Governance of charities is at best still murky in Sg. It truly lacks much needed transparency and a system of best practices to prevent abuse.

Btw, I have been an avid reader of TOC since its beginning so it strikes me as quite puzzling why an earlier comment on this article was removed. It had something on some aunties in the west of Singapore addressed to choo zheng xi. Might it be related to this latest saga over TOC’s choo being paid to write? Hope you can clarify this omission of that comment. Remember your actions will determine the extent of your credibility.

Thanks. To safeguard my comment, I think I will print screen this yar? Cheers

Isn’t it more efficient if every charity strives to collect as much money as possible? Shouldn’t we allow charities which have engaged in better financial management, to reap the attendant benefits? That’s the best incentive we could offer for good financial management.

The problem lies in the fact that many charities are too small to enjoy the economies of scale and the visibility which institutions like NKF do. The solution, I think, is that these smaller charities collaborate, either among themselves, or with the mega-charities. A drastic approach would be to forcibly consolidate some of the smaller charities. There are obstacles in the way of consolidation, though: each charity might have different goals, different management values, different target beneficiaries.

In any case, however, forcible redistribution of any surplus funds collected by the mega-charities is surely not the way to go. Even the average donor would want, I think, some autonomy in deciding where his or her money goes.