NKF-that can of worms has already been opened!
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Please noted that all the people involved will be paying a miserable sum of fines due to the past contributions that they have dedicated the foundation.
The Board of Directors should be responsible but have turned into witnesses.
The Law is very flexible for the Elite.
So, dun complain about the law cos you never mixed and become a Elite.
Your life task is to sponsor the elite in paying their good life and be heavily punished for breaking the law and not working. -
(as posted to FBU on 18.4.2006)
Channel News Asia (18.4.2006)
"Former National Kidney Foundation (NKF) CEO TT Durai has been slapped with two charges of corruption.
He is accused of submitting false invoices to mislead the NKF.
One charge reads that 57-year-old Durai had, between December 2003 and January 2004, deceived the NKF into making a $20,000 payment to a company for providing interior design consultancy service for various dialysis centres in 2003.
The other alleges he deceived the NKF, in September 2003, into paying $5,000 to another company as consultancy for hiring a senior manager for NKF.
In both cases, no such services were rendered.
A former assistant manager of the NKF's purchasing department, 43-year-old Ragini Vijayalingam, faces 11 corruption charges.
She is alleged to have received cash and gifts amounting to more than $10,000, between September 2003 and July 2005, from a medical supplies company for helping it to secure contracts and future business dealings with NKF.
Former NKF Board Member Matilda Chua, 37, faces two charges of falsifying company accounts with intent to defraud.
She is alleged to have falsified the accounts of Global Net Relations (GNR), of which she was a director, in December 2001 and December 2002.
Each offence carries a jail term of up to seven years, or fine, or both
Chua is out on bail of $20,000.
The three have had their passports impounded.
Former NKF Board Chairman Richard Yong Kun Da and Treasurer Loo Say San face one charge each under the Companies Act.
This is for failing to exercise reasonable diligence as directors of NKF."
The irony of NKF case is that the minister was aware of potential problems at the outset back in the early years when members of the public was very unhappy with the way NKF was spending its public donations in other ways instead of on the many suffering kidney patients.
The minister could have taken action and caused an investigation and nipped the problem in the bud.
He could have caused the audit firm to look into the ratio of donation going into patient treatments with accountability and transparency.
But the minister in charge instead insisted that NKF has the right not to disclose the amount going to CEO's salaries and bonuses and other facts. Such denials only served to fuel more pent-up discontent of public.
Minister should have seen that the crux of the issue was one of using public donation for relieving the plight of the unaided suffering kidney patients.
But he went to the opposite and defended NKF and failed to cause a study of its questionable transactions.
NKF or Durai even became so enbolden as to sue the unlucky whistle blowers who had unwittingly had to perform the role of the regulator and had ended up being penalised in paying for Durai's defamation damages and legal costs which as subsequently disclosed in the SPH/NKF face-off were somewhat rather unfounded.
Do our ministers want to run charity organization in this manner? Surely if we cannot rely on minister, audit firm or regulatory authority there will be no need for the office of minister?
Who was at fault - NKF, Durai or Minister for the innumerable problems disclosed in so many charity organizations as a result of this NKF saga ?
The public has raised many issues to our ministers such as the persistent increases of fees and charges and over-obsessive accumulating of taxes into reserves. Will the ministers be looking into all these issues and problems or will they continue to make denials and put up defences of all kinds without solving problems?
Are they solving more serious problems facing the people e.g. creating jobs or lowering the cost of living.
Will our ministers try to solve all these problems after NKF instead of basking in their past initial success or calling people who complain whiners or trouble makers. Will they free up intellectual spaces and be open instead of treating people as adversaries and trying to close down blogs.
Many ministers are in the habit of slamming critics with uncalled-for remarks like "there is no such thing as free lunch", "people are whiners or quitters" and such-like.
Yet, in every swearing-in ceremony they have sworn their oath of office to serve the republic and the people with due diligence and allegiance.
What went wrong? What causes NKF? Who are their real paymasters or customers ?
Instead of trying to be confrontational, minister Khaw, could study the whole NKF episode, in the larger perspective and conduct a post mortem to improve MOH's future performances:-
(1) Ministers should be more proactive and not be so defensive in dealing with complaints or feedbacks.
(2) Do not regard people who complain or give feedbacks as adversaries.
(3) Do not try to keep defending their actions based on their past records - look to the future to win over people's support.
He could use the post mortem to reexamine past NKF-like government policies such as its tax-and-recover system aimed at creating yearly surpluses to no end. This method of running the country may impoverise not only the citizens but eventually the whole economy with the ministers slaughtering the geese that lay the golden eggs. So look again at people's inputs and seriously look into ways to solve the "20 major problems of government" as posted to FBU.
He could reexamine the HDB double-charging of lands in its supposedly low-cost housing as defined in the HDB Act and government utility company (now privatised as GLC) over-charging on networking and other fixed assets after corporatisation resulting in our high costs of living.
There must be something seriously wrong in a country where people are suffering from dropping wages and property prices of their homes and yet their transportation and utility costs are taking up 60% of their family incomes.
Ask the banks and finance companies and other financial experts, and they will tell you that any expenditure of such item exceeding 20% of household income will be deemed over the limit of affordability.
If government does not grasp the in-depth relationship between costs of living and our economic competitive, it is now time to start looking at it to create a more vibrant economy or socially cohesive country.
So let minister try to use NKF case to solve other serious problems represented by this case.
Other Asian Tigers or other smaller competitive economies like Switzerland or Finland are not suffering our type of denial syndrome and how can we learn from their more entrepreneurship which we are known to be lacking in the overall perspective.
The recent TV dialogue session shows a gulf in the thinking between MM Lee and our younger population. So this NKF can be a wake-up call to our ministers not to be over-confident about their past success as past performance does not guarantee future success.
Should our talents always be so obsessed about assumptions which did not work since the 1970s but were not admitted to this day due to the autocracy of the whole system.
It is hoped that after NKF, our ministers will learn to be less defensive and will serve the interest of Singaporeans at large and not just to defend their respective positions or past policies.
If they do not change their past mindset they will never be able to convince the younger population of their talents.
I strong urge them to drop their current defensive mindset and be more humble and diligently serve the interest of their real paymasters and customers to avoid more NKF cases. -
if Durai get a 5 year sentence i will sign up for a 5 year premier membership.
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Now SDP kena dragged into NKF saga.
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Zzzzz..... everything will be fine for Durai de........
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Still sleeping, cannot wake up yet ....
Alarm clock rang and rang, but still cannot wake up ......
ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz ..................................
Another slumber ...................
Wait for another "NKF" first, don't disturb leh ........
Did not sleep for months because have been counting money .......
$120,000 a month plus so many bonuses, director's fees, perks, etc ......
How to finish counting .......... money some more keep coming in ............
Wife also have good money coming in .............................................
Son also got good money coming in ...............................
Daughter also got good money coming in ....................................................
Other relatives also got good money coming in ........................................
Wah piang, suddenly become so rich over night ..............................
Not bad at all being a Mini Star!!!!!
Ha Ha Ha hahahahaahahahahahaha............................... -
The ghost of NKF seems to hang over the government because of its many implications and repercussions over the whole system of government.
The following is some possible implications:-
(1) Lack of accountability and transparency
(2) Uncaring attitude and policies towards customers'/citizens' rights and welfare.
(3) Excessive use of public fund for CEOs self-rewards, e.g. peanut salaries, 8-months' bonuses, golden taps, fleets of expensive cars, first-class travels.
(4) Lack of proper regulatory controls over awards of contracts to protect interest of the public it is intended to serve.
(5) Use of defamation law suits to silence dissents of customers/stakeholders it serves.
The root cause of all the above-stated problems is still not uncovered as everything uncovered is only superficial based on legalistic issues.
There are policy and moral issues which are still not looked into. As long as the larger issues are not probed, NKF will not understand the real problems or root cause of all the current problems.
That is why minister Khaw and NKF still could not understand that CEO of such company is not really that demanding or talented to be entitled to that kind of obsene pay as S$13,000 pm.
I am sure if there is an open recruitment, there are many people with abilities to do better job demanding less than $8,000 pm.
The proper salary scale for ironricebowlers in government and NGOs should not be equated or benchmarked to those highly entrepreneurial CEOs in private sector because private sector CEOs have to have extra skills and abilities in seeking funds and ensuring success not NGOs, Government or Charity organizations which are supplied with funds.
Just imagine by artful argumentations, everything presented can be rather presumptuous or fallacious or false. -
lets jus hope tat durai n his board of directors suffer from kidney failure
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May I know what's the duty of a patron in NKF? Was she paid for her role in the board? Anyone can elaborate?Originally posted by monoslayer:lets jus hope tat durai n his board of directors suffer from kidney failure -
Former NKF director Matilda Chua files defence in civil suit
By Rita Zahara, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE: The National Kidney Foundation's former director Matilda Chua has filed her defence for the civil suit brought against her by the new NKF.
In it, she has denied most of the claims made against her by the new board.
Ms Chua, who is already embroiled in a high-profile criminal lawsuit, is among four others sued last month for breach of duties.
The NKF scandal broke when details of former CEO TT Durai's salary came to light.
In a 20-page defence, Ms Chua denied knowledge of any matters relating to Durai's remuneration, saying she was merely an employee with the NKF.
She claimed that by the time she became an exco member and director, there was already an audit committee in place and she did not have any reason to doubt or question its effectiveness.
Ms Chua also alleged she did not receive any remuneration or benefits herself as an exco member and NKF director.
The 36-year-old woman is among four others the new NKF is suing in an attempt to get its money back.
The other four are former NKF CEO Durai, former board of directors Richard Yong and Loo Say San, and a friend of Durai's, Pharis Aboobacker.
Ms Chua questioned why they were being singled out.
She said the NKF had not provided any explanation for this.
She also denied being involved in the negotiations and deliberations with Protonweb Solutions and Forte Systems, companies which the old NKF had business dealings with.
Ms Chua claimed she only became a corporate representative of Protonweb Solutions after the NKF entered into contracts with them.
Now that a defence has been filed, NKF has two weeks to issue a reply.
Ms Chua further averred she was never involved in the preparation or treatment of the accounts in respect of the fund-raising activities, and that the fund-raising accounts were audited and there was then never any objection or query over the 30/70 guideline imposed by the NCSS Code.
Ms Chua, who started on a salary of S$1,300 a month in 1991 and gradually came to earn S$10,000 per month by 2000, claimed she did not have any influence on the decisions to make these payments.
After Ms Chua had announced her intention to resign in April 2000, her monthly salary was increased to S$12,500 in June 2000, and backdated to April 2000, without any exco approval.
To this, she said her successor had a higher monthly salary and performance bonus.
And her increments in 2000 were given in recognition of her contributions in helping to complete the charity show held in June 2000. - CNA /dt/ct -
NKF Pocket Money Fund too????Originally posted by crazy monkey:soon there will be NKF animal fund, NKF sisters for the poor , NKF needy fund ...... -
Mr Durian is a lawyer.
I believe that he have already prepare for the case after given so much time to think over.
Once again, Singapore is given two side of the story - Durian as the only controller or the BOD are all involved.
The reason is obvious why some of the BOD are selected for the case while the rest of the "elite" dun have to be responsible.
It is good that ALL of THE BOD should be charged since they are the BODY to make all the decision and management.
No one should escaped scot free.
But, with the inclusion of the "elite", Durian will definitely be given a light fine.
He know very well how Singapore operates. -
NKF appeared to have led the government's ministers by the nose in claiming that 52 cents out of a dollar were spent on patient when there was no such thing.
Surely as a lawyer, Durai should has know he has the duty and responsibility to present factual figure to ministers who spoke up to deny about complaints of lack of accountability and transparency on behalf of Durai in parliament.
Just read the following misrepresentation by NKF over a period of time. What did the Auditor and regulatory authority do all these time? What did the minister do at the time? Why was the patron so persistent in denying the excessive salaries and bonuses paid to Durai and his staff?
Why did the board fail to exercise responsibility on such matters.
Citizens might well be ask whether the whole government and GLCs are being run in such non-challant manner with concealments and misrepresentations of such nature ? How do we citizens trust the information given by GLCs?
How to trust information given by MOF and Temasek on insider trading by staff in Japan or billion dollar losses on Shin Corp and Global Crossing?
Four former directors named as third parties in civil suit by new NKF
By Rita Zahara and Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia
Former National Kidney Foundation directors Richard Yong and Loo Say San had earlier filed an 83-page statement of claim at the High Court demanding that 4 other former directors be included as third parties in the civil suit filed by the new NKF management.
The court has now given the go-ahead to include the 4 as third parties in the more than S$12 million lawsuit filed by the new NKF against its former chief TT Durai and 3 other former directors.
Mr Alwyn Lim - former chairman of the old NKF's Finance Committee - appeared to be the man in the centre of the storm.
Referring to NKF's Investment Reports from 2001 to 2004, Yong and Loo said Lim had consistently reported that the NKF fund-raising cost never exceeded 30 percent when in fact it did.
He was also alleged to be behind the statement that claimed that 52 cents of every dollar raised went to beneficiaries and programmes, when it was actually only 10 cents.
The new NKF also claimed that financial manipulation was used to reach such figures.
They noted that the sum of $31 million was reported to have been used to treat dialysis patients when patients actually paid $24 million and only $7 million came from the NKF's donation income
The sums patients paid to NKF for treatments were also included as part of the income raised by the NKF and much of the general overhead costs associated with raising funds were allocated to costs linked to beneficiaries and programmes.
The other 3 named are the former Assistant Honorary Treasurer, Associate Professor Lawrence Chia, (now a part-time consultant in alumni relations for the National University of Singapore), lawyer Kweh Soon Han and Chow Kok Fong (the managing director of Equitas Corporation).
Yong and Loo claimed that as directors, the four attended meetings and participated in the decisions taken by the Board for which Yong and Loo have now been alleged to have been in breach.
Yong and Loo are not happy they are being singled out in the civil suit by the new NKF and felt the rest of the former board should also be held responsible.
In the event they are found to be liable to the new NKF, their lawyer, Chia Boon Teck of Khattar Wong, says Yong and Loo will look to the 4 men to also pay the costs and damages.
The 4 former board of directors and the other 3 board members - Matilda Chua, Yong and Loo, along with the lawyers are expected back in court on July 24 for a pre-trial conference where the court will direct and discuss preparations for the hearing, which is expected to take place early next year, from January 8 to February 9.
The court has given the four men four weeks to file their defences.
Former NKF CEO TT Durai and his friend, Pharis Aboobacker are the other two sued in the case.
Nearly 3 months ago, the new NKF took Durai and former board members Yong, Loo and Chua to court to recover salaries and bonuses paid to them.
The new NKF also hopes to recover S$7.5 million worth of payments made to 2 firms, Protonweb Sotlutions and Forte Systems for call centre services and software development.
In a probe last year, auditing firm KPMG has found that the 2 companies owed by Aboobacker had either overcharged their services or had not delivered as promised. - CNA/ch -
The laws protect the rich!Originally posted by Medicated Oil:Mr Durian is a lawyer.
I believe that he have already prepare for the case after given so much time to think over.
Once again, Singapore is given two side of the story - Durian as the only controller or the BOD are all involved.
The reason is obvious why some of the BOD are selected for the case while the rest of the "elite" dun have to be responsible.
It is good that ALL of THE BOD should be charged since they are the BODY to make all the decision and management.
No one should escaped scot free.
But, with the inclusion of the "elite", Durian will definitely be given a light fine.
He know very well how Singapore operates. -
Time for REVOLUTION.Originally posted by Lowclassman:The laws protect the rich! 
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Tuesday August 8, 12:17 PM
Why Durai was paid that package
SINGAPORE: A former board member of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) has explained the rationale behind the hefty pay package given to Mr T T Durai, the controversial chief executive who stepped down last year.
Several factors were considered before the board approved the package, said former NKF remuneration committee member Associate Professor Lawrence Chia, in court papers obtained by this newspaper.
These included the level of donations the NKF was able to secure, as well as Mr Durai's "extensive and concerted efforts" in educating the public on kidney donations - especially from the local Muslim community - and in setting up an "outstanding nationwide dialysis programme" that won the charity local and international recognition.
Prof Chia has been named - along with three other former directors - a third party in a lawsuit filed by the NKF against its former chairman Richard Yong and former treasurer Loo Say San. This means that, should Mr Yong and Mr Loo be found guilty of breaching their directors' duties, Prof Chia will also be held responsible.
The other three third parties are accountant Alwyn Lim, lawyer Kweh Soon Han and businessman Chow Kok Fong, all of whom filed their defence last week.
In his defence papers, Mr Lim, who headed the finance committee and was part of the audit committee, addressed the issue of Mr Durai flying first-class and buying air tickets overseas.
He said even though the charity only paid for business class travel, senior executives "could upgrade to first class at their own cost or by utilising or redeeming" their frequent-flyer points.
He had referred a Colombo travel agent to Mr Durai only after the latter - citing "substantially cheaper" airline tickets purchased in Chennai, Colombo and Bangkok - asked him to help the NKF get better rates, said Mr Lim, who has business dealings in Colombo.
The four former directors also individually sought to counter allegations that they had slept on the job and given Mr Durai a free hand to control the board.
While the former chief executive led proceedings at meetings of the executive committee, the exco "retained overall supervision" by receiving regular briefings and reports from him and other salaried staff, said Mr Kweh.
Mr Lim also sought to shift some of the blame squarely back on the former NKF management over allegations made against him.
To the claim that he be held liable for disclosing misleading figures to the public - such as the fact that its fund-raising costs did not exceed 30 per cent - Mr Lim countered that he had made such statements "based on information provided by the NKF, which in turn was based on data and statistics complied by the NKF's accounts department, the NKF's audited financial statements, and the audited accounts in respect of each fund-raising event".
Mr Lim was also blamed for a botched $3.3-million deal between the charity and Forte Systems, owned by Mr Durai's friend, Mr Pharis Aboobacker.
Together with Mr Yong, Mr Lim sat on a committee that was to assess and acquire a new software system for the charity in 2001. Mr Lim said he and Mr Yong relied on the technical expertise of the third committee member, Mr Jayaraman Krishnan, the charity's head of department of technology and systems.
Forte's quotation was accepted in the end because it was the second lowest - at $3.1 million - and the company was prepared to allow the charity to "customise or modify" the software.
Lawyer Chia Boon Teck, who acts for Mr Yong and Mr Loo, said a Queen's Counsel has been engaged to assess the merits of the NKF's claims, as well as his clients' defences and action against the four third parties. - /ra -
Tuesday August 8, 12:17 PM
Four third party defendants downplay individual roles in NKF
The blame game continues in the S$12 million National Kidney Foundation lawsuit at the High Court.
Four other former board members recently included as third party defendants have played down their roles in the old NKF.
Of the four third party defendants, Alwyn Lim is a central figure.
The former chairman of the old Finance Committee was alleged to have consistently reported that NKF's fundraising never exceeded 30 percent of the total cost, when in fact it did.
And that 52 cents of every dollar raised went to beneficiaries, when it was only 10 cents.
In his defence, Lim said these reports were made, based on information provided by the NKF and its Accounts Department.
He found no reason to question the financial statements since the accounts were audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers and other such accountants.
The other three third party defendants - former Assistant Honorary Treasurer, Associate Professor Lawrence Chia; lawyer Kweh Soon Han and Chow Kok Fong, also downplayed their roles in the administration of NKF affairs.
Chow said his role was limited even though he served as a director from August 2002 to July 2004.
Kweh said he was a non-executive member and did not handle the finances.
And despite serving as Assistant Honorary Treasurer for about a year (Aug 2002 to Jun 2003), he said he was just an unpaid volunteer.
As for Lawrence Chia, he said he was not involved in the preparation of accounts for fund-raising activities.
The four have been dragged in as third party defendants by former NKF directors Richard Yong and Loo Say San who are being sued by the new NKF.
Loo and Yong have two weeks to reply to the defendants. - CNA/ch