Read an article on the Sunday Times by Sumiko Tan on the NKF incident. She talked about some of the reasons why it was neccessary to spend so much on a marketing team to garner as much donations as possible by drawing a comparison between NKF and SPCA. For example, in the letters NKF sends out to potential doners, they include highly personalized messages like "Dear Miss Tan" in attractive colours and packagings, whilst the SPCA letter came in a black and white single sheet of paper cramped with words and one picture of a rabbit and dog. Given such a difference, who would u be more compelled to give to, given that u genuinely wanna help both groups equally?

We are suckers for glossy packaging. All this while as the incident brewed into a storm, I've been wondering at the back of my head, "should people stop donating just because of this incident?" No doubt, TT Durai has done a great job in increasing the profile of the NKF, generating millions of dollars in funds every year for the organization. It's true that without a capable and highly paid marketing team, they would be no different from organizations like the SPCA which is still housed in a rundown single storey building in an desolute area of Singapore, seriously lacking in funds and support to sustain their cause. So her stand was that probably this was all blown out of too much proportion and that she hopes people would continue to support the NKF and its cause.

I agree that NKF has helped many kidney patients over the years, and I feel touched by that. I also feel that it is neccessary to continue to spend that kind of money on marketing and promotion efforts to ensure that the funds flow in on a regular basis. In fact, I have no problems with the marketing efforts they have made (althou they should REALLY tone down on the exposure). But what I'm most unhappy about, which is what I believe most people are unhappy about as well, is actually how the bulk of the funds go into the pockets of the people on top, instead of being given back to the people who need them most. Like what I talked about, this is a charity organization, and there's no reason to use the people's money (some of whom may even have financial difficulties themselves yet still find the heart to donate) to lavish oneself on luxuries such as private chauffers and a mercs with road taxes and other expenses fully paid by NKF. Yes, charity organizations shouldn't be always seen as being humble and poor as they wouldn't help with sustaining their efforts. But really, there should be a limit to all this as well. As has been reported (and I believe in it too), 2 out of 3 Singaporeans donate to this charity. If S$600,000 is 'peanuts', as what Mrs Goh Chock Tong so proudly declared, then what could u make out of the earnings of these average Singaporeans? Most of these 2 out of 3 Singaporeans probably dun even get to earn peanut skins in their lifetimes.

Well, now that Durai and the board of directors have resigned and a new committee has been installed, hopefully the NKF will be able to regain confidence in the people, continue to bring in the funds and use them sensibly. Whether I'll continue donating to them really depends on how they will run the organization from now on.