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.