Consolidated NKF Thread

After reading this, will you still donate to NKF?


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MDZ2 said:
Before I start, I must first admit that I have not gone past more than 10 pages of this post so I will first apologise if I inadvertantly parrot anyone :)

I believe that alot of people are up in arms on this issue because NKF is a charity organisation and not a business one and that the money 'earned' is not exactly earned, but donated.
I feel the need to put this in perspective. All things being equal and with all charity organisations in singapore not actively promoting their organisation, would they all 'earn' equally.
I am sure that most are in agreement that they more or less would. If this is the case, then we would be hard pressed to find a reason why NKF is getting the lions share of the donation pie, other than that it is doing something more to attract these donation (which actually means that they are earning it). In that case, it wouldn't be far fetched to say that the NKF business model is in fact a success and that there is as little to fault the management of this organisation as there is with any other successful business organisation, including the disbersment of monies to its employees.
So how NKF calculates its staff pay or bonuses should be their own decision (we can only hope that they do it with a sense of moral integrity), as with the case of how our cabinet and prime ministers' pay are calculated, since there is no tangible way to calculate profits in these cases.

If say, one day, NKF BOD is suddently imbued with a conscience and decides to issue a company directive that all staff would be paid an allowance rather than a salary that is deemed acceptable for a charity organisation. Would our reaction be that of outrage when we read of mass resignation or would we read with empathy?
The sad truth is that the people who donated to this organisation are as much to blame. We have become so busy that the only time we donate is when we are approached or when it is convenient or, sadly, when there is something to gain eg. car/condo.
At the end of the day, I guess we should accept the way this organisation is run if we continue to support it or we should just sponsor other organisation and let things take its natural course, much like any loss making company. Of course, if there is no other organisation able to absorb the work of NKF, then the ones who ultimately suffer will be the benificiaries.
well. . . . .just a thought. :)

an analogy:

a beggar on the street approaches you and says that he is very poor and needs money badly to feed his family of 10. out of pity, you give him $20, thinking that each of his 10 children will have $2 for a meal that day. but you are interested to see what happens next. so, you secretly follow the beggar, only to discover to your disgust that he is not only able-bodied, but went to the nearest pub and spent $10 without batting an eyelid on getting himself drunk on the most expensive beer in the house. after that, the beggar went back to his street corner to tell his sob story to another passer-by.
 

jsbn said:
His apology shall come in the form of a full front page apology complete with pictures of him tendering his resignation, a picture of him kneeing on the floor and giving a deep sincere bow and the text of his resignation letter printed.
....
10th page shall be Thank You notices to SPH, Law Firms and all those involved who provided any form of information.

Page 11th, we give constructive on page 1. The light, mood, his facial expression. Is he tense or relaxed. Sincere or too much PS on the sad look, how was the photo of him tendering the resignation was captured, can you feel the emotion? etc. etc. Last part I propose they hire IAmASaint. Maybe can even make an album.
 

Anyway, for u guys reading pleasure:

Courtesty of AsiaOne
NKF saga: Calls for full transparency
By Salma Khalik
July 14, 2005
The Straits Times

THE National Kidney Foundation began its day yesterday with graffiti splashed on its walls - and by 5.30pm, more than 3,800 of its regular donors had stopped their contributions.

Calls for NKF chief T. T. Durai's resignation took concrete form in an online petition started by full-time national serviceman Lawrence Tan, garnering over 18,000 signatures as at midnight.

Public outrage reached an unprecedented scale, with The Straits Times newsroom inundated with hundreds of e-mail messages and dozens of calls to its hotline.

Readers were angry at the size of chief executive officer Durai's salary and his perks, as well as how the NKF had misled the public on the number of years its reserves will last and the number of patients it treats.

But even as vitriol was poured on Singapore's biggest charity, calmer voices pointed out that there were kidney patients in need of donations - and that the episode should not diminish contributions to charity.

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan told The Straits Times yesterday the NKF must provide more information and explain its actions to regain the public's confidence. 'The key to gaining confidence is full transparency.' But he made it clear he will continue donating to charity, whether it is to the NKF, ComChest or others 'because there are people out there who can benefit from it'.

In court this week, the NKF admitted to having $260 million in reserves, enough to subsidise dialysis treatment for 30 years at the current subsidy rates - not the three years it has consistently maintained.

Mr Khaw, who had spoken in support of the NKF when it maintained that three years was how long its reserves would last, had this advice for the NKF yesterday: 'If there was bad judgment, then acknowledge it and move on.'

Politicians like MP Chong Weng Chiew echoed Mr Khaw's call for greater transparency, in particular, its expenditure 'on publicity, manpower, administration and patients'. He also wants to know how the NKF assesses patients for subsidies, as he had been approached many times by kidney-failure patients who had been rejected by the NKF.

The issue of transparency was a key plank in The Straits Times' defence against the defamation suit brought on by NKF and Mr Durai.

Among other things, SPH's lawyer, Mr Davinder Singh, spoke of the difficulty of getting the NKF to disclose that Mr Durai earned more than half a million dollars a year and how, contrary to its oft-stated position, he had travelled first class.

The NKF withdrew its suit against Singapore Press Holdings and journalist Susan Long on Tuesday.

Lawyers for the two parties met again at a hearing in Justice Tan Lee Meng's chambers to address the issue of costs yesterday. The matter has been adjourned to Monday.

It was Ms Long's article published on April 19 last year that was the subject of contention, particularly its opening paragraphs which reported lavish toilet fittings in the bathroom of the CEO's private office.

Before withdrawing the suit on Tuesday, Mr Durai admitted in court that the article was fair and accurate and told reporters after the hearing that he would not resign 'unless the people want him to'.

Non-constituency MP Steve Chia said yesterday Mr Durai should resign as 'he has lost his moral authority to ask for money'.

NKF staff, however, are standing by their chief. Ms Michelle Ang, NKF's deputy director of corporate communications, said: 'They are still solidly behind him and know the high degree of his commitment to NKF.'
 

I hope they won't ban peanuts in the future like chewing gum.
 

dawgbyte77 said:
Page 11th, we give constructive on page 1. The light, mood, his facial expression. Is he tense or relaxed. Sincere or too much PS on the sad look, how was the photo of him tendering the resignation was captured, can you feel the emotion? etc. etc. Last part I propose they hire IAmASaint. Maybe can even make an album.
I guess use black and white film would be nice enuff. Can catch the mood.
 

zaren said:
an analogy:

a beggar on the street approaches you and says that he is very poor and needs money badly to feed his family of 10. out of pity, you give him $20, thinking that each of his 10 children will have $2 for a meal that day. but you are interested to see what happens next. so, you secretly follow the beggar, only to discover to your disgust that he is not only able-bodied, but went to the nearest pub and spent $10 without batting an eyelid on getting himself drunk on the most expensive beer in the house. after that, the beggar went back to his street corner to tell his sob story to another passer-by.

Good one.. Just to add on a little, the so-call 'beggar' is a govt licensed and well known one. Really caught everyone off guard.
 

Nisa said:
I don't see this as an attack of my choice, but rather would see it as an exchange of views. I agree that democracy is here for me to stand on what I believe. I disagree however, "Democracy allows for a lot of nonsense". With democracy, only would I know what others are thinking of. and how I can seek a balance for my existence in this world.

Democracy is follow the will of the majority. If you are the only sane person in a country of maniacs, and you are the only righteous person in a country of criminals, then you are minority. Democracy allows you the free will to see what the majority is doing to the country. Democracy allows the immoral to remain immoral if he can find enough supporters. Sure you can choose, but you must also respect others' choice, especially the majority.

Which is why many will agree with student's statement that democracy allows for a lot of nonsense. The is no moral in a true democracy, there is only the view of the majority.

That is why we there is a need to elect a few representative 'thinkers' and 'leaders' to guide the majority into the right path, whatever that right path may be. The government is suppose to fill this role.
 

jsbn said:
His apology shall come in the form of a full front page apology complete with pictures of him tendering his resignation, a picture of him kneeing on the floor and giving a deep sincere bow and the text of his resignation letter printed.

2nd and 3rd page shall contain NKF's full financial statements, including pay, benefits of all Directors, Chairman and Appointment Holders in NKF.

4th page shall come in the form of a pictorial essay, of how Durai's office looks like, the gold tap and German Toilet bowl. Plus copies of the original contractor invoice, order, contract of installation.

5th and 6th page shall show the future roadmap of NKF, all the plans they intend to do and all past, current and future restructuring plans. Any resignation or restructuring from the Board of Directors is welcomed.

7th page shall show public reaction and suggestions to the reports laid out in full.

8th page shall contain a personal interview with the NKF Patron and government amended laws.

9th page shall show a namelist of all paitents. How many of them were accepted, how many rejected, how many kicked out of the dialysis programme cos they ran outta moola.

10th page shall be Thank You notices to SPH, Law Firms and all those involved who provided any form of information.

Yes. With this sort of apology, I guess everyone will forgive NKF. :)

Make it a supplemental part of ST. :) Then we can include more than 10 pages. Shiok.
 

zaren said:
dear fellow singaporeans,

i am sorry for whatever wrong you think i have done. so, let bygones be bygones and don't forget to donate generously during tonight's charity show.

yours faithfully,
TT durai
CEO, NKF

p.s. i will fly business class from now on

Dear Mr Durian man,

Oh we forgive you. But may you rot in Hell a thousand times over.
We will donate paper Airbus 380 aeroplanes for you to take first class on your way to the abyss.

Yours truly
fellow singaporeans


P.S peanuts will be served at the wake as always.
 

Myfz1 said:
Dear Mr Durian man,

Oh we forgive you. But may you rot in Hell a thousand times over.
We will donate paper Airbus 380 aeroplanes for you to take first class on your way to the abyss.

Yours truly
fellow singaporeans


P.S peanuts will be served at the wake as always.

dear singaporeans,

how heartless and unforving you are! don't you know how many lives i have saved in my 37 years of loyal service in nkf? to err is human, to forgive, divine.

yours truly,
TT durai.

p.s. i will cut my annual bonus to 11 months.
 

zaren said:
dear fellow singaporeans,

i am sorry for whatever wrong you think i have done. so, let bygones be bygones and don't forget to donate generously during tonight's charity show.

yours faithfully,
TT durai
CEO, NKF

p.s. i will fly business class from now on
Hmm.... I guess so... bygones to the 12mth bonus prolly spent on tea-time peanut snacks, gold taps and german toilet bowls. :)

Looking forward ahead to another 12mth bonus, of Mercedes, gold taps, german toilet bowls and more peanut snacks. :)
 

zaren said:
dear singaporeans,

how heartless and unforving you are! don't you know how many lives i have saved in my 37 years of loyal service in nkf? to err is human, to forgive, divine.

yours truly,
TT durai.

p.s. i will cut my annual bonus to 11 months.


dear mr duria,


For the past few years while Singaporeans( from CEO's to cleaners) got retrenched, recieve pay cut, CPF cut, no bonus.........you got yourself a fat paycheck + 12 months bonus and perks. You are GOOD man,oh you are GOOD. We salute you sir.

We nominate you for Times magazine CEO of the year. Go on worldwide talks to universities and corpoartions on your managment models. you'll be the next Tom Hopkins. man you'll make a gazillion dollars.

Now sign here to give your soul_____________


yours truly
:devil:


p.s. you want 11 months of peanuts? are you sure thats enough? why dun you ask for more cos you will be spending an eternity below watching NKF show reruns.
 

zaren said:
dear singaporeans,

how heartless and unforving you are! don't you know how many lives i have saved in my 37 years of loyal service in nkf? to err is human, to forgive, divine.

yours truly,
TT durai.

p.s. i will cut my annual bonus to 11 months.


10 months and dun ugrue anymore, off to hell!
 

dear all,

i just want to say how ungrateful all of you are. without me, NKF would not be what it is today. try raising some money for charity and you will know what i mean.

yours indignantly,

TT durai.
 

zaren said:
dear all,

i just want to say how ungrateful all of you are. without me, NKF would not be what it is today. try raising some money for charity and you will know what i mean.

yours indignantly,

TT durai.


:devil: sue me for peanuts!
 

Belle&Sebastain said:
:devil: sue me for peanuts!

Dear All,

Please stoping poking fun at peanut. Your remarks sound very pen-ist (new term, same same racist).

yours truly,

Swing
on behalf of Singapore Peanuts Society
 

zaren said:
dear singaporeans,

how heartless and unforving you are! don't you know how many lives i have saved in my 37 years of loyal service in nkf? to err is human, to forgive, divine.

yours truly,
TT durai.

p.s. i will cut my annual bonus to 11 months.

Dear Mr TT Durai ,

As heartless and unforgiving we might be , and we know u saved many lives in your 37 years of service, ASKING THEM TO CO-PAY and sometimes REJECTING deserving patient just because his household income of 5 (Father, mother, patient, wife and a kid) family members exceed $2000, plus cancelling some of the patient subsidies just because they CAN'T pay their bills for 6 months, notwithstanding the fact that U DID fly on 1st class, DID had a gold plated tap, DID decieved fellow singaporean by inflating the number of patient under your charge , DID understated the reserve for NKF and YET continue to bank in on the sympathy of Singaporean, by exploiting/showing footage of NKF patients with their already hard-up life and YET had the cheek to twist and turn the facts and showed your very bad acting of innocence before the court. We will forgive you. May the god , who watches over you, "bless you".

Yours Faithfully,
From Singaporeans with 'L;(VE'
 

People said," I will continue donating, because it could happen to my family."

Donating is a good cause, self reliance is social responsibility.

For me, I donate to organisations that truly put the $$$ to the needies.
I'll fall back on my insurance policies, so I do not take away donation that will help those that really needed them.

NKF target the poorest of people to help, make them become propaganda to appeal to public sympathy in order to gain more donation.

Now its going to target Cancer patient. Because Kidney related disease isn't the top killing illness. Recently Singapore Cancer Foundation also voice out concern that it may drain out part of their donation.

There are many similar organisation that need $$$, just put in some effort to divert you $$$ there.

Help those that also require assistance.
 

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