猜不透 by 戴佩妮

The Peanut Story

Mrs GCT, although I agree that $600k/annum for a CEO of a multi-million dollar organisation is little, I beg to differ ur peanut talk.

I hope u still remember u're the patron of a NON-Profit Organisation. NON-Profit, according to the definition below, obtains its funds through public/private funding.

Where does the $600k comes from? Donations, Taxes, etc, it all flows out from the pockets of the slogging citizens. Associating $600k with peanuts is absurd. Does the government want us to give peanuts, as in the real nuts, for our income taxes, duty, cpf contributions, etc etc? We'll be more than happy to do so.

Estimation 50 nuts per packet of peanuts. Each packet costs $2.
600,000/50 x 2 = $12,000, 6,000 packets of peanuts.

With the salary Durai gets PER MTH, he could swim in his peanut pool, or build an empire selling peanut butter. Possibly abt 1/3 of Singapore's population does not even have an annum of $24,000, and we're contributing WALNUTS to the government in taxes and what not.

$600k, non-profit organisation, I assume its NOT taxable. Furthermore, y is there BONUS for non-profit organisations? An out-of-this-world bonus of 12 mths for performance? What type of performance is taken into consideration here, may i enquire? The increased no. of patients? The increased amt of donations?

Some rough estimations
NKF's reserves. $250 million.
$250,000,000/$600,000 = 416 years.
Interest earned from reserves per yr. 0.5%/yr
$250,000,000 x 0.005 = $1,250,000
Donations per show
600,000 calls x $5 = $3,000,000
5 shows per yr, Donations
$3,000,000 x 5 = $15,000,000
Each patient's annual dialysis cost.
$2,600 x 12 = $31,200
Interest alone can support
$1,250,000/$31,200 = 40 patients.
Current dialysis expense per yr
$2,600 x 1,800 patients x 12 = $56,160,000
Maintenance for fish tanks, dialysis, blah blah;
Salary, staff benefits, etc etc
$n
Note: NKF only subsidises, they pay less than $2,600 per patient per yr. And the money goes back into their account.

Conclusion: NKF is rich.

From the definition below, Profit is defined as the residual value gained from business operations. The only other channel of income, apart from donations, is the dialysis fees of the patients. $2,600 per patient per mth. It is reportedly higher than KDF. What is the rational for the high charges? To get a larger profit margin?

Yes, Durai did a fantastic job increasing awareness of kidney dieases and cancer. He created the immediate link between kidney failure and NKF. He spread awareness not just locally but globally. We do not deny his hard work. But look at the way he carried himself. Arrogantly and self-importantly. Is that the image that NKF want to protray? That kidney patients cannot live without NKF?

The NKF originally founded by Mr Khoo was a small and humble foundation, supporting kidney patients in the background. In the recent years, it became increasingly commercialised. There's even talks of an IPO. An IPO for charity!?!! Bad joke. Everywhere u go, u see NKF advertisements. Awareness is created, but people gets sick from over-publicity. Negative rumours flies, particularly from the needy who were rejected bcos they do not fulfil the less than $800 total family income requirement. What if the family's total income is $1k but has 5 dependents, aka 2 retired parents and 3 children?

Its true people tend to make a big hoo-haa and forget all about it in the next minute. Its reaching its hoo-haa peak now. NKF had taken on the suit hoping to restore their tarnished image. Up till now, they had dug themselves a deeper hole to climb out. If u're trying to repair the damage, shut ur trap!

Unless this whole thing is a big scam to cover up some undertable stuff (think evading taxes.)and Durai is made the scapegoat.

Bad publicity kills, and who are the victims? Durai might get a few yrs in jail if the court convicts him as a cheat. He loses his peanuts and 1st class travel. NKF gets lesser donations.

Who are the REAL victims?

The kidney patients.

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Patron: It must

July 14, 2005

SHE'S the patron of the NKF.

So for Mrs Goh Chok Tong (right), this whole episode has been sad and disappointing.

But despite the resulting bad publicity, she will not be abandoning it.

In fact, after Mr Durai's dramatic withdrawal of his defamation lawsuit, she came out defending him and the NKF.

She asked: 'What's SPH to gain out of this?'

'NKF is doing a very good job helping the sick.

'Who benefits (from this lawsuit)? What's the purpose of it?'

Mrs Goh made these remarks yesterday afternoon, when The New Paper asked for her comments on the case.

She said that all the NKF had sought was a retraction of the alleged defamatory paragraphs, as it gave the wrong impression to the public.

But, she said: 'You have expanded the case and extended it to NKF's transparency.'

Mrs Goh, dressed in a tan-coloured suit and leopard-print shirt yesterday, had been present for most of the court proceedings over the two days it was before the High Court.

When asked if she thought Mr Durai's $600,000-a-year pay was excessive, she replied: 'For a person who runs a big million-dollar charitable organisation, with a few hundred million in reserves, $600,000 a year is peanuts.'

Asked if she would continue her patronage of the foundation, she said: 'Yes, I'll continue as a patron of the foundation. Yes, why not?

'I have complete faith in the NKF and in T T Durai. I believe he's doing a very good job.'

Extracted from The Electric New Paper

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A non-profit organization (often called "non-profit org" or simply "non-profit" or "not-for-profit") is an organization whose primary objective is something other than the generation of profit (Profit is defined as the residual value gained from business operations. Profitability refers to the amount of profit received relative to the amount invested, often measured by a rate of profit or rate of return on investment.)

Such organizations are typically funded through a mix of private or public (ie. government) donations (A donation is a gift to a fund or cause, usually for charitable reasons.).

They may also generate income through their own commercial activities, but the extent to which they are able to do this may be constrained, or the use of such income may be restricted in certain ways.

A charity is a type of non-profit organization, and some non-governmental organizations may also be non-profit organizations.

Structure
Most non-profits do not have members, although they may. The non-profit may also be a trust or association of members. The organization may be controlled by its members who elect the Board of Directors. (A board of directors is a group of individuals chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company. Board members in most legal jurisdictions have specific fiduciary duties, whereby they act for the benefit of others.)

Although the characteristic of not earning or "making" a profit is widely believed by the general public to be definitive, most experts today agree that it is actually legal and ethical restrictions on the distribution of profits to owners or shareholders that is the defining characteristic of nonprofits.

Status
In most countries, non-profit organizations may apply for a tax exempt status; this means that finacial donors may claim back any taxes paid on money donated. A primary difference between a non-profit and a for-profit corporation is that a non-profit does not issue dividends, and may not enrich its directors. However, like for-profit corporations, non-profits may still have employees and can compensate their directors within reasonable bounds.

Goals
Such "organizations" are often charities or service organizations; they may be organized as a not-for-profit corporation or as a trust, a cooperative or they may be purely informal. Sometimes they are also called foundations, or endowments that have large equity funds. Most foundations give out grants to other not-for-profit organizations, or fellowships to individuals. However, the name foundation may be used by any not-for-profit corporation -- even volunteer

Laws
Most countries have laws governing the setting up, running, and reporting requirements of these organizations. Most larger organizations are required to publish their financial reports detailing their income and expenditure for the public. In many aspects they are similar to business entities though there are often significant differences. Both non-profit and for-profit entities must have board members, steering committee members, or trustees who owe the organization a fiduciary duty of loyalty and trust.

Extracted from TheFreeDictionary.com