NKFoe/riend?

Thought I'll just jump onto the NKF bandwagon as well. Poor T.T. Durai. I am like anyone else, shocked that he commands a $25000 monthly salary. I've donated to NKF before, and frankly, I wonder if my money does end up in someone's pocket. I recall the time I went to the NKF HQ in Balestier. My first thought was "Great! Air-con at last!" Next was a sort of awe at the imposing glass façade and grand, airy concierge.

Wow.

For a charity organization, they've really made it big. It took a while, but when I reflected on the grandeur of the building, nestled within an industrial estate with really ancient looking factories, I wonder - what a sore sight. For a charitable organization that depended solely on the public's well meant donations, it looked really nice. One starts to compare it with other charities in Singapore. The SPCA has a dilapidated HQ. The Cancer Society doesn't have a 12 storey HQ. So...why? If you are a highly successful charity organization, who some say have reserves to last for the next 30yrs, what would you do? Continue to solicit money from the public, or just retire? Others say that 30yrs is a mere estimation; that it was blown up by the media. OK...even if it wasn't, does that mean that we should stop donating to the NKF? If so, I then pity the kidney patients who benefit from the organization's help. After all, the number of kidney patients grow every year, and if donations stop, what will happen to them?

I understand that it is ridiculous that a charity should have CEOs, fancy glass offices and Mercedes cars with attached chauffeurs. But does that mean that every charity should keep to a tatty, poverty-induced image? If so, I wonder who would actually volunteer to lead a life of poverty, even if the spiritual or moralistic gain is great? Surely a do-good organization should deserve better working onditions? Moreover, the NKF is not some start-up NGO that would for finances sake rent some 1-room HDB flat as its HQ... The NKF is an established government backed organization. What is so wrong with keeping with the times? The answer is obvious. Ostentatious gold taps (what a terrible fashion faux pas), the CEO is paid a monthly salary that would be beyond most Singaporeans and a disturbingly glossy office. But that by itself does not irk anyone - it is the fact that the public was kept in the dark about it. The issue among Singaporeans is obvious - where is my money going? The NKF has done a great job in taking care of the kidney patients here, pity this blow-up has resulted in a loss of faith for it.