Not for profit organisations like NKF, Renci, Clubs, Churches are generally prone to abuse as societies act and various statutory laws recognises that members have the role to set direction for the these organisation and ensure its good conduct. All their financials are private.
If I had my way, I would legislate that any organisation including not for profit organisations that collect more than $100k from their members must declare their audited financials publicly on their website. It must have disclosure in terms of remuneration paid, and the amount expended and for what purposes.
What was previously volunteer based is now attractive to vultures and wolfs and there too many gullible sheep. The fastest growing pay scale is not the PAP. It is actually these charities and churches. When Vincent Lam left the Police Force as a Corporal to run Teen Challenge, the first day on the job, he pruchased a BMW. The vounteers paid for everything while he travelled on conferences. Look at Singapore Cricket Club. All local professionals but the Ang Mo they hired ended up hiring underqualified more underqualified ang mo who entertain their ang mo friend rather than do their work.
Even if the laws are not amended, I wish volunteer organisations publish their financials for public scrutiny for the sake of society.
Vincent Lam says he's not like that other charity boss
By Jasmine Yin, TODAY | Posted: 13 February 2007 1032 hrs
He says he flew economy class or on budget carriers — forget flying first-class or on Singapore Airlines.
And when he went overseas, he often stayed at inexpensive hostels.
Mr Vincent Lam (picture), the under-fire charity boss who stepped down after more than two decades of heading Youth Challenge, yesterday came out to refute the allegations against him.
The Commissioner of Charities recently raised concerns about Mr Lam's monthly $13,000 pay and weak internal controls at the charity he founded in 1985. Since the inquiry report was released around the time that the National Kidney Foundation's (NKF) civil suit against its former chief executive T T Durai and ex-board members was in full flow, some comparisons were drawn.
But Mr Lam said he ran his charity very differently from the way Mr Durai ran the NKF. "If people want to compare me with him and judge me, then I just let them be," said Mr Lam.
To underline his commitment to Youth Challenge, he told Today that in 1999, he had nominated the charity as the sole beneficiary of his Central Provident Fund savings, which amount to about $400,000. It was also the nominee, in the event of his death, of two insurance policies.
"It's as good as saying that whatever I got from Youth Challenge will go back to Youth Challenge. It's like I am working for free because I don't think any employee in Singapore will give everything he has back to his employer," Mr Lam, 45, said.
To criticism that he ran the charity as a one-man show, the former policeman said: "It's a 10-person job but with one-man pay. It's different."
Mr Lam said he was speaking out yesterday to correct "some wrong information reported".
Among these was that
his salary in 2005 was more than half (56 per cent) of the charity's income. In fact, it was just about a third (34.75 per cent), said Mr Lam.
The Commissioner's report said that some $42,000 worth of pens to be sold to raise funds were not properly recorded and tracked. This figure, Mr Lam pointed out, should be less than $3,500. The unsold pens, which are still in the Youth Challenge's office, will be donated to orphans in Third World countries, as per "normal practice".
"I don't know where the figures (in the Commissioner's report) are from. My figures are from the audited statements of accounts by Ernst and Young, a top auditing firm. I am releasing the statement based on what I know," he said.
Mr Lam hopes to get "closure" after speaking out.
His starting salary was $2,200 and he "voluntarily gave up" three years of annual increments.
He said that his gratuity payout — given after every five years — had been introduced by a previous board to retain staff.
"In Youth Challenge, there is no structure for advancement and promotion. Also, because of the volume of work, employees often don't stay long. Many leave within two years," Mr Lam said in his statement.
He said that for about 15 years he did not take any leave.
Mr Lam reiterated that the Commissioner's inquiry "did not mention any case of fraud or misappropriation or mismanagement of funds". The investigating auditors Deloitte and Touche were extremely thorough, he said. "They even questioned me on how I disposed of a typewriter that Youth Challenge had purchased 20 years ago."
And he clarified that he did not resign because he found out that the new board had cut his pay by half — something he only learnt about through the media, he added.
Said Mr Lam: "If you want to reduce the pay for your staff, you cannot inform them through the newspaper. This change should also take time to take effect.
"Even when the Government decided to raise the Goods and Services Tax, they did not (abruptly) announce it and tomorrow when you wake up, it's 7 per cent." - TODAY/fa
(Haha...this guy sure can joke man. He take 1/3 of the entire charity's takings, then how much left to help the needy leh?)
