shock reading it. many are still caught by the first wave and not reacting. but the report has drawn out responses from shock, resignation, disbelief, so what, to anger, disgust, and people demanding justice and blood. it is an issue that is not going away. no one in his right mind will say let's move on. if not properly handled to soothe the anger on the street, the repercussion can be very grave. but as i read the papers and hear the news, i started to feel sick. comments from learned people in the legal professions said there is no case against durai, or hard to make a case against him. the reasons, difficult to prove wrongdoings, no evidence of criminal breach of trust, no evidence to prove misappropriation of monies, corruption or cheating, no criminal intent in the form of dishonesty, no intent to deceive, it was just an overzealous attempt to raise more funds for charity. and better, everything was approved by the board and the exco. and it was on record that he wanted less but the board wanted to give him more. the main point from the legal profession is that it is hard to prove beyond reasonable doubt to show criminal intent and motivation by greed. and the best statement came from durai's lawyer. "the ceo was a qualified lawyer with limited accounting knowledge." and "he claimed he was not familiar with accounting standards or their application and relied on the head of department for finance and nkf vice chairman, alywn lim - a qualified accountant - and honorary treasurer loo say san, a former banker." there you see, there is really no case against durai. and if there is, he is fully covered by the board of directors and the exco. and in accounting and finance matters, he is ignorant of such matters and the finance people shall be held responsible. durai is innocent beyond reasonable doubt, and anyone thinking of suing him will get no where. durai is a free man.

nkf board of directors

"As for the Board(nkf board) itself, the report noted that since its incorporation in 2001, it only saw two departures and the directors were never replaced. Out of 21 members in the former board, only eight attended the foundation's annual general meetings, and all of them sat on the Executive Committee. Effectively, that meant the former Board was further concentrated in the hands of five directors, of whom four were given executive powers. According to the report, the Audit Committee was ineffective because it hardly met regularly. From June 2002 to January 2005, there was only one informal meeting in 2004 to discuss the revival of the Audit Committee. " the above were quoted in the channelnewsasia website. members of the board must be very busy people and have very little time to meet. is this a result of them being in too many boards and wearing too many hats because there are not enough talents to spread around? and that these directors have to sacrifice themselves, overworked and would willingly give up their board representations if there are talented people to replace them? i feel very sorry for them. so busy, not enough time to attend board meetings, no time for family, no time to enjoy their money, and probably will work themselves to death. it is not a good thing to be a talent in this country. so much sacrifices. and now worrying if they will be sued for negligence. even if they are not sued, people will have the impression that they are neglecting their duties. not sure if they still collect director's fees. is there anything wrong with corporate governance in the country?

i volunteer to work for nkf for free

on one condition. i am allowed to charge up to $30k a month into my corporate credit card. ok, ok, i am generous, just $20k will do.

the singapore brand now kenna fuck

nkf is a hallmark of the singapore brand. a stamp of quality, efficiency, good management practices, good and honest people, professional management, incorruptibility when well paid, accountability, transparency, and good international accounting systems, no cronism....good practice to have people wearing several hats to share experience and expertise.... all now kenna fuck. how this affair has damaged a reputation that we have built all these years, as a model nation with model people and systems is yet to tell. but the damage is pervasive. what we believe as truths have suddenly become myths. how will this destroy our reputation in the world stage? will we still be a model system for the aspiring developing countries? or will people shun us or have doubts about what we do and what we preach?

a murderer on the loose

how far has the world degenerated on its values about life, about right and wrong, that a murderer can go an tv and said he will do it again, without remorse or any feeling of guilt? and world leaders, human rights movement, the media, the religious godly people, all listened as if it was a chat about wine drinking. more than 30,000 iraqis killed. more than 2,300 american boys killed. and bush said he made the decision based on wrong intelligence. and that he was responsible for it. and that's it. period. no guilt, no remorse, no regrets, no shame, no blood in his hand, no resignation, and no one to take him to the international court of justice to charge him for crimes against humanity. only a person who is totally empty cannot know that he has taken so many lives. and george bush himself could not comprehend that. more than 30,000 lives for his stupid mistake. the japanese stock exchange chief resigned because of a glitch in his trading system. and he has nothing to do with it except being the head of the stock exchange. this is taking charge and assuming personal responsibility. can bush understand what he had done and what is responsibility for killing so many people? can he sleep peacefully at night without thinking about the mothers who have lost their sons, and all those who have lost their love ones? what is this world coming to?

what is the nkf all about?

gerard ee asked this question. and he answered himself. it is about patients and to serve them. how far wrong could he be. who would now believe that the old nkf is about patients and serving them? this is probably the least important item in the old nkf. and the real answer of what nkf is all about can be sum up by gerard's next answer. 'we got distracted.' how could a high profile organisation under the spotlight and staffed with eminent people of all professional hue, and highly regarded, full of integrity, and wealthy, be distracted? and how can such a thing happened in highly proficient, efficient and morally upright in all aspects, singapore? in all my years as a human resource professional, i have never seen such malpractices in human resource compensation and benefits. you don't pay overtime to an executive staff. and never to a senior management staff even when he is overseas working through weekend and holidays. you don't let anyone carry forward annual leave of more than one year, and definitely not 2 or 3 years of annual leave, and encashed at the current salary rate. and how can there be no human resource policies and procedures? what is the point of having a board of directors and executive committee? the impression coming out from the kpmg report is that nkf was a professional fund raising organisation and all its activities centred on fund raising. the patients were only a prop to the primary mission of fund raising. everything was geared just to raise fund and fundraisers would be highly rewarded accordingly. i would have accepted them as what they are, and pay them handsomely, if they are honest enough to call themselves professional fundraisers. but to call themselves a charity and abuses the name of charity is unacceptable.

if you want to have a good cry...

go and get a copy of today's new paper and read the plight of 3 beautiful and bright brother and sisters. there are all in primary one. age 9, 11 and 12. they could not afford to go to school when their father's business failed. and even lived on the road side when dad could not pay for rental. but they stuck to it, mother and children, with their father. the children were understanding enough not to blame their father though they were very envious of other children going to school. their mum too bear with them though she became very depressed. what a story to make you cry, in modern and prosperous singapore. i held the paper in my hands with tears flowing freely.

sun tzu's ultimate strategy

military strategists and generals talked about how to fight and win a war. sun tzu on the other hand advocated winning a war without fighting. that is his ultimate strategy. a strategy which involves positioning, preparation, posturing and strengthening a nation up to a point where the enemy knew that he will lose if he starts a war. try applying this to the art of looking after the welfare of a population. a successful nation is one that has its citizens well fed, well housed and well looked after. it is a state when all citizens have jobs, have proper accommodations and fully able to take care of their own needs. a nation would have failed if it has to provide all kinds of aid and assistance to help its citizens. it is a big failure if the govt keeps telling the people we have this scheme and that scheme to help you. we should not be bragging about all the assistance plans made available. it is a sure sign of things gone wrong. it is a sign that people are in trouble and need help. it is anything but a bad sign that things are not well. when the people are well taken care off, there is no need for aids and financial assistance. though it is not possible to completely wipe out poverty and people in trouble, the very fact that we need to put into place all kinds of assistance plans is not something to be proud off. just like bringing up children. if they need to come back to papa for money and help, then papa has failed. what is the use of papa being a millionaire with a fat bank account and can finance all the handicap children who cannot fend for themselves? should papa keep encouraging his children to come back when they are broke and be grateful that papa has the dole to feed them on a piecemeal basis?

nkf's report card out today

many wait in anticipation of a big storm. or would it be a storm in a tea cup? there are two groups looking at this saga. on one side are the supporters of a well run organisation that can raise millions easily. professionalism at work. on the other corner are those who want accountability and the need for propriety in the handling of public money. an article in saturday's today paper on 'looking beyond the gold tap' by a heng cheong leong or leong heng cheong, attempted to describe how effective, efficient and forward looking the old nkf management was. the 21 dialysis centres, a dedicated fund raising team, dedicated professionals and dedicated ceo. but he also raised the comment by peter drucker that charity organisations will not be judged by their results but by their intention. there is another issue about charity. our national ethos is not in favour of charity. do not expect charity. there is no free lunch. and for that we expect all the professionals to be paid their professional dues. they cannot be shortchanged for their dedication and expertise. the funny thing is that the whole organisation is built on charity, people's charity. free money, just ask and people give. how much is necessary is not an issue. how much to spend on the sick is not an issue. there are free money to be asked. is there any contradiction? what eventually happened to the nkf saga is not about charity or about how much good work were done. with that kind of money, many things can be done. and could more be done if the money is properly managed? that is another issue. what is now the key issue is whether there is misappropriation of fund, misplaced trust and the people's feeling of unease that there may be fraud. hopefully we will know the truth this afternoon. and hopefully the people will not be shortchanged in wanting to know the truth. the damage could be far more serious if the people perceived that things are amissed in the report. then it will no longer be the credibility of the nkf at stake, but the credibility of a nation will be put to doubt.

women and cedaw

the women are waving the cedaw card, convention for the elimination of discrimination against women. hey guys, how about cedam? other countries i am not too sure. but we need cedam in singapore. we need both. there are cases of discrimination against women. there are also discriminations against men, especially in our antiquated laws. and then national service is one big discrimination. not that i am for women to serve national service. but the guys need to be treated more fairly while doing a service to the nation. i hope cedaw is not calling for the closing down of crazy horse. it is a place where women are discriminated. they performed and the men watched and clapped and whistled. and they are naked while the men are fully clothed. now is that discrimination? the men paid for the women to do things to make them happy, do things at their callings. but some may say the women in crazy horse are showing how well perfected they are as a specimen. they are proudly exhibiting what nature has done for them, beautiful, feminine, charming and exciting. can't imagine men performing the same kind of show without dressing like women. what do women want? you ogle at them they give you the bitchy look. you ignore them and they get angry. they do not want to be ogled and also do not want to be left on the shelf. they dressed up to be seen but not to be seen. some dressed up to the nines but put a black sack over them. women, to be adored and loved, and to be pissed off.

mahathir and his political truth

Things Mahathir did not say .... when he was in power "The country should have a strong government but not too strong. A 90% majority is too strong. We need an opposition to remind us if we are making mistakes. When you are not opposed you think everything you do is right." "The Internet must be used extensively so that an alternative media would be available to publish and expose lies, be downloaded and distributed." "Although I am already 80-years old, I am not senile." (reproduced from littlespeck.com) when one is in power, one says and believes in a different set of rules that suits that position and situation. when one is out of power, a different set of rules apply. which is the better truth? it all depends on where one is. but i like the part that he said, 'when you are not opposed you think everything you do is right.' this will be a perpetual truth and will be repeated over and over again until one is thrown out of power. only then will one realise that all along one has been making mistakes but peddled as good decisions.

why are people so unhappy with khoo swee chiow?

if i were khoo swee chiow, and if there are people or organisations with money but do not know what to do, and are willing to give me for my little frills, i will take it. why should people blame him for his feat? he just sold his ideas and people bought it happily to the tune of $150,000. i will say well done swee chiow. never mind whether what you are doing is worthy or nonsensical. it is not your fault. next time tell them you will attempt to live inside a mpv for one month. i am sure the car manufacturers will eagerly queue up for the advertisement and pay you handsomely. and you might get the mpv for free as well. for commercial enterprises, they always have budgets for marketing. what i am concern with is people managing public fund. for public organisations or ipcs, they better be careful when they throw money away like sponsoring this kind of acts. i am still not sure whether the sponsorship money goes to any charity or just for swee chiow's little fun.