NKF thoughts...

The NKF story has been splashed all over the newspapers for several days now, but i seem to be hearing views from only one side - that Mr Durai is very bad for earning 600K a year, and NKF is just as bad for deceiving the general public.

Here's my opinion: As CEO of a large organization, with almost 200 million in reserves, 600K a year is not a lot of money. Really, i have to agree, it is peanuts. investment bankers make hell-of-a-lot more money. Heard from a friend's friend that top i-bankers get 10% of the profits they make for the bank as bonuses. and most top i-bankers routinely make profits in the tens of millions. i.e., they receive bonuses in millions... and they are not even CEOs.

honestly, i wasn't suprised at all when i read that the CEO of NKF got paid 600K. i thought a couple of years ago it was hinted that NKF has been recruiting people from Harvard or other top universities... obviously they had to get paid comparable salaries. and i thought it was a couple of years ago that i read that something like 26 cents of every dollar donated gets spent on the patient... correct me if i'm wrong.

I agree fully that NKF should be run like a business, just like the government is run like a business. Ministers are paid very competitive salaries, because they are smart, capable people and would get paid very well also if they weren't in the public sector. both organizations are the same (NKF and the government): they are non profit organizations that seek to serve a group of people. the only difference is that one gets its money voluntarily.

anyway, back to the point. NKF should be run like a business because businesses are streamlined. they cut extraneous costs and they try to maximise profit and efficiency. businesses also try to attract top talent that can manage their assets better.

what i am peeved about though, is that NKF lied. instead of 3000 patients it said it had, it has 2000. instead of the reserves lasting 3 years, it would last 26 years (assuming little inflation and no change in the number of patients and cost of treatment).

we want all charitable organizations to be transparent. exactly where does their money go to? how much of what people donate actually help the patients?

perhaps if it was always known (instead of having it suddenly "exposed") that Mr Durai was paid that much, people wouldn't make such a hoo-ha. perhaps NKF should have conducted public surveys on how much the CEO should be paid, or hold conferences and discussions, and slowly let the information seep into the public - you know, like how Singapore handled the Integrated Resorts (Casino) issue. then maybe the public would have accepted it.

so, how much exactly should the CEO of NKF be paid? 150K? 60K? 30K? maybe straits times should carry out a poll.. hahaha.. it would be interesting.

update: just read the article "The People vs T.T. Durai". Wow, gold plated taps, first class flights, EIGHT chauffered cars... indeed, a bit too much. glad he resigned..