COMMENT | Are your donations being used as intended?

COMMENT | In July 2005, the chief executive officer of Singapore’s National Kidney Foundation (NKF) TT Durai sued Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) for defamation following a newspaper article detailing a lack of transparency and accountability in the foundation’s usage and acquisition of funds.

The trial led to public disclosures about numerous malpractices and financial mismanagement in the NKF and subsequent government investigations into its misconduct. The affair also resulted in increased public concern over the regulation and transparency of charitable organisations.

In England, Oxfam - a charity that operates around the world - was embroiled in a “hypocrisy” row after it paid one worker at least £340,000 (about RM 1.9 million) in 2022 - almost three times Oxfam boss Danny Sriskandarajah’s salary in the same year.

Closer to home, in 2012, I investigated the Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPC) after RM3.8 million of its funds were used for unapproved high-risk investments by its then president, Zainal Abidin Abu Zarin.

This was done through a company called Paralimpik Ventures, in which Zainal and his two sons were majority shareholders. The money was said to have been channelled as an “investment” to a company in the US.

Subsequently, the money became “irrecoverable” and the MPC was unable to contact the US company.