Ex-PM's wife's comments

I read with disbelief the under mentioned article. Mrs Goh (the wife of ex-PM of Singapore) making a statement like this?! Of all people I would have expected her to understand the situation but I was wrong.

NKF - charitable organisation indeed. Even I would like to be a CEO of NKF now. Who wouldn't want to earn so much money and all at the expense of well-wishers. And once again, I'm not saying that anyone should starve, but to became rich on other people's donated money is really too much.

What is the meaning of charity?

Although the law states that 30% of donations can be used for the running of a charitable organisation, it doesn't mean that all 30% has to be used up. And it doesn't mean that the 30% can be used to bestow lavish things, like gold taps and Mercedes Benz cars (6 in fact, company cars) on officers. It also doesn't mean that NKF should pay for their road tax, yes, Mr T. T. Durai's road tax, repairs for his personal Mercedes is paid for by NKF. Which means Singaporeans paid for his road tax and car repairs. Majority of whom use public transport.

*sigh*

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The Straits Times
14 July 2005

MRS GOH: I've full trust in NKF and its CEO

The NKF's patron, Mrs Goh Chok Tong, told reporters at the close of the case that she had complete trust in the organisation and its chief executive. Mr T. T. Durai.

She had come to court on both days of the hearing and sat on the NKF side. Yesterday, she was there for part of the moring and again in the afternoon.

As Senior Conusel Davinder Singh led Mr Durai to concede point by point that he had no case, Mrs Goh, a lawyer, could be seen shaking her head.

After the hearing, Mrs Goh was asked by reporters what she thought about the way the case went.

She said it did not make sense to her to attack an organisation which helped the sick. All the NKF had wanted from The Straits Times was a retraction, she said, but the case had been extended to question NKF's transparency and "expensive things".

"Why make a fuss out of it?" she asked.

She said she would continue as patron, and added: "I have complete trust in the NKF and Mr Durai."

Asked if Mr Durai's annual salary and bonuse were "excessive", she replied: "For a person who runs a million-dollar charitable organisation, $600,000 is peanuts as it has a few hundred millions in reserves."