So the case is all over the papers. The revelation of National Kidney Foundation's Chief Executive Mr. T.T. Durai's pay of estimated S$ 600, 000 annually came as a shocker. For your info, National Kidney Foundation raises money pleading for donations for its kidney patients ... and now branching out to involve cancer patients.
We're talking about SIX HUNDRED thousands. Not one, or two thousand, it's SIX HUNDRED thousand dollars. That's way a lot. Senior Counsel Mr. Davinder Singh, representing Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) asked a question that just keep ringing in my head "if a man earns S$ 1000 a month, and donates S$ 50 thinking it will be saving lives, should they not know how much you earn"... to Durai. Durai obviously said No.
Well i donate to NKF regularly. But i feel this is a time, as good as any, to STOP. 1stly, he earns six hundred thousand dollars. I'm sure a CEO like him should earn lesser, especially from NKF (an organization that is using public donations to run its business). 1st class travel should never be allowed. I know of many corporate & governmental bodies instructing their high & mighty to travel economy or at most, business class. It's ridiculous wasting public donations on these lil' things in life.
Durai also had a gold tap changed in his office suite bathroom for S$ 990.00. It's expensive by Mr. Singh's standard, and obviously by mine too. Oh goodness...
So for now, i'm upset. And i think they should go ahead and disclose everyone else's salary who are counting on the public for its running costs. Yes, i am upset. Imagine how much S$ 600 000 can do? One year.
To put things to perspective, S$ 600000 can buy you four Mitsubishi evolutions, OR ten Honda Fit/Jazz, OR ten Hyundai Matrix, or twelve Kia Picanto, or gadzillion Louis Vuitton. Putting things closer to my peers, average salary is S$ 30, 000 among us. So that's like 20 of our pay. Ridiculous.
Arghhhh....
__________________________________________________________________
Today's 21st of July. The original NKF post was posted on 12th July. But i have decided to bring the post up, because it makes me boil when i read an anonymous computer hero's comment about it. He posted the 3rd comment on the situation, in which he wrote :
I have to admit that I am profoundly shocked at your comments regarding the NKF issue.
While no one in their right mind would dispute that the CEO of NKF was grossly overpaid, it is disappointing to know that while you agree with most Sporeans on this, you choose instead to view it as a lost opportunity to spend that $600K on LV bags, Mitsubishi Evos and whatever other cars that you fancy, as opposed to how far that sum of money can go to helping those in need.
I'm sure you are not aware that every 3 seconds, a child dies from extreme poverty, a situation that is defined as earning less than US$1 per day (LV handbags anyone???). In addition, more than 1,000 babies in Africa are infected by aids EVERYDAY either during childbirth or by their mothers' milk.
While you are certainly entitled to your own (foolish) opinions, I hope you will wise up and realize that there are millions of impoverished and aids-stricken children that will never have a chance to SEE a LV bag or a Mitsubishi Evo, let alone enjoy one.
Regards
One who hopes to make a difference
http://www.one.org
This is what i have to say to this guy. You got guts then please go ahead and post your email or correspondence, so that i can send that 600K to you, and let you attend an English language school or at least, go back to primary school and learn English Comprehension . I did say PERSPECTIVE. I am putting things into perspective that the amount Mr. T.T. Durai earn is totally ludicrous, based on what my peers and me earn. Perhaps you earn much more, perhaps you could donate all of your 600K to the charity, or even attend a English language school.
That being said, i'll let you take a beating from my fellow friends.
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21 comments:
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I have to admit that I am profoundly shocked at your comments regarding the NKF issue.
While no one in their right mind would dispute that the CEO of NKF was grossly overpaid, it is disappointing to know that while you agree with most Sporeans on this, you choose instead to view it as a lost opportunity to spend that $600K on LV bags, Mitsubishi Evos and whatever other cars that you fancy, as opposed to how far that sum of money can go to helping those in need.
I'm sure you are not aware that every 3 seconds, a child dies from extreme poverty, a situation that is defined as earning less than US$1 per day (LV handbags anyone???). In addition, more than 1,000 babies in Africa are infected by aids EVERYDAY either during childbirth or by their mothers' milk.
While you are certainly entitled to your own (foolish) opinions, I hope you will wise up and realize that there are millions of impoverished and aids-stricken children that will never have a chance to SEE a LV bag or a Mitsubishi Evo, let alone enjoy one.
Regards
One who hopes to make a difference
http://www.one.org
To anonymous,
Why don't you sell the computer you typed that comment on and donate it to charity since you care so much for the "less fortunate"?
Are you some communist stuck in the 60s? Still living in some gulag which just got Internet access? Capitalism works, plain and simple. Who are you to judge what is an appropriate amount to donate to charity, and what people do with their own hard-earned money?
Get off your pompous self-righteous high horse.
"...a situation that is defined as earning less than US$1 per day (LV handbags anyone???)."
Isn't this also putting things into perspective? Daft is right about you needing some reading comprehension.
"you choose instead to view it as a lost opportunity to spend that $600K on LV bags, Mitsubishi Evos and whatever other cars that you fancy, as opposed to how far that sum of money can go to helping those in need."
This is just misquoting / misinterpretation. Severe need for reading comprehension classes.
Sirium
Dear anon, or rather "one who hopes to make a difference"
I am not surprise that one who had made such intelligent comments would probably be a regular watcher of that most erudite of channels, MTV. That your most acute of comments copied verbatim from MTV’s spew of hog-wash programs with socially conscious veneers.
It is strange that you while you comment on the “abstruse” perspective of the writer who choose to put 600K into real terms by making comparison to real consumer goods you then choose to contrast it and promote a web org fronted by stars to whom 600K is (forgive me for using this term) peanuts. Whose cause advocates not spending a single cent?
I do not know whether you see the irony, but for me its thick and extremely sad.
I certainly would not sign on the one.org site, I certainly would buy the T-shirt since people will think I’m so cool
Cheers
I don't think anon. had negative intentions. I don't think the gist of his message is half bad either. It is probably true that expressing the worth of 600K in human lives savable the most dramatic illustration. I agree that it is sad that it is not in the forefront the minds of the general population.
I wouldn't go as far as to say that capitalism works. Capitalism is a product of human nature - which is fallen. Capitalism may be the most compatible with human nature since it feeds it [ I ]. There is no total failure (yet), but by head count, the majority is neglected.
The ONE campaign promises things it cannot deliver. There will be no ending or poverty and hunger till human nature changes. The celebrities are a joke because their industry promotes everything opposite of humanitarian work. Self, image, frivolous fun, vs the greater good, the core of a person, focused minds working towards a clear target.
We are all guilty, all hypocrites. All our deliveries could be better.
To Crufty:
Your reply is nothing short of asinine.
1. What has my original post got to do with capitalism or communism????
2. I wasn't aware that I had made any comments about an "appropriate amount" to give to charity, and neither did I mention what I thought daftbitch should do with her hard-earned $$$.
Seriously, even if you want to criticize me, at least stay in the context of the argument.
Talking about "communism" and "capitalism" might make you look smart in front of some chao ah bengs or lians but you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that yr comments belong in trash can.
To daftbitch:
Why do you still not get it?
You claim that what Durai earns is ludicrous based on what you and your peers make. This comment, together with your previous ones on LV bags, Mitsubishi Evos, Honda whatever-the- heck-model-is-was-that-you mentioned provides further insight on the things that you deem are important.
Durai's $600K salary is ludicrous because he is the CEO of a non-profit organization whose sole mission is to use all of its resources-in this case, mostly financial-to provide affordable healthcare to Singaporeans, as opposed to say, the CEO of a firm whose shares are traded on the Spore stock exchange.
Durai's salary is atrocious EVEN IF you and all your peers make $1m a year.
Is that too difficult to understand?
Regards
One who still hopes to make you see the light
PS You and your so-called friends would like to give me a verbal "beating"?? hahahaha. Thanks for making me laugh. It's been a dull morning so far.
les:
The one campaign has raised millions so far that goes a long way towards feeding countless number of starving children and god knows how many unfortunate individuals who carry the HIV virus.
Your comments portray you as a parochial conservative, aka tight-ass. Sure, $600K means nothing to Brad Pitt and Bono but at least at the end of the day, they get the satisfaction of knowing that they used their star power to raise funds to make a difference in the lives of millions.
Can these Hollywood stars do more? Of course they can, but at least it's a start.
When was the last time you went to bed knowing that you made a difference in someone's life? Oh wait, was it that time you bought a LV handbag for a friend and brought big, wide smile to her face?
To anonymous:
You still have not found the courage to reveal your identity. Why?
>>1. What has my original post got to do with capitalism or communism????<<
Of course it does. The gist of your message is that luxury consumables could be put to "better use" by contributing to charities. Isn't that part of a greater communistic/socialistic dogma? History has proven time and again that such ideologies have failed miserably, because human nature as Shaun has pointed out is driven by greed. Is it the panacea to all the world's problems? Definitely not, but it's doing a damn good job in comparison to other socio-economic models.
>>2. I wasn't aware that I had made any comments about an "appropriate amount" to give to charity, and neither did I mention what I thought daftbitch should do with her hard-earned $$$.<<
No? So what's this hubbub about quantifying disposable income in terms of consumerism?
>>Seriously, even if you want to criticize me, at least stay in the context of the argument. <<
And it's apparent that you haven't passed reading comprehension.
>>Talking about "communism" and "capitalism" might make you look smart in front of some chao ah bengs or lians but you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that yr comments belong in trash can.<<
And it doesn't take a genius to see you for the hypocrite that you are. Sell your computer and do something to further your "cause" instead of being a computer hero.
To the anonymous poster,
If you have the guts ( i doubt so...), you can just put down your contact info or blog name, if not, pls stop visiting my blog, and adding your silly comments. Obviously you're very intellectual in your own world, but i appreciate if you just butt out from my blog.
I do not applaud computer heroes, as more often than not, they are zeroes in reality.
My blog is for my own self-gratification. You have been following my blog, so you should know. It's not for people like you to come add your 2 cents worth. Donate that 2 cents to NKF instead.
My blog is for my friends to follow up on my life, as i have family and friends worldwide.
Show some courage and reveal your identity.
raised millions? prove it
even if so, then the org would prove to be rather hypocritical \, wouldn't they?
If you are a true advocate of such social causes then my advise to you is to study harder, make yourself at least coherent and perhaps one day qualify to work for one of those developement agencies that are doing real work.
and me, tightass? why thank you, i ahd worked very hard to get them that way.....
anyway you do represent an irritating new development to the ever growing body of net pest. Baiters with a thesurus, who constantly butchers the language at a whim.
There you just wasted a few more minutes of my time. Happy? i hope so
and the fifth horseman (the one who quit before they became famous) rode out......
Apologies for the late reply, been busy...
So what have we here? Honest opinions differing in viewpoints? Certainly everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but really, if you don't like what you read, hit alt-F4 for relief. All this mud slinging and eye poking is really getting nowhere, it just leaves everyone blinded and in need of a shower.
I understand the need to promote a cause, but persuading others to follow it requires more than just insults. The "one who hopes to make a difference" has made a difference, whether for good or bad it remains to be seen.
Daft,
What shaun said is very true. We are all hypocrites. We are not strong enough to stop and resist the urge for self-gratification. Like one very popular book reminds us to take the log out of one's eye before removing the splinter in your brother's eye and let he who has not sinned csat the first stone.
We are all sinners. We are not perfect.
[continued]
Hence let anon (One who needs reading comprehension.. kekeke... low blow... my bad) say what he/she wants... why? Life is short. It should be spent with friends and this blog is for friends.
In any case, we do try and change the world... a little bit at a time and in our own way.
To Les:
I don't have to prove anything to you. If you doubt the efforts of the ONE campaign, go right ahead, I have better things to do than to prove the obvious to you.
As far as me having to study harder in order to work for relief agencies, I wasn't aware that a uni degree was a requirement for volunteer work. If that truly is the case, I don't think i qualify given my hokkien peng academic credentials.
it's great that you have the self-awareness to recognize that you're a tight ass. don't worry, i'm not here to judge.
regards
Anonymous
To daftbitch:
wa lan, let me just rephrase my point earlier cos it doesn't seem that you catch any ball.
contrary to what your a-bit-slow friend crufty thinks, i do not have, and never indicated in any of my earlier posts, that i have a problem with you spending money on luxury goods instead of giving to charity. let me also add that i do also spend money (though not a lot for the simple reason that i cannot afford it) on branded stuff.
the point here is that you choose to look at the $600k in terms of YOUR perspectives, which is made up of nothing but luxury items. look at it this way, you could have simply looked at it in terms of how many nurses could be hired, how many more hours of treatment can be rendered to patients, by that $600K. Yet, you choose to look at it in terms of LV bags. you talked about my not understanding the term "to put it in perspective". maybe you should rephrase it as "to put it in my (daftbitch's) persective" instead.
anyways, i have enjoyed corresponding with you and your friends. take care and please think of me sweating like hell walking to the MRT station every morning when you are in your flashy Mitsubishi Evo.
I doubt you actually have better things to do. If you cannot prove anything or willing to prove anything, you will be ignored by those capable of open and informed discourse.
You have made yourself irrelevant.
Consider our conversation at a close.
Cheerios
You may be acquainted with the saying, "Horses sweat, gentlemen perspire, and ladies glow." And since you obviously are not a stallion--not by any generous measure or stretch of the imagination--that leaves us with an ass.
I dub thee, anonymous one, "Eeyore."
Good day, Sir.
why cant she look at $600k in the luxurious wae?
nobody sae she cant. aiight.
each of us has our own perspectives towards different things. stop finding fault.
oh, if you wanna walk to the mrt station every morning, that's your business.
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