Charity

When I think about charitable organisations, I usually think of the people as loving and very self-sacrificing people. Who (most of the time) give up a high paying position to do this self-sacrificing work. But it seems that there are black sweep here too. Take the beloved CEO of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), Mr. T.T. Durai. He is earning SGD600,000 a year with a monthly salary of SGD25,000. He takes first class flights and have taps in his bathroom in the office has taps that cost SGD990. This has come to light because of a law-suit that NKF filed against The Straits Times.

Gosh, it is amazing. No wonder he left his law job to be CEO of a chartable organisation and I thought he was being self-sacrificing but no, it is for his own pockets and interest. I really wonder how do people like him sleep at night (most probably in his SGD8,000 bed), knowing full well that he's taking the money of kind people, some of who are poor and yet try their best to help the more needy.

I mean, I'm not against people earning a good living but if you are working for an organisation that relies on the donations to help the needy, then don't expect to get high salaries/allowances. Donations are made in good faith that majority of it will go to those who need it.

This is a really sad case. The worse part about it, this would make the real charitable organisations suffer because people will think twice about donating.

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An extract of the cross-examination by chief prosecutor Davinder Singh.

Davinder Singh: So for the past three years you have earned about $1.8 million from the NKF.

T.T. Durai: Yes.


Davinder Singh: And the man who earns $1,000 a month who takes out $50 of his pay packet every month thinking that it is going to save lives, should he not know that that is the kind of money you earn?

T.T. Durai: There is nothing wrong with the money I earn.

Davinder Singh: $1.8 million, I wonder what is wrong. $1.8 million. Should the man who takes $50 out of his pay packet of $1,000, leaving $950 for him, his wife and his children, with no savings, should he not know that some of that money is going or has gone into a $500,000 to $600,000 pay package for you?

T.T. Durai: Surely he knows.

Davinder Singh: Tell me, how does he know?

T.T. Durai: Let me explain. People donate money to the NKF to run a dialysis programme that saves lives. We have built a dialysis programme. We run...

Judge: Please answer the question.

Davinder Singh: You said: 'Surely he knows.'

T.T. Durai: No, I am saying a person who contributes to the foundation knows that there are people working in the institution.

Judge: No. The question is, should that person know that you are earning $500,000, $600,000 a year? It is a simple question.

T.T. Durai: No, your honour, I do not see a need for him to know.

Davinder Singh: Thank you. It has nothing to do with privacy. It is about embarrassment, is it not?

T.T. Durai: No.

Davinder Singh: You would lose all authority, all moral authority to look at him in his eyes, isn't that right?

T.T. Durai: That is not true.

Davinder Singh: If he knew that you were flying first class on his money, you could not look him in his eyes, isn't that true?

T.T. Durai: It is not true.

Davinder Singh: If he knew that his salary couldn't even buy the bathroom fittings in your private office suite, you couldn't look him in his eyes.

T.T. Durai: That is not true.

Davinder Singh: We now understand why you say the $990 tap is not expensive. Well, coming from you at $600,000 a year, we now know why you say it is not expensive. But tell us, for that man with $1,000/$2,000, is it expensive?

T.T. Durai: Yes, he may consider it expensive.

Davinder Singh: He may, or is it? Tell us the truth.

T.T. Durai: I cannot speak for him. It depends on the type of building, the use of the item.

Davinder Singh: The man in his HDB one-room, two-rooms, three-rooms flat, earning a salary of $1,000, $2,000, $3,000 - would he find that tap at $990 plus 10 per cent discount expensive?

T.T. Durai: He may consider it expensive, yes.

Davinder Singh: He may, or will he?

T.T. Durai: If he is an educated person, if he knows the use of the particular office, for what purpose, he may probably think it is something reasonable.