Aren't charities supposed to be non-profit organizations?

I know I am supposed to be on hiatus now but KMPG's audit findings on NKF managed to stir up such strong emotions in me that I feel that I will be doing an injustice to my readers and myself if I were to take no actions (passive reading).

Therefore I am going to write about my personal feelings after reading The Straits Time's extensive coverage/summary of KMPG's major findings.

You see, I was a donor myself. I contributed financially to NKF and even helped in the process of raising funds (through NKF donation cards) because I believed that the funds raised will go meaningfully towards helping Kidney Patients. But today I learnt that only 10cents out of every dollar donated goes towards helping the patients.

I also learnt that a substantial amount of funds raised went towards the salary packages of the previous top management team - towards the luxury cars they drove, their first class air tickets, their $70,000 Las Vegas "study" trip amongst other things.

But most importantly of all, I learnt that they have blatantly deceived the whole of Singapore, citing inaccurate figures and statistics to mislead and misrepresent.

I cannot tell you how it was like as I took in each and every word of each and every article devoted to the NKF issue today. It was more than anger. It was more than the feeling of being deceived. I felt outraged. Especially when I read that NKF was turning in a profit from selling the medical drugs that patients need. A profit the top management team used to finance their own extravagant lifestyles.

As far as I know, the top management team is definitely legally liable for their actions/decisions and should be dealt with accordingly. I see no reason for leniency just because NKF is a high profile charity organization. While we are waiting to see what actions, if any at all, will be taken towards NKF's former board of directors, let's look at a layman's (aka my) analysis of the situation.

I looked up the definition of fraud in an auditing textbook:

Fraud denotes a false representation of a material fact made by one party to another party with the intent to deceive and induce the other party to justifiably rely on the fact to his or her detriment.

According to common law, a fraudulent act must meet the following five conditions:

1. False Representation. There must be a false statement or a nondisclosure.
2. Material Fact. A fact must be a substantial factor in inducing someone to act.
3. Intent. There must be the intent to deceive OR the knowledge that one's statement is false.
4. Justifiable reliance. The misrepresentation must have been a substantial factor on which the injured party relied.
5. Injury or loss. The deception must have caused injury or loss to the victim of the fraud.

Fraud in the business environment has a more specialized meaning. It is an intentional deception, misappropriation of a company's assets or manipulation of its financial data to the advantage of the perpetrator.

The textbook goes on to point out that two key questions in a checklist to uncover fraudulent activity during an audit includes: "Do any key executives have close associations with suppliers?" and "Do one or two individuals dominate the company?"

From my personal understanding, even if the former board of directors escape charges of misappropriation of NKF funds, at the very least, they can be charged for providing false information/inaccurate claims/lying under oath in a court of law and thus holding the court in contempt (SPH has published the claims that NKF made and the actual findings that KMPG uncovered).

Of course we know that the claims were not directed at the court alone. It was directed at each and every Singaporean, especially those that have once forked out their hard earned money to give to the NKF in the belief that it will be put to proper use towards our kidney patients. The injury to us is the anger/hurt that we suffered upon coming to terms with the truth as to how the funds were actually used (instead of how they were claimed to be used) and the loss to us is the opportunity cost of the money we have donated had we known better.

The public will not be appeased until there is proper legal recourse.

Related News:
KPMG's report on investigation into the National Kidney Foundation (NKF)
NKF's press release
Former NKF CEO got more money than he appeared to: report
Report finds extravagance, lack of governance at Singapore's NKF
Two women in the fast lane
Regulators wasted opportunity to prevent NKF saga: KPMG report
Former NKF Patron did not know of Durai's salary until court case
Durai's retorts to the KPMG report
Health Ministry to present govt's response to NKF report
Health Minister says no one above scrutiny in NKF saga
'Accounting inconsistencies' in NKF's 2004 financial statements


Trackbacks/Related Entries:
Charitable Charity (Jeff Ooi)
Oops, TT Durai did it again!

Technorati tags: NKF, National Kidney Foundation, Singapore, Charity

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Let's talk about AIDS (Warning: Sexually Explicit Entry)

You have read about it - currently there are about 40.3 million people worldwide living with HIV. However, paraphrasing Blinkymummy's title "The death of a million is just a statistic", most people do not care about statistics, they only care if the effect is immediate (The death of someone close to you is a tragedy).

There are 2,548 known cases of HIV-Infected Singaporeans. Estimates of the actual total number are much higher. How do you know for sure if someone you know is infected? How do you prevent yourself from getting infected?

The most gorgeous girl/handsome guy you just met and whom you are instantly physcially attracted to can be carrying the virus. There is no way to tell if a potential partner is carrying the deadly virus through his/her appearance (no visible symptoms). That is the scary part. It is a known fact that the risk of contracting the virus increases exponentially with the number of one's sex partners. AIDS does not discriminate against race, religion, gender, nationality. Everyone stands an equal chance of getting infected if they carry out these dangerous activities (Explicit sexual details follow, readers' discretion advised):

Sharing personal items like toothbrushes and shaving kits (This means a family member can get infected easily).
Sharing needles (Drugs/Medical).
Sharing sex toys like vibrators, dildos, sex dolls etc.
Tattooing/Body piercing increases the risk of contracting HIV and/or other STDs.
Having sexual contact with an infected person (since anyone can be carrying the virus and you can't know for sure whether anyone you have slept with was infected, once you are sexually active, you are at risk)
- Unprotected Oral/Anal/Vaginal sex
- "Fingering" (open wound, small cuts on the finger. The virus can pass from the vaginal fluid through the open wound and vice versa)
- Threesomes/Orgies (Even the use of a condom can't do much to prevent the spread of the virus. Scenario: 2 girls, 1 guy. Guy uses the same condom. Girl A is HIV-positive. Vaginal fluids from girl A is passed from guy's condom to Girl B. I am sure you guys can think of more examples from here).
- French kissing (Open sores)
- The virus can be transmitted through breast milk.
- Having sex with prostitutes/freelancers, engaging in One night stands and having multiple sex partners dramatically increases the risk of contracting HIV.
- If you are faithful to one partner but that partner sleeps around, your chances of infection are also increased.

As can be seen, there are so many ways to get infected - Most people do not even think of the risks involved when they engage in ANY KIND OF sexual activities.

So xlx does this mean that Abstinence is the key?

Well in my opinion, abstinence is one of the most effective ways to reduce the chances of getting HIV. However it would be unwise to think that everyone will use this drastic method to prevent infection (I doubt there are many who actually use this method). A better way is to get both yourself and your potential partner/s tested before engaging in any form of sexual activity. With the 15min self test kit now available, it has become easier and more affordable to prevent yourself or a loved one from contracting the deadly virus.

Technorati tags: AIDS, World AIDS Day, Singapore, "World AIDS Day", Drugs.

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War on Drugs

Drugs destroy lives.

I know because I have spoken to drug addicts. I have seen them suffer from withdrawal symptoms. I have seen how they lost control of their own lives and let drugs take control of them. I can only empathize with their families as they relate to me their sad tales of drug dependencies.

Most of these drug addicts suffer from depression - They use drugs to escape from reality. They are usually unemployed men from lower income families, who finance their addictions through crime. Some whom I spoke to are married with children. I remember asking one of them (in dialect): "Don't you ever think about your wife and kids and how your actions (taking drugs and committing crimes to get enough money to buy another dose each time the addiction kicks in) affect them?". He just looked at me - the look of a man who told a story of extreme sadness through his eyes.

It is a vicious cycle.

Perhaps what is more alarming is that the new profile of drug users are teenagers - ones who have perfectly good lives laid out in front of them. They are usually exposed to drugs through their peers and start off experimenting with club drugs like ecstasy and ketamine. If left unchecked, they are most likely to move on to hard drugs like heroin.

Another life wasted. Another family ruined.

If you are or know of anybody who may be in danger of becoming addicted to drugs, help is at hand. Do the right thing, whether it is for your friend, your family, your partner or even yourself. Seek help early.

And if you do not want to end up losing control of your life and hurting your love ones, stay away from drugs. There are always better ways to get a natural high.

Technorati tags: Nguyen, Nguyen Tuong Van, Singapore, Australia, Drugs.

DISCLAIMER: YOU AGREE TO BEAR FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR CONTENT POSTED BY YOU. THE AUTHOR OF THIS SITE DOES NOT MONITOR OR EDIT THE CONTENT AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR (1) ANY CONTENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY INFRINGING, INACCURATE, OBSCENE, INDECENT, THREATENING, OFFENSIVE, DEFAMATORY, TORTIOUS, OR ILLEGAL CONTENT, OR (2) ANY THIRD PARTY CONDUCT, TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA.