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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>April 9, 2009
CHARITY AND RELIGION
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Top dollar for top talent: Why not?
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to the vigorous discussion about the salaries earned by the heads of charitable and religious organisations, which was sparked by the report, 'Medical charities the best paymasters' (March 30).
Donations and tithes are used to benefit the needy, and donors to churches or temples do not and should not expect to receive monetary dividends in return. People give because they want to. They believe that their donation will benefit someone somewhere who needs it more than they do.
I agree that religious organisations are not wealth-generating engines. But if a larger amount of donations collected benefits more people as a result, there is nothing wrong if religious organisations work towards obtaining more.
What is more important is for charitable and religious groups to have a sound system to manage their funds.
For instance, New Creation Church has a council and a remuneration committee to review and approve annual staff salary adjustments and bonus payments. The head of the church does not decide his pay; the council and the committee make that decision unanimously.
Critics have zeroed in on the absolute pay of the heads of medical charities and large religious groups, rather than view it in a fairer context, that is, as a percentage of total revenue.
It does not mean that needy church members are getting less, simply because the leaders are getting a lot.
Surely, the size of a leader's salary is justifiable if he attracts a lot more revenue than if he were not part of the organisation.
In the case of New Creation Church, its pastor Joseph Prince's salary amounts to less than 1 per cent of total revenue, which is not a lot if one considers that he attracts more than 50 per cent of the church's income.
He has donated $563,360 to the building project at Buona Vista, which is essentially more than what he reportedly draws in a year. Ng Zi Yun (Ms)
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ng-Zi-Yun/621666953
Ng Zi Yun
CHARITY AND RELIGION
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Top dollar for top talent: Why not?
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->I REFER to the vigorous discussion about the salaries earned by the heads of charitable and religious organisations, which was sparked by the report, 'Medical charities the best paymasters' (March 30).
Donations and tithes are used to benefit the needy, and donors to churches or temples do not and should not expect to receive monetary dividends in return. People give because they want to. They believe that their donation will benefit someone somewhere who needs it more than they do.
I agree that religious organisations are not wealth-generating engines. But if a larger amount of donations collected benefits more people as a result, there is nothing wrong if religious organisations work towards obtaining more.
What is more important is for charitable and religious groups to have a sound system to manage their funds.
For instance, New Creation Church has a council and a remuneration committee to review and approve annual staff salary adjustments and bonus payments. The head of the church does not decide his pay; the council and the committee make that decision unanimously.
Critics have zeroed in on the absolute pay of the heads of medical charities and large religious groups, rather than view it in a fairer context, that is, as a percentage of total revenue.
It does not mean that needy church members are getting less, simply because the leaders are getting a lot.
Surely, the size of a leader's salary is justifiable if he attracts a lot more revenue than if he were not part of the organisation.
In the case of New Creation Church, its pastor Joseph Prince's salary amounts to less than 1 per cent of total revenue, which is not a lot if one considers that he attracts more than 50 per cent of the church's income.
He has donated $563,360 to the building project at Buona Vista, which is essentially more than what he reportedly draws in a year. Ng Zi Yun (Ms)
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ng-Zi-Yun/621666953
Ng Zi Yun
