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.