NKF's administration brought to public scrutiny

[koniyakutz]

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin.../157420/1/.html

NKF's administration brought to public scrutiny in case against SPH

By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : The National Kidney Foundation's (NKF) defamation suit against the Singapore Press Holdings has opened in the High Court.

The case centres around an article in the Straits Times published on 19 April 2004 entitled "The NKF Controversially ahead of its time".

And first to take the stand was the NKF's CEO, TT Durai who made some startling revelations during cross examination by SPH's Senior Counsel Davinder Singh.

The article in question was written by SPH's journalist Susan Long, whom NKF is also suing.

It had an account of a contractor who had been hired to install some bathroom fittings for its new headquarters in 1995.

NKF says the article had many falsehoods and half truths. But Monday's hearing was more than just about toilet fittings.

It was a public scrutiny of how the NKF is administered and run, the travel patterns of its senior executives and the chief executive officer, and what salaries were paid to the CEO in the last three years.

The court heard that CEO Durai got a twelve month bonus last year. And between 2002 and 2004, he would have earned close to S$1.8 million.

From the outset, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh who is acting for SPH, emphasized the importance of transparency and public accountability on NKF's part as every cent which NKF spent came from public donations.

Several senior officials from NKF were in court to follow the proceedings, including its patron Mrs Goh Chok Tong.

[koniyakutz]

The NKF: Controversially ahead of its time?

by Susan Long

A RETIRED contractor who wants to be known only as Mr Tan used to be a National

Kidney Foundation (NKF) donor until he was hired to install some bathroom

fittings for its new headquarters at Kim Keat Road in 1995.

Inside chief executive T.T. Durai's office suite on the 12th floor of the $21

million building, he says he 'lost it' when he had to install, among other

things, a glass-panelled shower, a pricey German toilet bowl and a gold-plated

tap.

'I started screaming my head off. The gold-plated tap alone cost at least

$1,000. It was crazy. If you're Bill Gates and own your own multinational,

whatever you want, fine. But you're a charity, using donors' money,' he huffs.

After his outburst, he was told to 'just do' his job. The shower stall remained,

but the taps he eventually installed were 'scaled down' to an upmarket

chrome-plated model.

To this day, the 54-year-old belongs to NKF's die-hard detractor camp, unmoved

by its shining success in social entrepreneurship and its track record in saving

lives. As he puts it: 'After that day, not a cent from me. I'm not going to pay

for gold-plated taps.'

Asked for its response to the contractor's story, the NKF's public relations arm

sidestepped the details and said yesterday: 'Since you can't give us details of

the contractor... it is difficult for us to give an answer to enlighten your

readers.'

In the past fortnight, the NKF has hogged the headlines. Propitiously, the news

of its amazing $189 million in reserves broke the very day it celebrated its

35th anniversary on April 7. Since then, a stream of more than 130 people -

former employees, former donors and disgruntled members of the public - have

e-mailed or called this newspaper to let off steam about its hard-sell tactics,

thick carpets and controversial chieftain.

At the same time, about 30 others, individuals and organisations, have sent in

letters of support for the organisation, praising its dialysis programmes and

pledging continued donations.

So far, the NKF kitty appears none the worse for wear despite all the

caterwauling. On April 11, its 11th NKF Charity show raised $6.7 million, just a

fraction short of last year's $6.8 million. Last night, it netted another $6.4

million.

These serious sums of money - how the NKF gets it, spends it and accounts for it

- have been a well-gnawed bone of contention among its naysayers. Way before

details of its $5 million tie-up with insurance giant Aviva unleashed a

ferocious debate on donor privacy issues, charges of 'invasive' fund-raising

have dogged the outfit.

But the NKF has made no bones about gunning for the charity dollar - the more

the merrier, just like any other profit-and-loss business. Relentless innovation

over the years has brought new ways of fund-raising: greeting cards, live

charity shows, donations via SMS, consultancy services, even selling its spare

telemarketing capacity to private companies. In the social service sector, the

NKF is the unparalleled paragon of the art of 'heartsell'.

Most impressive of all, notes Mrs Tan Chee Koon, executive director of the

National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre, is its ability to tap on the health

screening it conducts for heartlanders to ensure a 'sustained pool of regular

givers'.

Unlike many charities which rely on large, one-off infusions from wealthy

foundations, NKF's bread and butter is the $3 to $5 monthly Giro donations from

about one million ordinary Singaporeans. With such a big base of small heartland

givers - its website says nearly two out of every three Singaporeans are donors

- the pennies add up.

Every day, seven days a week, some 100 'prevention evangelists' and nurses fan

out to companies, army camps, condominiums and churches islandwide to test the

blood, body fat and urine of at least 1,600 people daily.

Since 1997, more than one million Singaporeans have undergone these free health

screenings, which are followed typically by an impassioned pitch: 'This is

something we're doing for you; is there something you'd like to do for us?'

A voluntary sector consultant notes: 'Even old grannies are not spared the

spiel. Most are pressured to do a Giro contribution for a minimum of six months.

Nothing they do is illegal, but it's all very aggressive. Nothing wrong with

that, but when they push the fund-raising envelope, they tend to be insensitive

to the larger consequences for the charity sector.'

But the NKF's head of what it calls 'prevention marketing', Ms Shirley Tan,

makes no apologies for the 'heartfelt pleas' it delivers along with its basic

health checks, which she notes would cost at least $60 in private clinics. She

says these are 'free-will offerings' and the 'evangelists' have no financial

targets to meet at each venue.

PAINFUL LESSONS

NKF chairman Richard Yong, 63, a former private banker who has been on the NKF

board for 18 years, makes clear that lucre is the necessary lifeblood of the

organisation.

Every cent literally buys time for each patient. And the NKF's mission to save

the lives of those with kidney failure is undeniably daunting, which explains

why there are no other self-funded, non-profit dialysis providers in the world.

Each patient is admitted for life - or until they are lucky enough to get a

kidney transplant. The average life expectancy of those on dialysis is 10 to 15

years, at a cost of $150,000 upwards a head to the foundation.

Mr Yong says patients themselves pay from nothing to $800 each month for

three-times-a-week dialysis which would cost at least $3,000 each month outside.

The incidence of kidney failure here - increasingly a lifestyle disease closely

associated with diabetes and hypertension - is now the third highest in the

world, trailing only affluent countries like the United States and Japan. This,

coupled with a fast growing grey-haired population, means that the NKF has

plenty of costly work cut out for it.

Its money-minting machinery, however, was not always so hard-nosed or

well-oiled. Starting out in an unprepossessing Singapore General Hospital attic

with just two beds and one metal tray in 1969, Mr Yong says, it battled the same

growing pains that less publicised, cash-strapped charities face today.

When it set up its first dialysis programme in 1982 in Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital,

it dispensed free treatment with little regard for outcomes and costs.

In 1986, it ran out of money, so he and other board members had to make the

heart-wrenching decision of who among their 32 patients should continue with

dialysis, and who would have to be sent home with morphine to die.

'I couldn't sleep; I couldn't eat. Who were we to play God?' he recalls. It hit

home then: It was important to have 'healthy reserves that can withstand even

the most dire economic times', and self-generated income 'so that we can be

independent, instead of on our knees, poor and begging for life'.

So the irony is that, despite being one of the oldest, the NKF is yet one of the

most progressive charities here. As a mature 35-year-old, it is looking at

sustainability and continuity issues for the next 100 years, even as most other

voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) grapple with day-to-day survival issues.

In the international arena, it is such a trail-blazing model of social

entrepreneurship that American universities like Harvard, Johns Hopkins and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology have done case studies on it.

Locally, however, it is so far ahead of its time that society has yet to keep

pace. Unlike in the West - where charities aggressively campaign for the charity

dollar, professional fund-raising is a bona fide industry and tie-ups with

commercial entities are old news - the social sector here unfortunately is still

in its infancy.

According to Mr Terry Farris, head of charity management for Asia at European

private bank MeesPierson, the fact that it costs money to raise money - the

accepted norm, he says, is now 15 to 20 cents out of every dollar - may not have

sunk in here yet.

Many VWO chiefs note there still exists an arcane expectation that non-profits

should survive on the 'goodwill and sacrifice' of volunteers, even though it is

recognised worldwide that the public good is much better served by hiring

professional managers at market rates.

TOUGH LOVE

THE NKF has tried to break away from the 'third-tier' image charities suffer

from, by sourcing for talent worldwide and paying them fair market value.

According to NKF's honorary treasurer Loo Say San: 'Many Singaporeans prefer not

to work for charitable organisations, so we go overseas to hire.'

It does its recruitment drives at top institutions like the Indian Institutes of

Management and Beijing University, competing with the likes of General Electric

and Morgan Stanley for the best brains money can buy. Since 2001, it has also

tapped the skills of a steady stream of MBA interns from top business schools

like Harvard and Stanford.

It staff strength is 947, a figure that NKF defends as necessary to man the

three shifts of dialysis sessions, each lasting four hours, which its 22 centres

around the island run daily.

Pressed for details on staff composition, Mr Yong said 'more than half are

medical personnel'. The rest are spread among the administrative, marketing,

fund-raising and communications departments.

The taboo it seeks to break is that charity is synonymous with poor quality. As

Dr Gerard Chuah, an eye surgeon and chairman of the NKF Children's Medical Fund,

says: 'What bothers me is when people say, why can't you continue to function

out of containers? Hello, just because we're a charity doesn't mean we have to

operate in a hovel out in the rain.

'Would you ask a family member of yours who has an honours degree to work in

a container? We want to get the best people we can find who will run good

programmes to save more lives.'

Even when administering its dialysis and patient rehabilitation programmes,

the NKF approach is controversial. You might call it 'tough love'. According to

Mr Job Loei, a dialysis patient who also helps counsel new admissions at NKF,

those wallowing in self-pity are set straight.

NKF demands that patients co-pay for dialysis, hold down jobs and stick to

their diet - or pay more. Patients' fees, for example, are reduced by $50 to

$100 as an incentive, if they find a job, get promoted, tie the knot, give

birth, or even when their school-going children score As.

It helps patients find jobs, provides courses to upgrade their qualifications

and holds personal grooming classes to help them remain attractive to their

spouses. If their children's grades slide, it even helps engage, and provides

subsidies of up to 80 per cent for, tuition teachers to coach them.

As Mr Yong says: 'We don't dialyse them to go home and sleep. We want them to

have jobs, bring home the bacon, contribute to the economy, have normal

relations with their spouses and their children to do well in school. We say

openly to them: 'If you want to die, go and die by yourself; don't come to us'.'

As a result, 93 per cent of NKF dialysis patients work, support their

families and lead productive lives, compared to less than 60 per cent worldwide.

The general philosophy is: No free rides.

OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY

LIKEWISE for employees, adds Mr Loo. They are constantly reminded that their

wages come from donor dollars. To prevent wastage, there is an extensive list of

fines, from $5 for getting to work five minutes late, to $30 for forgetting to

switch off the lights. All staff functions are held in the in-house auditorium

'for fear of being labelled spend-thrift' if they venture outside.

For the record, Mr Yong says, there is no such thing as 'first-class travel'.

Senior executives, from directors up, including CEO Mr Durai, fly business

class. The rest fly economy.

Little is known of Mr Durai, 56, apart from the fact that his name T.T.

(Thambirajah Tharmadurai) means a charitable man in Tamil. A former president of

the then University of Singapore Students' Union, he graduated with a law degree

and worked in the government legal service for six years until 1977.

The elegant and eloquent man eschews publicity and, despite 3 1/2 hours spent

with top officials at the NKF last week, this reporter received only a handshake

from him. No quotes.

His staff know him as a 'visionary' who cares deeply for NKF patients and

knows each one by name. He is also a 'tough taskmaster' who works from 6am to

10pm, and eats and showers in his office.

He is said to run a tight, results-oriented ship, with a labyrinth of

departments within departments and units within units.

But even the most embittered acknowledge it is a 'dynamic' workplace and

training ground. Its staff turnover is high; employees are so often poached that

managers now have to sign three-year contracts.

One downside cited by former employees is a corporate culture described as

'cagey', in which staff are discouraged from discussing finances.

Despite much public prodding and the Finance Ministry's encouragement to

charities to reveal the salaries and benefits of their top employees, NKF top

guns are sticking to their guns not to allow more public disclosure.

What they keep reiterating is: 'Although the NKF is a non-profit

organisation, the people who have chosen to work in the NKF are private

individuals, who are entitled to their privacy.'

But therein lies the chink in an otherwise spiffy armour: NKF's

forward-looking business model lacks the financial transparency that would

enable it to stand tall and get out of its controversy-laden shell.

After all, if it is governed by the creed of the marketplace, it should also

appply rigorous standards of disclosure and accountability.

As a VWO analyst notes: 'You can find out how much any CEO of a public

company makes, so why not them? How can it be that when they feel like it, they

can be 'private', but when raising funds, they are 'non-profit' and 'public'? If

any member of the public asks, why shouldn't the information be made available

to them?'

As society matures, says Mr Farris, people will have higher expectations of

non-profit governance.

'Like it or not, if you turn over as much as $67.5 million a year, you're a

business, though it be the business of doing good,' he says. 'As a charity, you

have to always remember: You are spending other people's money.'

On the NKF's part, so often has it been bad-mouthed - which it attributes to

'professional jealousy' - that it seems to have developed a persecution complex

of sorts. 'Why is it us, always us?' is a plaintive cry its board members often

utter.

It has also gone beyond plaintive cries, to being the plaintiff in defamation

suits - at least three times. In 1999, for instance, it sued Madam Tan Kiat Noi

for sending out an e-mail message accusing it of paying ridiculously high

bonuses to its staff. An estimated 100,000 people received it. The case was

settled after she apologised publicly, and paid $50,000 in damages, as well as

NKF's legal costs.

Whither the NKF from here? Although it continues to bid the public judge it

by its works and its effectiveness, detractors will continue to be fixated by

the shroud over its numbers. Like it or not, rumblings are likely to persist

until there is more publicly-transparent accounting.

[acidjazz]

Its sad but true. I have friends working in NKF who knows all the behind dealings and salaries of the employees. NO ONE would believe it. so i never support NKF, wun donate a single cent to them. sorry off topic.

[RAV-65]

$1.8million to be CEO and 12 months bonus too?? Dat's it, I will never give another cent to NKF...

[acidjazz]

$1.8million to be CEO and 12 months bonus too?? Dat's it, I will never give another cent to NKF...

NKF can survive more than a decade without public funds.

[lightningstrike]

IMHO,

as long as huge consortiums (as in our dear local telecommunication companies) charges an admin fee (even as low as 1 cent), not a single call from me.

why must i be made to pay an "admin fee"? why can't these tele-companies juz do it out of "charity" as well?

i'll juz make do with the donations deducted from my monthly payroll....... at least, i do not hv to pay an admin fee.

I stress again, the above-mentioned comments r entirely "In My Humble Opinion". No harm is intended to NKF or whatsoever.

[Lester]

hmmm anyone know how to back out from donating.. cos been donating . how to withdraw... ???

[koniyakutz]

Check this out, http://www.mycarforum.com/forum/gforum.cgi...t=974938#974938

So much admin fees?!?

[minsmarine]

Well, I though it's wide know OPEN SECRECT

Let's put it this way,

if you were in his shoes, would you be working like hell to get whether 35% really goes to needy.

Especially in Singapore, everythings are now a day privatize mean PROFIT PROFIT PROFIT, I won't surpise if more comming up.

Everything is business now a day. May be our MP will charge us minimum fee of $1 for electronic bill next time u see him @ PM meet the section

[RAV-65]

hmmm anyone know how to back out from donating.. cos been donating . how to withdraw... ???

i tink check with your HR or payroll... dat's wat I'm doing!!

I once heard someone mention that the employees get 6 months bonus, dunno how true, but this report has really ticked me off!!

[seafood]

i just hate the constant SMS (3 to be exact during the cancer fund raising period) to "remind" me to donate $$. The last SMS even stated "my last chance to win blur blur...." nothing against NKF just hate the aggressive approach.

dilemma... to donate or not to donate........

[ervine]

12 mth bonus to CEO?????? TWELVE??? who the heck gets 12 mth bonus?!?

[wil_lee76]

gosh....just donated $50 ++ to NKF...sighz....anwyaz that suxkz!

[mUAr_cHEe]

a 4 year debate with my gfren/then-later-promoted-to-wife.....

has finally come to an end when she saw the headlines this morning......

she is now finding out how to cancel her monthly giro deductions....

[Chris]

No matter which charitable organisation one donates, there will be a certain portion that goes to admin charges. However, it is the heart of the CEO to appropriate what is necessary admin charges and what is extravagence. 12 months bonus for CEO and 6 for 1000 staff when the rest of the country people are getting an average of 1-2 is excessive. More so if their business is to help people.

I have vowed 3 years back not to watch any NKF shows and dial any call because:

1. Do not subscribe to the idea of using prizes to lure donors.

2. Paying TV station lots of $$ to buy time slot with donors money, though I know local artists are not paid.

3. Has not seen the CEO address the public in any manner. (At least the monk for Renci put in some effort and I bet he did not get 12 months bonus)

The TV station should also take the blame. Just ended 2 weeks of charity show and now the President star charity. But I may support this show cos they don't use cash and prize to tempt people to 'donor/gamble'.

3 years back, I cancelled my monthly $5 to NKF and changed to Com Chest.

[gOTHIKa]

[hotlemond]

they keep having this charity shows and are really getting out of hand mann.. Even on the streets they dun leave you alone.

[daimy068]

It's sickening knowing that the money everyone has contributed is mis-used!

10-12 month's bonus? RIDICULOUS! That's as good as saying I get paid 2yr's salary for working a year!

Works from 6am-10pm? You mean he never leaves his office at all? Anyway, who knows what he does in his office when the doors are shut!

[sugi]

This news very disturbing.

My in law is big fan of NKF, I mean they always donate.

I better force them to stop throwing their money to Mr. Durai

Later he might use $50 bill to wipe his ######

Definitely I am going to stop donating.

I believe after this news breakout, we should boycott them

[sugi]

It's sickening knowing that the money everyone has contributed is mis-used!

10-12 month's bonus? RIDICULOUS! That's as good as saying I get paid 2yr's salary for working a year!

Works from 6am-10pm? You mean he never leaves his office at all? Anyway, who knows what he does in his office when the doors are shut!

Boy.............

He must be licking his gold platted tap that cost $990 whenever he is free.

[alanseah]

I knew it long ago lor... thats why I stop all the donating to NKF since 3 yrs b ack...

if you ever go to your HQ, wow still got money to run a mini coffee bean while you waiting for your appointment with their staffs...

And once they are "VIP" coming to make big donation those small ppls vendors like us will be told to use the fire lift.. lolz...

and many more story... I also thinking of setup a non-profile organization and dont need to work also got $$$ coming in... lolz..

[maroonclown]

haizz ... seems like the general public is still lure by those so call lucky draws..

why can't they just channel the cost of the lucky draw to those needy ... then more will benefits ... oops maybe someone will even get 14mths bonus .....

however , it is still very distrubing to ee that someone is getting 12mths bonus and is working in a place that is suppose to help .

how on earth someone deserve 12mths bonus .. anyone can help to calculate ? what contibution had made it to be 12mths ? maybe a HR personel can answer this ... ??

above are in my opinion only ...

[gOTHIKa]

last time only 1 charity program(at the most 2)

these past few yrs have 2-3( incluseive of Ren Ci Charity(another story) )

juz NKF cancer alone has 3!!!!

phone calls costs increasing too!

wad makes it worse is that the show is getting more n more less interesting.

take last sunday's for example, most of the time in the show are plain talk and reminders to call in -.- shows are simple, like Moses Lim's "magic" act and Chew Chor Meng's too. And the foreign singers juz more or less sing a couple of songs. Its like: Effortless!

i dunno how u bros think. Juz my 2cents

[daimy068]

Boy.............

He must be licking his gold platted tap that cost $990 whenever he is free.

Or wash and iron his $100 bills!

[gOTHIKa]

haizz ... seems like the general public is still lure by those so call lucky draws..

was juz wondering: why dun they use these money and cars for the lucky draws and donate it instead of giving away?(altho' this is one of the ways to attract callers)