National Kidney Foundation Singapore scandal
This sparked significant controversy, causing a massive backlash and fallout of donors to the charity; it then subsequently resulted in the resignation of chief executive officer T.T Durai and its board of directors.
Allegations surrounding the scandal included the false declarations on how long NKF's reserves could last, its number of patients, installation of a golden tap in Durai's private office suite, his salary, use of company cars and first-class air travel.
Former NKF patron Tan Choo Leng, wife of Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, sparked further outrage when she remarked that T.T Durai's pay of "S$600,000 a year is peanuts".
A full independent audit on its finances was conducted by KPMG, and a 442-page report released on 19 December 2005 revealed a host of malpractices by the former NKF board and management.
In August 1997 and December 1998, NKF volunteer Archie Ong and aero-modelling instructor Piragasam Singaravelu respectively were hauled to court separately for defamation when both said that T.T.
"[3] In 1999, NKF tracked down and again sought legal action against Tan Kiat Noi, who allegedly circulated an e-mail from her company e-mail on 5 April, claiming that "the NKF did not help the poor and needy, paid its staff unrealistically high bonuses"[4] and discouraged members of the public from donating.
She later also published a public apology on local broadsheets The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao, while paying a total of S$50,000 in damages.
[5] Forty-eight additional workers who forwarded the message were also sued by the organisation, but the suit was later dropped in consideration that they would face possibly extenuating financial circumstances.
[7] In 2001, the National Council of Social Service refused to renew the NKF's "Institution of Public Character" (IPC) status (which allows it to collect tax-free donations), citing that subsidy figures had been inflated, staff costs had increased by 30% and a "disproportionate" amount of money was spent on fundraising.
NKF shortly issued a letter of demand for an apology, retraction, and payment of damages from the paper's publisher, Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), within 24 hours.
Four days after the article's publication, NKF and Durai served a writ on Long and SPH for defamation, demanding S$3.24 million in damages.
[10] They claimed that the six paragraphs in the article insinuated the mismanagement of donors' funds, that the installations were scaled down only due to the contractor's protests, and that it had avoided providing further details on that matter.
SPH's lawyer, Davinder Singh, said during the trial that the NKF had been telling Singaporeans that its reserves would not last more than three years, according to statements made by its officials.
He argued that if the NKF stopped all fundraising activities and concentrated on treating kidney patients, it would still have enough money to see through its operations for 30 years, based on its expenses scheduled for 2003.
In June 2005, the NKF had told The Straits Times that it needed about S$2,600 per month to support each of its 2,000 patients, a total of S$62.4 million per year.
Singh argued that the NKF had overstated its patient numbers, and this would have given the impression to the public that more funds were needed to run its operations.
A letter written to The Straits Times in April 2004 by Gerard Chuah, the chairman of its Children's Medical Fund board, had claimed that the NKF had 3,000 patients.
The truth, Singh said, was that Durai had agreed to the lower pay in exchange for freedom to earn extra income outside the NKF.
The NKF, including chairman Richard Yong, had maintained that senior executives flew business class for long-haul flights.
It was also revealed that Durai had a business relationship with Matilda Chua, a one-time employee of the NKF, who left to start her own company.
The focus of the scandal turned to the revelation of Durai's S$600,000 pay, which caused widespread feelings of outrage, anger, and betrayal among the general public.
[12] Following questions about Durai's pay, Tan Choo Leng, wife of Senior Minister (SM) Goh Chok Tong and patron of the NKF, defended Durai, commenting that "for a person who runs a big million-dollar charitable organisation, with a few hundred million in reserves, S$600,000 a year is peanuts",[13][14] much to the indignation of Singaporeans.
[citation needed] Jokes on the issue were later circulated, in particular, local satirical website TalkingCock.com published a post featuring a parody 1 peanut bill with a value equivalent to S$600,000.
[13] On 14 July 2005, after a meeting with Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, TT Durai and the NKF board resigned en masse.
[23] However, the decision by the other defendants to continue will have implications to other equally liable directors and third parties (Alwyn Lim, Lawrence Chia, Kweh Soon Han and Chow Kok Fong).
", thus demanding greater transparency from the Government Investment Corporation (GIC), the Housing Development Board (HDB) and the CPF.
Eunice Tay turned over the reins to her then-chief operating officer Edmund Kwok in 2013, after steering the NKF into calmer seas.
[27] Phua Chu Kang The Movie featured the main antagonist Lim Lau Pek, owner of an old folk's home, who uses the majority of phone-in donations on lavish personal expenditure.
