salt_2005_03_04

No. 8 Mar-Apr 2005

For Volunteers, Donors and Nonprofits

Corporate Giving in Singapore The Issues and the Top 5 Corporate Philanthropists

After the Tsunami A New Spirit Rises

Manwith a

Mission

Mercy Relief’s Zulkifli Baharudin

All My Children Goh Eng Kee Shares his Passion for Kids

Samsung’s Hope Bridging the Digital Divide

HOME-ward Bound Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics

contents ON THE COVER The Asian tsunami crisis thrust Mercy Relief into the spotlight, but its Chairman Zulfikli Baharudin is on an even bigger mission.

Guest writer CHEAH UI-HOON finds out.

Story on page 26.

Cover photo of Zulkifli Baharudin at Ground Zero in Meulaboh.

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RITES OF PASSAGE

SALT No. 8 Mar-Apr 2005

DEPARTMENTS 2

LETTER FROM SALT

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MAILBAG

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NEWS BRIEFS A wrap-up of events, programmes and activities in the People Sector.

PEOPLE MOVEMENTS Appointments and new postings in the People Sector.

11 VOLUNTEER PROFILE When it comes to volunteering, Jenny Goh oozes infectious energy.

A classic test case for the nonprofit sector, the Asian tsunami crisis presented unprecedented challenges for aid organisations and individuals. Guest writer MONICA GWEE treads the post-tsunami ground.

13 PEOPLE SECTOR PEOPLE There’s no such thing as too many kids for World Vision Singapore’s Goh Eng Kee.

19 MEASURE OF SALT Spotlight on key humanitarian organisations.

25 WALK THE TALK Tech giant Samsung brings digital hope to the world.

28 SALT AND PEPPER

G VE

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Or Not to Give?

Can companies do more for charity?

Professor Cham Tao Soon certainly thinks so.

20 To Give or Not to Give

In the second of three features on Singapore’s philanthropic landscape, SUZANNE LIM checks in on the local corporate giving scene to find out how companies are addressing the conundrum – to give or not to give?

31 NEW SALT Foreign workers in Singapore now have a place called HOME.

32 SCENE AND SEEN 35 CALENDAR 36 A DASH OF SALT

Mar-Apr 2005 S A LT •

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L E T T E R

F R O M

S A L T

SALT is a nonprofit magazine with a managed circulation for members of nonprofit organisations, grant-makers and companies in Singapore.

Those interested in receiving a copy, please email salt@nvpc.org.sg.

We regret that the print run prevents fulfilling all requests.

International readers please email subscriber requests and mailing details.

There will be an annual postage and handling charge for all international subscribers.

EDITOR Suzanne Lim

CONTRIBUTORS Daven Wu Brenda Yeo

COO Ho Sun Yee (second from left) and CEO Tan Chee Koon (extreme right) with members of the International Red Cross team in Meulaboh.

PUBLISHING CONSULTANT AND MEDIA REPRESENTATIVE Epigram SALT is published bi-monthly by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre 7 Maxwell Road #05-01 Annex B, MND Complex Singapore 069111 Tel: 6550 9595 Fax: 6221 0625 Website: www.nvpc.org.sg Email: salt@nvpc.org.sg Copyright is held by the publisher.

All rights reserved.

Production in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

The views and opinions expressed or implied in SALT are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.

Printed by Fabulous Printers MITA (P) 027/11/2004 To advertise, please call Suzanne Lim at tel: 6550 9563 Email: suzanne@nvpc.org.sg or Cynthia Tay at tel: 6292 4456 Email: cynthia@epigram.com.sg

he 24/7 coverage of the tsunami disaster by the media ensured that we were all kept well informed – perhaps too well informed. The media bombardment carried the risk that it could end up being “newzak” – when we’ve become numb to the news and hardly feel the loss.

Yet, these constant images did not quite prepare me for what I saw with my own eyes when I visited Meulaboh in Aceh in the second week of January. As we flew there in the SAF Chinook, seeing mile after mile of destruction along the coast put things firmly back in perspective for me.

But side by side with the destruction, I also saw hope, encapsulated by the cooperation between the various armed forces, the UN and relief agencies from around the world that had descended on Meulaboh.

I was impressed with the resoluteness and openness of the Indonesians and the sincerity of the International Red Cross that came to help. Many of the PMI (Indonesian Red Cross) officers themselves had lost their family members and friends in the disaster, but they were able to put their personal grief aside to help in the relief efforts to ensure that life can go on for the people of Meulaboh.

And life indeed does go on, as this issue of SALT shows.

While we cover the tsunami in our lead story and feature Zulkifli Baharudin, Chairman of Mercy Relief, a Singapore NGO that has been at the forefront of Singapore’s response to the relief efforts, we continue with our other features.

In the second of a series on the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre’s landmark philanthropy survey, we look at just how generous companies in Singapore are when it comes to charitable giving. Professor Cham Tao Soon lends his voice in Salt & Pepper on how he thinks corporates can do more.

Elsewhere, the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) champions the welfare of neglected migrant workers in Singapore, while Samsung demonstrates how the digital world can bring hope to the less fortunate in society.

During turbulent times like these, we could all do with more hope.

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Ho Sun Yee Chief Operating Officer National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre

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MAILBAG

DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE? We welcome your letters, news of upcoming events and pictures. Please send them to SALT, 7 Maxwell Road, #05-01 Annex B, MND Complex, Singapore 069111; or email salt@nvpc.org.sg. Please include your name, address and daytime phone number. Letters and articles may be edited for space and clarity.

An Eye-Opening Read

Giving to Overseas Causes

Dear Editor, ongratulations to the editorial team at SALT for putting out one of the most intelligent social publications I have come across in Singapore. Not only are the articles full of useful information, they are eye-opening and inspirational as well.

I particularly enjoyed the profile on Venerable Shi Ming Yi in the Nov-Dec 2004 issue that caught the very essence of this remarkable man. It is indeed no easy task catering to the diverse needs and issues faced by the various groups that need support in our community, whether through volunteers or funds. However, SALT is definitely an instrument that can raise the awareness of ongoing issues and concerns to a much higher level of consciousness. I look forward to reading future issues.

Dear Editor, udos for featuring the movers and shakers of the growing non-government organisation (NGO) and volunteer welfare organisation (VWO) scene here.

While many VWOs produce their own newsletters, SALT brings together news about so many different players on the scene, big and small. The way it tackles the big picture issues in the sector eg. fundraising, transparency and most recently, individual giving in the Jan-Feb 2005 issue is commendable. This is a magazine the sector was waiting for.

Dear Editor, t was interesting to find out in your story on individual giving in Singapore (Jan-Feb 2005 issue) that donations as a percentage of GNI for Singapore stands at 0.28%, much lower than that for UK (0.73%) and USA (1.64%).

I am sure that after the tsunami relief efforts by so many people in Singapore that this percentage has significantly increased. The Singapore government’s willingness to allow organisations involved in the tsunami relief efforts to have an exemption from the rule governing the percentage of donations that can be used outside of Singapore was indeed gratifying. However, I cannot help but wonder if this is part of the reason that Singaporeans don’t give as much as other countries. Maybe in a land with so much success, they see little need.

In 2003, I worked with UNIFEM Singapore, PrimeTime Business and Professional Women’s Association, ENGENDER (a Singapore organisation), and John Erdos Gallery to raise funds for a project called Woven Dreams: Economic Empowerment for Women in Laos. It was very difficult and time consuming to try and figure out how to comply with the regulations stipulating the percentage of money that could be sent out of Singapore. Perhaps Singaporeans don’t feel the push to help as most of the charity donations are targeted at remaining in Singapore.

I hope that the good that comes out of the tsunami relief efforts will include looking at providing easy opportunities for Singaporeans and expatriates living in Singapore to donate to those less fortunate around the world.

Sim Chi Yin, Journalist

Leslie Swanson

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Pearl Lee, Marketing Consultant

Suntec Singapore G-Force Concert

Repartee with SALT’s first Shaker & Mover

Dear Editor, n behalf of the patients, staff and family members of the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), a big thank you for inviting us to the concert. It was a fantastic show – all your volunteer performers were indeed extraordinary and commendable! Some of the residents had not been out of the hospital for a while, and this outing for them would not have been possible if not for the generosity of Suntec Singapore, NVPC, and your volunteers that day who went out of their way to make sure we were comfortable. It was indeed a memorable day for all. Keep the volunteerism fire burning!

Dear Willie, ust got my Jan-Feb 2005 issue of SALT. Thought I should write to congratulate you on the publication. Frankly I had my doubts initially when you told me about your intention to launch SALT. As usual, I am wrong. It is a good read!

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Chua Siew Hong Catherine, Institute of Mental Health

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Jennie Chua, CEO, Raffles Holdings & Chairperson, Community Chest

Editor’s note: Jennie Chua was our first Shaker & Mover (Jan-Feb 2004).

She has given her kind permission for the above letter to be published and our chairman Willie Cheng’s response to her. He thanked her for a really great compliment, and told her that in his opinion, she is usually right – except when she disagrees with him.

The Magazine the Sector was Waiting For

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A WRAP-UP OF HAPPENINGS AROUND SINGAPORE

Ridin’ High

he Singapore Girl Guides Association has a new name – Girl Guides Singapore (GGS).

Accompanying the name change is a new-look logo that embodies the fresh and vibrant spirit reflecting GGS’ boldness to reinvent itself and its determination to be relevant, focusing on the needs of the modern girl and woman.

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KEEPING THE SPIRIT ALIVE

iding and blading for a worthy cause from 12 to 15 March 2005 will be more than 50 avid cyclists and in-line skaters, including MediaCorp Radio DJ Rod Monteiro. Participants of the first-ever joint biking and in-line skating event to be held across Singapore and Malaysia, this unique charity fundraiser is jointly organised by nonprofit organisation St. Andrew’s Mission Hospital and global technology integrator Avanade Asia to help raise $500,000 for the new St. Andrew’s Community Hospital currently being built in Simei.

The money will go towards defraying the operating costs of the new hospital. The four-day bike-andblade journey will cover a scenic 420km route from Singapore to Mersing in Malaysia and back.

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Russel Wong

NEW GIRL IN TOWN

BIG DEAL MEAL

ver 200 volunteers who had signed up with the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre’s (NVPC) Tsunami Crisis Volunteer Hotline gathered at the Raffles City Convention Centre on 22 January to participate in the Tsunami Volunteer Forum organised by NVPC. Chaired by NVPC’s CEO Mrs Tan Chee Koon, key representatives from Singapore Red Cross Society, Mercy Relief, Ren Ci Hospital & Medicare Centre, Habitat for Humanity and Singapore International Foundation shared with the audience their experiences of doing relief work in the tsunami-affected regions, lending an insight into the intricacies of relief work that many in the audience were unaware of. Some of the organisations also mounted mini-exhibitions of their relief efforts that attracted much attention from the volunteers when the forum ended, proving that the spirit of volunteerism is alive and well indeed.

ainly I Love Kids (MILK)’s first Share-A-Meal fundraiser this year involves some of the biggest movers and shakers in town, the biggest of them all being President S R Nathan himself!

For a minimum tender donation of $5,000, donors can choose to have a meal with someone from MILK’s Special Volunteers list that includes Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Law Professor S Jayakumar; Ambassador-At-Large Professor Tommy Koh; Nominated MP Eunice Olsen; MediaCorp artiste Fann Wong; and President and CEO of SMRT Cooperation Ltd Ms Saw Phaik Hwa. And in case you’re wondering, the top bid at press time for a meal with President S R Nathan stood at $50,000!

Habitat for Humanity’s Chairman Yong Teck Meng presented in his trusty building cap.

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On the go.

Artist’s impression of St. Andrew’s Community Hospital.

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Fancy a meal with Eunice Olsen?

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PEOPLE MOVEMENTS

Big Stars, Bigger Hearts

John Cheong was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF) in early 2005. Prior to joining SHF, he was Executive Director of the YMCA of Singapore. Before YMCA, he was managing director of a logistics group with operations in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

Over the past 20 years, John has been actively involved in community related activities, and is Chairman of the Methodist Volunteers. He is also an active volunteer in many grassroots organisations and schools.

SHF operates cardiac rehabilitation programmes and centres to encourage and assist cardiac patients in leading a life long heart-healthy lifestyle and also provides professional and research grants.

Tel: 62360630; email: johncheong@shf.orh.sg

eaturing 40 of MediaCorp’s most popular artistes, international celebrities as well as a daredevil stunt by Venerable Shi Ming Yi who balanced atop a 12-metre tower on a plate measuring 20cm by 20cm for one hour and 45 minutes, the Ren Ci Charity Show, televised on MediaCorp TV Channel U on 9 January, raised $7.25 million for the Ren Ci Hospital and Medical Centre, above its target of $5 million. The hospital, founded by Venerable Shi in 1994 to care for chronically ill patients, donated $500,000 from the money raised to the tsunami disaster relief effort.

Look ma, no hands!

WALK ON WATER ourteen Singapore Polytechnic students and staff, with their feet encased in styrofoam blocks, took to racing a 50-metre course on the Singapore River to help raise $100,000 for The Salvation Army Haven Children’s Home, Chao Yang School, Clementi Student Service Centre and the Singapore Polytechnic Overseas Community Service Putting their best foot forward.

Programme on 30 January. The event formed part of the Singapore River Raft Race for the first time; the raft race itself was a started by the polytechnic back in 1989 to help raise awareness of environmental issues, with the rafts being made entirely of recyclable materials.

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LEARN AND SERVE xecutives and CEOs jaded by the rat race have a new outlet – Singapore International Foundation’s (SIF) Singapore Executive Expedition (SXX) and its CEO equivalent, CXX. Modelled after the highly successful Youth Expedition Programme (YEP), SXX and CXX will have executives and CEOs travelling to developing countries such as Bhutan and Cambodia to undertake a community service project that will meet a genuine need in the local community.

Said SIF’s Executive Director, Dr Tan Tay Keong,“Basically, you learn by serving. Instead of just letting young people benefit from service learning, why not move it up to the executive and CEO level? From our experience, it has been shown that community work is a great antidote to discontent. Hopefully, the programmes will rekindle in the participants compassion and respect for other people, so that when they come back, they are renewed and have a fresh perspective of the world.”

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Photo courtesy of SPH – The Straits Times

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Foo Pek Hong joined the staff of Singapore Children’s Society in August 2004 as Director of Fundraising. With 28 years of experience in the banking and asset management industry, she was also previously a teacher and is familiar with the all-encompassing needs of children.

The fundraising department at Singapore Children’s Society runs several regular annual fundraising projects and events, including Flag Day, Charity Film Premiere,Walk For Our Children, and Donation Draw. The department works closely with the authorities, corporations as well as individual donors to raise funds. The latest programme is GIVE, which is targeted at encouraging the staff at corporations to pledge a monthly donation to the 12,000 children and families in need. Tel: 62732010 Prior to joining NVPC as Director of Marketing and Community Partnerships on 3 January 2005, Jennifer Lim was the Executive Director of the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH) from May 1997 to December 2004.

Jennifer began her working career with the Economic Development Board in 1989 where she was a Senior Creative Services Officer.

In October 1992, she joined the Singapore International Film Festival as Director of Marketing and Media, a position she held until July 1993, when she was appointed by Nippon Film Development & Finance to be its Managing Director and to set up its Singapore-based office. Four years and many accumulated air miles later, she decided on a change in career paths and joined the social service sector.

An ardent advocate for the disabilty cause, she enjoys both culinary and travel pursuits.

Tel: 65509579; email: jennifer@nvpc.org.sg

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V POWER TUC FairPrice brought new meaning to being a supermarket with a heart when it officially launched its own volunteer group Club V recently. Currently comprising of some 30 FairPrice staff, the group is confident that its numbers will grow in time to come. One of the club’s first activities was a charity car wash that managed to raise $2,040 in cash and FairPrice vouchers for a Pasir Ris family with quadruplets who required special care. In conjunction with the opening of FairPrice’s Tiong Bahru Plaza outlet, Club V members also helped to distribute bags of food items to 18 needy families in the Tiong Bahru area.

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ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY TIN CAN

Tin can coming your way soon...

hances of that tin can appearing in front of you will be higher this year as the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) has upped the number of flag days from 40 in 2004 to 63 for 2005. In addition to the 52 Saturdays, flags may now be sold by charities on 11 Wednesdays during the school holidays. This is the first time that a weekday has been designated as a flag day. According to NCSS, a third of the charities that applied in 2004 to hold a flag day were unsuccessful and with the number of new charities sprouting up, more will be looking to organise flag days, a tried-and-tested and cost-efficient way of fundraising.

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Hongbao Delight early 4,000 elderly folk received early hongbaos in January from the Shaw Foundation who gave away $100 to each recipient, double the amount given in previous years. An annual tradition started in 1948 by the founders of Shaw Organisation – the late Tan Sri Dr Runme Shaw and Sir Run Run Shaw – the amount was doubled because “$50 cannot buy you much these days”, said Mr Shaw Vee Meng, Chairman of Shaw Organisation. The Foundation was assisted in its charitable act by the People’s Association (PA), which helped the Foundation to identify beneficiaries from its public assistance programme.

One of the happy recipients was 80-year-old Madam Mah Suet Ying, a resident of Ling Kwang Home for Senior Citizens who is single, has no family and receives $25 a month from the PA. “With the $100, I can buy some food for Chinese New Year and save the remainder for the rest of Madam Mah could not hide her delight with her hongbao. the year,” she said.

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Relax Rules for Welfare Groups he Government needs to loosen the rules for voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs), observed MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, Dr Chong Weng Chiew. VWOs are already weighed down by problems like retaining suitable staff, and the current and proposed regulatory controls, in particular the reporting of performance indicators, can add unnecessary bureaucracy to the VWOs and distract their workers from their main duties.“Once the Government is satisfied with the VWOs management practice, it should not be micro-managing their day-to-day operations,” he said.

As a regulator, the Government can also do more to support VWOs which are not religiously affiliated, he suggested.This was in response to NVPC’s recent survey that showed that 52% of the $438 million donated by individuals between April 2003 and April 2004 went to religious organisations.“Because they’re secular and not restricted by guidelines, they can work with all groups to reach broad-based targets and all corners,” he added.

T Club V members have it in the bag.

“Many of our staff work on shifts and yet, they find the time and energy to help the less fortunate through this club. This is very reassuring,” said Mr Tey Lian Lee, Club V’s team leader.

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Photo courtesy of SPH – Lianhe Zaobao

he American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (AmCham Singapore) was awarded the prestigious International American Chamber Community Service Award by the US Chamber of Commerce’s Centre for Corporate Citizenship on 2 December 2004. AmCham Singapore distinguished itself in three areas – Corporate Community Day, Workplace Initiative on HIV/AIDS, and the AmCham scholarship at the Singapore Management University. Said AmCham Singapore’s Executive Director Mr Nicholas de Boursac,“AmCham is a volunteer driven organisation. The work is done by employees of AmCham members on a volunteer basis. Winning this award celebrates the spirit of volunteering in Singapore.”

Photo courtesy of SPH – The Straits Times

TOP OF THEIR GAME

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A Matter of Passion When it comes to volunteering, lack of time just isn’t in Jenny Goh’s vocabulary.

By DAVEN WU.

f volunteerism had a human expression, it would probably be the gentle, shy smile of Jenny Goh. “These days, everyone is so busy with their lives, they forget about family bonding,” says the mother of three.

“Parents don’t really spend much time with their kids and the kids do not even want to talk to their parents!”

Which helps explain her enthusiasm for her role as School Family Education (SFE) Coordinator at her daughter Joanna’s school, Commonwealth Secondary, where she organises parenting programmes and workshops that focus on family values and bonding for parents, teachers and children alike.

“I’ve been in this role for two years now,” Jenny says. “I think I can understand much better family dynamics and how the young think. I know all my daughter’s friends!”

This is not the first time that Jenny has connected with the community through her volunteer work. She recalls that following the Ministry of Education’s appeal for more parental involvement in their children’s schools in the late 1990s, she began helping out with wardrobe and make-up during concerts when Joanna was in Primary 2 at Fuhua Primary School. “I still help out there!” Jenny says with a bright smile.

Despite averaging around 18 hours a week as the SFE Coordinator, over the years, Jenny also finds time for a host of other volunteer work, including helping in the President’s Challenge, the costume department at the Arts Theatre of Singapore (where her daughter is a member), as well as the library at Commonwealth Secondary School.

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the community.

“Time management is very important,” says Jenny of the secret behind her seemingly inexhaustible energy. “My children are older now, so I have more time to volunteer.”

When asked to explain this passion – there is no other word – for volunteerism, Jenny’s answer is Cheerful countenance: Jenny (third to the point and without She has also helped from left) with fellow volunteers from Commonwealth Secondary School’s artifice. “Volunteerism raise funds for the Parent-Teacher network at a creates a sense of National Cancer Centre, fundraising event for needy students. belonging,” she says. “I remember during selling cookies and coordinating movie my school days, when my family needed marathons. Recently, Jenny was a volunhelp, friends and teachers would reach teer guide and usher at the tsunami out. This is something I’ve always memorial service at Singapore Expo at remembered and so I want to give somewhich nearly 5,000 people attended. thing back.”

During the fearful uncertainty of SARS, Says Rosemary Chng, managing she took temperatures at her local director of RCA Consultancy, a branding Barker Road church services and during and fundraising event management a jog-a-thon organised by the Malay social enterprise, “I first met Jenny community. “We also sewed patches for during her SARS stint and later when the Fabric of the Nation!” she recalls.

I was recruiting for the President’s Together with a group of around 10 Challenge road show. I saw immediately friends (including her daughter Joanna), that she had tremendous leadership Jenny has formed an informal volunteer quality. She’s reliable, dependable, network that responds to calls for aid from smart and can take the initiative to lead and guide. These trustworthy characteristics are very important for people running volunteer projects as they create a lot of positive synergy that is so critical to the success of a project.

You can connect with her.”

It is this ability to connect that most exemplifies the quality of Jenny Goh’s community work to date and, in the end, you cannot help but salute this most human face of volunteerism. ✩

“During my school days, when my family needed help, friends and teachers would reach out. This is something I’ve always remembered and I want to give something back.”

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Vision Quest There’s no end in the fight against poverty. But Goh Eng Kee tells BRENDA YEO he has no intention of letting up.

or 21 years, Goh Eng Kee has eyeballed impoverishment on a global scale.

Children to whom umbrellas and bath towels are luxuries. Children who live in areas so remote and are so isolated from the world beyond their villages, getting into a vehicle brings on motion sickness. Families who must cope with drought, famine and AIDS all at one go. He’s seen it all.

The 57-year-old is the Executive Director of World Vision Singapore.

Established in 1950 to care for orphans in Asia, World Vision’s raison d’être today encompasses community development and advocacy for the poor across six continents. Goh gave up his gig as news editor with a local business daily to set up its Singapore outfit in 1984.

Still, in his face-off with hunger and poverty in a damaged world, it appears that one of his most enduring battles is fought on home ground. And the bone of contention? Money.

“World Vision works in 100 countries around the world. The Singapore operation has the dubious reputation of being the only one which can’t raise funds,” Goh grouses.

To obtain a fundraising permit in Singapore, foreign charities must undertake to channel 80% of net proceeds from funds raised to projects here.

While the Commissioner of Charities has the discretion to shift the 80% marker, it’s still a stretch for World Vision, where the bulk of funds go to impoverished

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his work with World Vision rewards him with the certainty that he’s making a positive impact on someone else’s life.

Two years ago, Goh and his wife visited Mongolia. There, they met a two-year old with a bad case of rickets.

The couple decided to sponsor the child through No kidding. Goh Eng Kee and his wife World Vision’s child sponcommunities overseas. sponsor four children, among them, a four year-old from Mongolia. sorship scheme.

“We’ve not been able to Today, the child is get a single application running, thanks to proper nutrition and approved since 1990,” laments Goh. healthcare made possible by the sponsorSo, fundraising is a no go. Goh’s days ship. “You not only see the needs, but are spent waging war for the hearts and you see the progress being made,” states minds of the local community instead.

Goh. “How many other jobs give you “We do a lot of public awareness that opportunity?” related activities. We network with other Under the World Vision sponsorship non-government organisations, we speak scheme, the public can sponsor children to organisations and schools when they from poor communities around the world invite us to, and we gladly communicate at $45 a month. Funds are pooled and the needs and how World Vision is allocated to developmental programmes helping when asked,” he explains. that run the gamut of providing educaThe silver lining, says Goh, is that tion, housing for families, healthcare Singaporeans are very compassionate and shaping economic activities – the people. World Vision doesn’t solicit list goes on. Programmes typically span funds, but, “You tell them of a need,” 10 to 15 years. says Goh, “and they will give.”

Even as retirement looms, Goh “Of course, you have to have integrity reckons he will never fully leave from his in what you do. When they look at the work with World Vision. There’s simply organisation and see that you do what you too much to be done. “The mind says say you will, then they have no problem you can’t help all the kids in the world, giving,” he adds. but the heart says maybe you can try to The occupational hazards of help this one. fundraising aside, Goh maintains that “Even if I’m not actively engaged, I will probably end up being a volunteer.” ✩ For more information on World Vision Singapore, visit www.worldvision.org.sg

“The mind says you can’t help all the kids in the world, but the heart says maybe you can try to help this one.”

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Rites of Pa In a classic test case for the nonprofit sector, the Asian tsunami delivered an unprecedented aid challenge for organisations and individuals.

Guest writer MONICA GWEE of MeesPierson Philanthropy Services treads the post-tsunami ground.

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Photography by Terence Teo/Mercy Relief

ssage

Volunteers played – and will continue to play – a crucial role in rebuilding Meulaboh.

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veryone has a tsunami story. It was a natural disaster that leveled rich and poor, famous and unknown, infant and adult, the fit and the weak, the proud and the humble. The destruction was indiscriminate and profound, and in many cases, complete. And so, it would seem, was the human response.

Heard the one about the rescue dog? It injured its paws during search and rescue as it clambered over mounds of debris, seeking out the maimed who might still be alive. Its handler sent out an appeal for a vet since medical relief teams swarming into action were, understandably, for humans.

The effect of the Indonesian earthquake and the resulting tsunami that affected nine countries was so emotional that the story has it, seven full veterinary units responded from various parts of the world. There were only four dogs in the search unit. And just one dog injured.

As the weeks passed, the dramatic character of the unprecedented wave of global aid flooding into the worst hit tsunami areas shifted to other events. But the tragedy struck a chord so intensely with its elements of loss, grief, despair and utter human vulnerability, that its hold still grips enough to loosen the purses of millions of strangers worldwide.

Headless Chickens Running Around For Singapore, the disaster was “a real close first hand practical experience of lending a helping hand in a disaster near this country,” said Mr Goh Eng Kee, Executive Director of the Singapore arm of the international aid agency World Vision.

“Suddenly, there were opportunities to challenge the desires of caring hearts, the theories expounded in innumerable conferences, workshops and seminars on emergency relief, and the emotional strains of reaching out in person,” Mr Goh noted.

In retrospect, and even as relief work is replaced by rehabilitation and community re-building projects, this disaster has been almost like a rite of passage for the nonprofit sector. And donors.

“There were so many headless chickens running around, all trying to do good, but not knowing how to go about doing it, or simply doing it any how,” said Mr Liak Teng Lit, CEO of Alexandra Hospital, which sent a medical team to devastated Aceh in Sumatra.

Mr Yong Teck Meng, Chairman of Habitat for Humanity (HFH), a Christian nonprofit involved in building decent houses for needy families, observed matter-of-factly how some well meaning volunteers arrived in Aceh without the necessary mental and emotional maturity to understand the hellish depths of human deprivation in the early weeks of the tsunami onslaught.

For seasoned volunteers knocked into shape by hard experience, the unintentional behaviour of some sheltered, urban

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Singaporeans who unwittingly became “disaster tourists” was a point of arrival in emergency relief work. Before better vetting and volunteer preparation swung into force, too many people arrived with good intentions for an experience, “drinking all the good water – and worse still – bathing with it,” he added.

The Anarchy of Altruism

In the initial chaos in Aceh in Sumatra, Phuket in Thailand and in Sri Lanka, aid groups and support nonprofits poured in, each “helping” as separate entities. They faced the kind of destruction so complete, only armies could even begin to chart a logistical start point. The ground was not unlike a Hollywood set depicting a post-nuclear landscape. Except the stench of death from decomposing bodies everywhere was nauseatingly real.

Global media – from blanket TV breaking news coverage

to Internet chatrooms, charity websites and entire sections of newspapers and magazines – transmitted the disaster into living rooms and workplaces around the world. Everyone wanted to help, and to be seen helping. People sought any chance to donate money. Clearly, someone had to establish some guidelines.

“It was a kind of ‘anarchy of altruism’,” noted Mrs Tan Chee Koon, CEO of the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC). “Our role was to establish a first port of call for people wanting to help.”

Partnering with NTUC Income, NVPC set up a tsumani hotline to match volunteer and donation interest with needs.

In the first four weeks of the aftermath of the disaster, over 2,000 volunteers registered with NVPC to help out with the relief efforts.

Together with the Ministry of Community Development, Youth & Sports (MCYS), NVPC also held weekly sharing

Top & left: Mercy Relief volunteers get down to work rebuilding Meulaboh’s Muhammadiyah Secondary School.

Below: Bonding time.

“The tsunami brought people together like never before. Indonesia has seen many disasters, but never anything like this.”

HE Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia

sessions to connect NGOs and corporate givers. HFH’s Mr Yong found these coordination meetings valuable as a shared platform in a time when overwhelming good intentions were inadvertently adding to the chaos.

Making the Best of Good Intentions The sheer response from people wanting to volunteer their services created another challenge in volunteer management, preparation and training. Here again, the unique situation encouraged pockets of civil society, including local and international corporations, to examine how best their good intentions could make a genuine difference without upsetting the fragile nature of disaster sites.

The Jurong Country Club (JCC) raised $250,000 but was uncertain where to channel the money to. “We went to an NVPC matching session for the relief efforts, and found out that Mercy Relief was the first to lend their helping hand in Indonesia. They had taken on tasks that would really help victims in North Sumatra, but they were quite depleted in funds,” said Mr KC Foong, JCC’s President.

Acknowledged Hassan Ahmad, Executive Director of Mercy Relief, “Our staff have been very much focused on providing relief to Aceh and Sri Lanka. We have not had much time to think about fund raising, so we are very appreciative of the spontaneous support from many organisations like JCC.” To date, Mercy Relief has received $1.8 million for its tsunami efforts.

The Singapore Red Cross (SRC) with the support of the media has been collecting the lion’s share of the outpouring from Singaporeans. At press time, its collections stood at $75 million. SRC has established a Tsunami Reconstruction Facilitation Committee to help disburse the funds. It has invited and is processing applications from organisations planning reconstruction projects in the affected regions.

One of the grant applicants, HFH, indicated that they had received an “in principle” grant of US$8 million out of the US$10 million it requested for to build houses for victims now living in emergency camps.

“We’re overjoyed with the US$8 million. There was a very strict criteria for due process and a code of conduct, but these are standard procedures for us,” said HFH’s Mr Yong.

Mar-Apr 2005 S A LT •

17

Top & right: The smiling faces of Meulaboh’s children shine hope on the future.

Above: The extent of the devastation in Meulaboh caught many off-guard.

Singapore and SRC have decided to focus relief and reconstruction efforts in Meulaboh, a war zone at best before the tsunami, and practically a clean slate after the tidal waves.

“The situation in Meulaboh is a tight learning curve.

I would really encourage other nonprofits who want to participate to work with us. We can fly their flag; we don’t care.

We just want to build good houses and separate groups wanting to build by themselves will not make things easier,” he added.

HFH will build 4,800 houses in the affected countries over a realistic time frame of three to four years. As a working principle, HFH volunteers pay their own way when they participate in

“The situation is a tight learning curve.

I would really encourage other nonprofits who want to participate to work with us.

We can fly their flag; we don’t care.

We just want to build good houses.

The whole process is going to be very good for Singapore.”

Yong Teck Meng, Chairman, Habitat for Humanity

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• S A LT Mar-Apr 2005

building missions to ensure that between 95 to 100 per cent of funding goes to materials for building decent housing.

“The whole process is going to be very good for Singapore.

Before the tsunami, we had discussed an inter-faith group for such projects and here is a wonderful opportunity to do just that,” Mr Yong said.

HFH will follow through on plans to mobilise Buddhist temples and mosques to help build these homes. The issue of religious evangelising from Christian aid groups in stricken areas is not lost on him.

“We build houses because we are Christian, not because people believe in our God. We don’t hide our Christianity, but we don’t impose it. That has been the basis of our success.

We build for everyone who needs a decent home, whatever his religion or race,” he said simply.

Besides Aceh, World Vision (WV) will be assisting hundreds of thousands in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand through a three- to five-year strategic programme. Using local and global resources, WV’s work has moved away from emergency response to the structured stages of community and economic recovery.

“We’re looking at rebuilding and repairing bridges and roads, water supply systems, local granaries and small food processing facilities, village and community banks and a range

“On the SAF Chinook flying into Meulaboh from Medan, I saw on a bench across from me three young women, professional healthcare volunteers. Whether by choice or chance, they were Chinese, Malay and Indian and obviously enjoying each other’s company in a very special volunteering mission,” Mrs Tan of NVPC recalled.

Perhaps, from this colossal disaster, a new spirit of social cohesion within communities, countries and conflicting agendas will be the lasting return standing fast long after the waves have receded. ✩

of agricultural recovery activities – it’s the local infrastructure at the micro level,” said WV Singapore’s Mr Goh.

A New Spirit Arising

Hard or soft, the recovery issues in stricken countries also affect the more fortunate ones who were spared the waves. It was a classic lesson in peacetime interdependence in a world, increasingly, without borders.

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In this issue, SALT highlights six nonprofit players in the humanitarian sector.

Humanitarian Nonprofit Organisations All inputs provided by the societies and associations

Singapore International Foundation

Habitat for Humanity

1981 Branch Office of World Vision International

1991 Company limited by guarantee

2002 Company limited by guarantee

2003 Company limited by guarantee

Yes No

No Yes

Yes No

Yes Yes

www.redcross.org.sg

www.worldvision.org.sg

www.sif.org.sg

www.habitat.org.sg

www.mercyrelief.org

Lt Gen Winston Choo, Retd.

Geri Lau (Secretary General) 103 27,100

Andrew Goh

Barry Desker

Yong Teck Meng

Zulkifli Baharudin

Goh Eng Kee

Tan Tay Keong

Hosea Lai

Hassan Ahmad

Running orphanages cum community projects in Cambodia

Blood donor recruitment Home for the Disabled First Aid training Red Cross Youth movement International Assistance

Supports World Vision projects worldwide Promotes and publicises World Vision’s work Develops its christian relationships with churches Serves its Singapore supporters

Youth Expedition Project Friends of Singapore Overseas Singaporeans Singapore Volunteers Overseas

Global Village Batam Project Under No Roof

Humanitarian Relief Acute Crisis Peace time development projects

(2003)

(2003)

(2003)

(2003) 10,287 308 9,579 – 400 9,784 4,470 5,039 – 275 503

(2003)

(2003)

Operation Hope Foundation

Singapore Red Cross Society

2001 Company limited by guarantee

Yes No

1973 Singapore Red Cross Society Incorporation Act (Chapter 304) Yes Yes

www.ohf.org.sg

Organisation Chairman

Robert Kee

Executive Director

–

General Date of establishment Constitution

Charity Status IPC Status Website

No. of employees No. of Singaporean volunteers Key programme/Activity

Finances (S$’000) Income – Donations – Grants/Sponsorships – Membership fees – Other incomei Expenditure – Programme expenses ii – Operating expenses – Fundraising expenses – Other expenses iii Surplus/Deficit (2003)

15 80

World Vision Singapore

10 –

213 207 – – 6 237 138 95 4 – (24)

5,109 2,256 1,867 1 985 5,056 4,183 270 392 211 53

4,700 4,697 – – 3 4,776 3,868 908 – – (76)

Fundraising Ratioiv

2%

17%

NA

Reserves/Accumulated

89

9,007

–

Funds (S$’000)

i. Includes investment income

ii. Also known as direct charitable expenses

56 1,586

3 400

Mercy Relief

5 Over 3,000

326 16 120 – 190 254 160 94 – – 72

1,620 1,140 190 – 290 1,026 788 228 10 – 594

NA

NA

0.09%

8,310

72

594

iii. Includes publicity, capital expenses and all other expenses

iv. Fundraising expenses/donations (%) Mar-Apr 2005 S A LT •

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NVPC’S NATIONAL PHILANTHROPY SURVEY

As part of its landmark study in 2004 on the philanthropy scene, the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre commissioned Singapore’s first ever survey on corporate giving. In this second of three SALT features, SUZANNE LIM plumbs the depths of corporate coffers.

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Or Not to Give?

the recent tsunami disaster was anything to go by, it certainly appears that companies in Singapore more than hold their own on the giving front. Take Temasek Holdings, for instance. The group contributed $16.5 million to tsunami relief efforts, no small sum in any company’s books. Other companies in Singapore have also demonstrated unprecedented generosity in coming forward with donations towards the relief efforts. But such extraordinary events aside, just how generous are companies in Singapore when it comes to charitable giving?

Not sufficiently, if the findings of the first ever corporate giving survey commissioned by the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) in 2004 are anything to go by. Companies in Singapore donated just 0.21% of their net profit (pre-tax) to worthy causes in 2003. The total cash contribution from Singapore companies to the charity pie for 2003 was $111 million, with the bulk of it (68%) going to tax-deductible causes.

Compared to their counterparts in other countries, Singapore companies need to pull up their socks if they intend to join the league of admired corporate citizens

If

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• S A LT Mar-Apr 2005

around the world. In the USA, companies contributed 1.6% of pre-tax net profit to charity in 2003. Canadian companies followed with 1.03% (2000), while in the UK, the corporate giving rate stood at 0.95% (2002).

“The figure of 0.21% gives cause for serious reflection. From the looks of things, companies can certainly afford to be more generous with their giving. Think about how much bigger the charity pie would be if the companies gave one, or even just half a per cent, of their net profit!” says Mrs Tan Chee Koon, CEO of NVPC. Interestingly enough, the survey also revealed that almost half of Singapore companies (42%) saw no hindrances whatsoever to them giving more. That being the case, why aren’t companies here more generous when it comes to sharing their profits with worthy causes?

BOTTOM LINE DRIVEN Perhaps the answer lies in the basic tenet of why companies are set up in the first place, and more significantly, how much weight a company should place on the bottom line.

The Economist put it bluntly in “The Ethics of Business” in its 22 January 2005 issue when it stated that “Managers of public companies are employed by the firms’ owners to maximise the long term-value of the owners’ assets. Putting these assets to any other use is cheating the owners” and that “Managers who are accountable to their shareholders, should run their businesses.”

This view is shared by some local business leaders.

Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, CEO of SMRT in a recent The Business Times article stated that, “Companies do not have a social responsibility. A company is essentially an enterprise established for business and profit.”

“Companies do not have a social responsibility.

A company is essentially an enterprise established for business and profit.”

Ms Saw Phaik Hwa, CEO, SMRT

HSBC (above) and SingHealth (left) do their bit for charity.

Nevertheless, many companies here do give, and some quite generously too (see box story on Singapore’s Top 5 Corporate Donors). After all, says Mr Peter Heng, Director of Corporate Communications at SingTel, one of Singapore’s top corporate givers, “Developing sound corporate social responsibility policies promotes business excellence and ultimately, enhances organisational reputation. These are vital ingredients in increasing shareholder value and sustaining growth.”

But how do shareholders view this? Surprisingly, Mr David Gerald, President and CEO of the Securities Investors Association of Singapore (SIAS), the watchdog body for shareholders here remarks that “Shareholders should support companies when they decide to donate to worthy charitable causes.”

“Objection is in order only if the company spends on an unauthorised item or unreasonably pays its directors remuneration not commensurate with their performance.

It’s sad if we have to even object to charity,” he adds.

Listed companies with the greater pressure on bottom lines will likely have less flexibility than private companies.

Findings showed that while listed companies formed the

majority of corporate givers in Singapore (53%) compared to unlisted companies (33%), the percentage of net profit (pre-tax) that listed companies contributed to charity was only 0.21%; unlisted companies fared better at 0.33%. However, given the larger sizes of the listed companies, the average donation amount (in cash and in-kind) stood at $171,530, while that for unlisted companies was $96,030.

“When you are listed, your whole approach to business is different. The CEO will look at his quarterly results and shareholders will look at bottom line returns,” comments Mr Chandra Das, Chairman of unlisted NTUC FairPrice, one of Singapore’s top five corporate givers.

COMMITMENT ISSUES Listed or unlisted, the survey shows there is definitely room for improvement by local companies. Entrenching corporate charitable giving into the company’s agenda may be one way that can help to beef up the giving percentages in the future. The recent launch of Singapore Compact for Corporate Social Responsibility could go some way in educating companies here about being more socially responsible and as a result, more open to the idea of charitable giving, whether in cash, in-kind or time.

“Singapore performed remarkably well in the recent Asian tsunami. Not only the people but also the corporate sector was very vibrant in responding and mobilising the resources to help. We want to continue to harness this spirit,” says Ms Claire Chiang, President of Singapore Compact.

Members of Singapore Compact include founders the Singapore National Employers Federation, National Trades Union Congress, Consumers Association of Singapore and NVPC, as well as listed and unlisted bigwigs such as SingTel, Singapore Airlines, NTUC FairPrice, Shell, Standard Chartered, Raffles Medical Group and Union Bank of Switzerland.

But ultimately, it’s not about belonging to a society of socially responsible companies or even about one’s status as a listed or unlisted company.

“Shareholders should support companies when they decide to donate to worthy charitable causes. It’s sad if we have to even object to charity.”

Mr David Gerald, President and CEO, SIAS

“It’s really about making a commitment and honouring it.

We decided in 1999 to set aside 1% of our trading profit for worthy arts, educational, community and charitable causes and we have made good on this pledge over the years,” declares Ms Irene Ngoo, Vice President of corporate relations at media giant Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), a publicly listed company that is Singapore’s top corporate giver and not a member of Singapore Compact.

Mar-Apr 2005 S A LT •

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SINGAPORE’S TOP 5 CORPORATE DONORS Who gave the most among Singapore’s corporates?

For the first time ever, NVPC surveyed corporate donors in Singapore to bring you the Top 5. media company. A telco. A retailer. A bank – make that two.

The top corporate givers in Singapore come from very different industries. While others debate about whether the business of business is only business, these companies do more than their bit for the community, even as they successfully discharge their core business missions. Industry leaders in more ways than one, they all have one thing in common – formal Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies and programmes.

Our winner by more than a mile was media giant Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), with total contributions of nearly $8.1 million. Our survey was based on the company’s financials for fiscal year 2004 – if it had taken place a year earlier, when SPH established its Press Foundation of Singapore with an injection of $20 million, it would easily have led by a hundred miles!

NTUC FairPrice, Singapore’s supermarket with a heart, was no surprise.

After all, part of its vision is to be “the best corporate citizen”. Over the last 20 years, it has ploughed back surpluses of more than half a billion dollars to Singaporeans in the form of dividends, patronage rebates and bonuses.

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“We do not hesitate to place people’s welfare above commercial considerations – especially when it comes to the crunch, like during last year’s egg crisis and SARS the year before,” declared Mr Chandra Das, Chairman of FairPrice.

In the eyes of many, SingTel has come a long way from its image of a staid monopoly to a telco that touches the lives of citizens beyond mere telephone calls. Since the launch of the SingTel Touching Lives Fund in 2002, over $5.8 million has been raised for more than 10 children’s charities.

But it’s not just the large locals who are big corporate givers.

Most multinationals embrace a giving culture, and a shining example among them is Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation. Its support for the environment and other causes, its strong employee volunteer programme with 60% participation from its 1,800 employees here, and other initiatives raise the bar for local companies in CSR. Over at DBS, the focus has been on the arts and education. Thanks to its patron sponsorship of the Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) since its founding in 1993, SRT has blossomed from a small theatre group into Singa-

pore’s leading theatre company today.

A founding donor of the Arts House, DBS has also generously supported investor education programmes conducted by the Securities Investors Association (Singapore).

So how were our above Top 5 identified? It was certainly no easy task. First came the definitions. What constitutes monetary contribution exactly? We concluded that we should distinguish between direct donations to charity (in cash or in-kind), community related sponsorships (eg. an arts or sporting event), and fund raising, where the money collected comes not from the company itself, but from its staff, customers and business partners. Only actual contributions were considered, not pledges.These were then weighted.

Subsequently, based on our first survey, we identified the leading corporate givers and asked them for their detailed financial information.

Most responded; a few declined on the basis that they did not measure (or want to measure) their contributions. We hope this list will encourage others to be more forthcoming in the future. After all, the business of business must include the community it operates in.

THE TOP 5 (S$’000) COMPANY

1 2 3 4 5

Singapore Press Holdings NTUC FairPrice Singapore Telecommunications Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation DBS Bank

Source: NVPC’s Survey

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DONATIONS TO CHARITY*

COMMUNITY SPONSORSHIPS

FUNDS RAISED FOR CHARITY

TOTAL

$3,290 $2,571 $2,289 $1,352 $415

$986 $1,485 $396 $867 $1,105

$3,820 $210 $1,290 $219 $1,850

$8,096 $4,266 $3,975 $2,438 $3,370 * In cash and in-kind

ONLY BROAD COMMUNITY APPEAL CAUSES NEED APPLY The majority of giving companies seem to be social do-gooders, with 65% wanting to give something back to the community and 14% simply desiring to do good. Only 9% admitted that their giving was to enhance the company’s image or reputation. It comes as no surprise then that sectors with broad community appeal such as the social services (66%), education (30%) and health (25%) are the top beneficiaries of corporate giving.

“People can relate to the visible signs of sickness and physical handicap because they may have affected us personally or our families and friends. The problems are more immediately recognised and touch people instantly to move them to give,” notes Ms Ng Siew Eng, General Manager of not-for-profit Singapore Dance Theatre (SDT).

“The arts is not viewed as a necessity or crucial. Most Singaporeans therefore do not see the arts as ‘needy’ and it is even more challenging to raise funds and find sponsorship.

A complete change of mindset is required before we’re likely to see any marked increase in giving to the sector,” she adds.

President of Netball Singapore Mrs Ivy Singh-Lim has a more cynical view of the situation.

“When you are listed, your whole approach to business is different.

The CEO will look at his quarterly results and shareholders will look at bottom line returns.”

Mr Chandra Das, Chairman, NTUC FairPrice Staff of NTUC FairPrice (left) are actively encouraged to get involved in the co-op’s numerous charity programmes.

“Despite the fact that netball is the largest women’s sport in Singapore and our team is second in Asia, it is still an uphill battle for us to garner sponsorship. Luckily, we have been able to find companies that have taken the time and trouble to look at our proposals and decided to sponsor us, but they are few and far between. The biggest problem is that most large companies support events or causes that are politically connected – they should be looking at the causes rather than apple polishing!”

The challenge then, it appears, is to convince companies that the less popular sectors are just as deserving of the charity dollar than the established ones. The question is “How?”

STRATEGIC ASKING IS KEY According to the survey, 47% of companies cited the alignment between the cause of the charity or NPO with the company’s core values as the main determining factor in their decision whether or not to give. The reliability and track record of the charity or NPO is also important – 40% of the companies highlighted this as the deal clincher.

“The biggest problem is that most large companies support events or causes that are politically connected – they should be looking at the causes rather than apple polishing!”

Mrs Ivy Singh-Lim, President, Netball Singapore

“The charity or NPO needs to be run professionally and be able to make a sales pitch for their particular product, be it a sport or a hospice, and at the same time, offer a platform which appeals to the donating company, “ advises Mrs Singh-Lim. Knowing which companies to approach is equally important. Out of the existing pool of givers from Singapore’s top 1000 companies (S1000) and top 500 small and medium enterprises (SME500), 24% of S1000 and 12% of SME500 companies were likely to increase their giving in the next three years. Over half of these companies (S1000 – 52%; SME500 – 62%) were likely to maintain their giving over the same period, while only 7% of S1000 and 10% of SME500 companies were likely to reduce their giving.

In comparison, only 5% of existing non-giving companies were likely to start giving in the next 12 months.

“It is certainly encouraging to see that companies are more likely to increase rather than decrease their giving,” observes Mrs Tan. “What we need to do is to convert the unconverted.

For the charities and NPOs, the immediate task ahead is to strategically target their asking at companies that are already giving as they are the ones who are more likely to say yes.”

MORE THAN MONEY The survey findings also point to other aspects of corporate giving that can be improved, such as employee volunteering, for starters. Only 17% of companies have employee volunteering programmes. This is an area that would not require much by way of financial support from the company, and the benefits to the company can be significant.

What is needed, says Singapore Compact’s Ms Chiang, is to convince companies, especially the small and medium enterprises, that the deep pockets of big businesses are not necessary before they can contribute. “It’s about doing better, not more.”

The bottom line, then, is that Singapore companies can afford to do better and do more. And for 2005, the spike in tsunami giving has been a good start. ✩

Mar-Apr 2005 S A LT •

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CORPORATE GIVING AT A GLANCE The Corporate Giving Pie*

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Donors’ Behaviour Where are they giving?

Non-tax deductible

% among donors

32%

66%

Social services

(S$35.5m)

30%

Education

Tax Deductible

25%

Health

68%

21%

Community/Grassroots

(S$75.5m)

18%

Youth * Cash and in-kind donations only, excludes sponsorship and fundraising.

Total: S$111m

Why do they give? % among donors

Country Comparisons

Give something back to the community

% 2.0

Improve companyʼs image/reputation

1.03%

What stops them from giving more?

0.5

% 60

0.21%

% among donors

42%

None USA (2003)

Canada (2000)

UK (2002)

Singapore (2003)

20%

Profitability

19%

Lack of time 53%

13%

No budget allocated 48%

50 40

33%

29%

28%

30

How do they give? % among donors

20

Corporate foundations

10

Employee volunteer programme

0

9%

0.95%

1.0

Giving Incidence

14%

Simply to do good

1.6%

% Giving to Net Profit Before Tax 1.5

0.0

65%

Listed Unlisted SME500

S1000

All

5% 17%

Partnership with charity/NPO

SME500 + S1000

28% 32%

Multi-company initiative

Average Donation

S$ 200,000

37%

SHARE $171,920

$171,530

150,000

What are donors’ giving trends?* $96,030

100,000

% among donors

24%

S1000 SME500 Stay the same S1000 SME500 Decrease S1000 SME500 Not sure S1000 SME500 Increase

50,000

$30,830 $4,860

0

Listed Unlisted SME500

S1000

All

SME500 + S1000

Donation as % to Net Profit Before Tax

% 0.35

0.21%

Very unlikely/ S1000 not likely SME500 Not sure S1000 SME500 Quite likely/ S1000 very likely SME500

0.10 0.05 Listed

Unlisted

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• S A LT Mar-Apr 2005

18% 16%

* For the next three years

% among non-donors

0.21%

0.15

24

62% 7% 10%

Are corporate non-donors likely to donate?* 0.21%

0.20

0.00

52%

0.33%

0.30 0.25

12%

S1000

SME500 + S1000

1

74% 67% 21% 28% 5% 5%

*In the next 12 months

Survey conducted by AC Nielsen Research (Singapore) Pte Ltd and Taylor Nelson Sofres Singapore Pte Ltd, based on the responses of 2,450 business entities. Surveys covered the period between June and October 2004.

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TLC All Around Samsung is geared up to spread TLC to the world – technology-linked care, that is.

BRENDA YEO taps into the technology giant’s digital hopes for community improvement. lot of companies are not very strategic about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and what they are associating their brand with,” declares Allison Curran, who heads up Samsung’s Southeast Asia marketing division.

Not the case with Samsung. The company’s community programmes are unapologetically linked to their core competency. “We’re a tech company and we want to invest in technology for improving lives,” maintains Curran.

On a more modest scale, local subsidiaries do give to charities outside of the tech box. Samsung in Singapore, for instance, has in the past supported the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations and high profile fundraisers like the Million Dollar Duck Race.

Last year, however, the company launched what is to be its star programme for the region – DigitAll Hope. The scheme rolled out in seven countries: Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.

Essentially a grant scheme, funds were disbursed to initiatives that “improve lives with technology”. In Singapore and Thailand, Samsung supported technology driven initiatives that benefit the disabled. In Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Vietnam and the Philippines, grants were made to projects that help young people “achieve their dreams through the use of technology”.

In all, over US$550,000 in grant money was awarded in 2004, with Singapore’s share of the kitty coming in at a little over S$190,000. Company estimates peg the number of youths and people with disabilities across the region benefiting from these projects at around 200,000.

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celebrity-autographed mobile phones to raise US$100,000 for charities in Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia as well as UNICEF. This year, Samsung plans to pump up its community support using its DigitAll Hope platform.

Staff volunteerism, for instance, is high on the agenda. “We have no volunteer committee within the SEA region right now. But it is something that we are looking into and particularly through DigitAll Hope.

“We see a lot of opportunity to increase employee participation, not Funny business. Samsung staff spread cheer at only on the fundraising front, but in To hear her tell it, a Society for the Physically one of two terms of spending time with the benecompany’s CSR strategy Disabled, winners of DigitAll Hope grants in 2004. ficiaries. This kind of activity is very should ideally marry important to put a face on what our business and benevolence. Samsung’s company is doing. It’s going to be a community programmes, says Curran, major objective for us,” enthuses Curran. are both a means to “enhance our brand There are also plans to rope in image and build stronger relationships Samsung’s channel partners to bring with the local communities.” different facets to the programme.

Still, some situations defy pragmatism.

“We’re not certain of the details, but And Samsung’s heartware kicked into perhaps a portion of sales could go to high gear with the tsunami tragedy that DigitAll Hope charities. We could also closed 2004. Over 10,000 employees, many from the company’s medical centre bring our channel partners in on employee volunteerism programmes.” in Korea, volunteered in the relief effort The key to stepping up and and in fundraising. sustaining programmes over the long term will be senior management support. Fortunately, that’s in ample supply. Asia CEO Mr S J Park is a firm supporter of corporate social responsibility programmes, says Curran.

Yes, he turns up for events to show his support. But ever the pragmatist, In all, Samsung pledged around Curran observes: “In the end, coming to US$3 million to both relief and reconan event is nice. But making sure that we struction efforts and sponsored MTV can continue to have such events is very Asia Aid, an awards and benefit concert important. And he [Mr Park] has always to raise funds for tsunami victims. committed the resources to do so.” ✩ In a spin-off effort, Samsung auctioned

“We’re a tech company and we want to invest in technology for improving lives.”

Mar-Apr 2005 S A LT •

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S A L T S H A K E R S & M O V E R S

The Heart of the Lion t’s Sunday morning, but that was the best time available to catch Zulkifli Baharudin: at the spacious oasis of his home, in between his multiple regional travels and domestic appointments. Take this interview, for example. It took place just before his appearance that afternoon at the recently concluded Caltex Singapore Masters golf tournament to receive a cheque on behalf of Mercy Relief.

As chairman of the humanitarian aid organisation Mercy Relief, Zulkifli’s schedule – as one can imagine – has been thrown into a busier loop than usual due to the Asian tsunami disaster. Mercy Relief has been propelled to the frontline of aid efforts, despite the fact that the organisation is less than two years old!

Zulkifli, however, is taking it all in his stride. In his relaxed Sunday mode, the 45-year-old shows no evidence of being out of his depth at a time like this, when he has to keep a handle on both fundraising and volunteer coordination in Singapore, as well as the distribution of aid in Sumatra and Sri Lanka.

To have a better idea of what and how Mercy Relief will feature in Singapore in the next few years is to get a handle on its Chairman.

“I discovered you can’t have a very fulfilling life if you live apart from a community; and the community can’t

Photo courtesy of SPH – The Straits Times

Where Zulkifli Baharudin, Chairman of Mercy Relief, is concerned, success for the humanitarian organisation isn’t about the number of projects or the amount of funds raised. It’s all about engaging the heart and soul, he tells guest writer CHEAH UI-HOON of The Business Times.

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thrive if people don’t contribute to it,” declares Zulkifli. This point neatly sums up his ethos towards Mercy Relief and his life in general – as a logistics man, a businessman with regional concerns, a Muslim, and former NMP (not in any order of importance or preference).

Appointed as the first chairman of Mercy Relief in 2003, Zulkifli lays out his vision for the “truly Singaporean” operation. “I’ve always been ‘colour-blind’ where race is concerned, and a firm

“You can’t have a very fulfilling life if you live apart from a community; and the community can’t thrive if people don’t contribute to it.”

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advocate of the ideals of Singapore,” he states unequivocally. His own life is an example: Zulkifli has a Chinese-Muslim wife and a Hokkien-Peranakan father.

Founded by Perdaus (Adult Islamic Religious Students’ Association of Singapore), Mercy Relief later became an independent body and separate from Perdaus. Today, its main supporters reflect an inter-religious and inter-racial background, such as the Singapore Soka Association, the Young Sikh Association, the Singapore Catholic Archdiocese and The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore.

Once Mercy Relief threw open its doors to volunteers from all walks of life,

Specialists in Philanthropy Management STRUCTURING • FINANCING • TRUST AND CORPORATE SERVICES • INVESTMENTS • INSURANCE • REAL ESTATE

it became a neutral platform to bring Singaporeans together with three goals in mind: to galvanise them into having a sense of responsibility for our neighbours; to lend a helping hand in times of need; and last but not least, to show that there’s a real heart in the lion city.

For example, one of Mercy Relief ’s first projects was to build orphanages in China, Cambodia and Indonesia.

“We chose to build orphanages because we wanted to involve young Singaporeans in these missions, and also to have them work on something which will touch their lives,” he recalls. But why physical labour instead of raising money?

“We don’t have any other agenda – Mercy Relief isn’t meant to be a PR thing. But it’s good to remember that when we help others, we’re also helping ourselves. We learn more when we give.”

“Because we wanted the youth to work with the local people and live the way they lived,” he answers swiftly. But while Mercy Relief has rendered plenty of aid since it was set up, it isn’t trying to project a “political Singapore”, says Zulkifli.

“We don’t have any other agenda – Mercy Relief isn’t meant to be a PR thing.

But it’s good to remember that when we help others, we’re also helping ourselves.

We learn more when we give,” he says.

It’s an even pay-off: Singaporeans become better people and neighbours, and we also become better appreciated.

This conviction stems from his frequent business trips around the region. He shares: “We’re often respected for the way we do things, for our efficiency and

progress. But I’m not sure whether we’re admired as a people and a society. We’re often than not envied, but being admired is something else.”

Getting Singaporeans involved in hands-on work, he feels, is one way to show that there’s a heart in this lion.

The tsunami has shown up Singapore’s “heartware’” very clearly, he adds, referring to the volunteers who stepped up and the outpouring of donations. He was in Japan when the tsunami hit, and flew almost immediately to Medan to assess the needs situation there.

“I knew we needed to go to the ground immediately to establish a logistical network. We were able to establish the entire linkage very quickly – that’s the kind of resources we have,” he says with a hint of pride.

Setting up these linkages are his forte, having been vice-president of a multinational logistics firm before starting his own business in the region.

“I feel very connected to the region, because of my business and also because of friends I’ve made,” he elaborates.

When not caught up with Mercy Relief and work, Zulkifli is angling – for fish. He used to play football (he’s still part of the Singapore Sports Council), and tries to squeeze in skiing holidays a couple of times every year.

Mercy Relief is a young organisation and in the process of growing, he notes, and he hopes the organisation will stay

Hands on. Zulfikli helped distribute play packs to Meulaboh’s children.

relevant to the type of work it was set up to do. Visits to teams sent out on missions allow him to get an up close and personal look at whether the organisation is “doing the right thing”. Like his recent visit to Sumatra, for instance.

“When we saw the bond that had formed between the Singaporeans and the children they built the orphanage for, we felt that we had ‘arrived’.”

In Zulkifli’s record books, the “destination” isn’t how many projects Mercy Relief has undertaken, nor even how much funds it has raised. It’s about whether Singaporeans are engaged, heart and soul, with the people around them. ✩ Mar-Apr 2005 S A LT •

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Of Profit and Philanthropy Aside from spurring the economy on, profitable companies need to do more to boost corporate philanthropy in Singapore, says Professor Cham Tao Soon, Chairman of Singapore Symphonia.

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PROF CHAM TAO SOON CHAIRMAN S INGAPORE SYMPHONIA

or most companies in Singapore, corporate philanthropy does not appear to be a topic important enough to warrant much attention (my definition of philanthropy includes volunteerism). The dictionary meaning of philanthropy is love for mankind as shown in acts to promote its well-being by donating to worthy causes or benevolent activities. Anecdotally, it appears that this apathy is less common in companies in the first world.

Of course, I am not saying there are no good examples in Singapore – many companies do donate to the underprivileged, civic and cultural organisations.

The recent response to the tidal wave tragedy is proof that companies can (and do) rise to the occasion when the need arises. Indeed, some companies, such as the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, have entrenched employee volunteer programmes like their Green Volunteers. However, they represent a very small percentage of companies in Singapore, and their total contribution is not large in comparison with their market capitalisation.

The benefits of corporate philanthropy extend beyond the mental satisfaction of fulfilling the desire for shouldering social responsibility.

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Such acts enhance the corporate image of the company, which can lead to a larger market share. The strong positive effect on the consumer psyche of a company’s philanthropic acts also cannot be discounted.

A company can also view undertaking philanthropic acts as one way of giving back to the society from which it has gained its success. Employee pride at belonging to such an organisation can also translate to higher employee motivation levels, and it has been observed that working together for a noble cause often helps to inculcate team spirit in a company.

Some people are of the opinion that the government should provide the support for worthy organisations and philanthropic activities. The government

“The strong positive effect on the consumer psyche of a company’s philanthropic acts cannot be discounted.” does play this role to some extent – it gives funding to charitable organisations (though not much), and grants tax concessions on corporate profits for donations. But that is not enough. It is up to the citizens (corporate and individual) to supplement these charitable acts of the government.

It’s been said that the corporate tax

rate of 20 per cent in Singapore does not encourage philanthropic inclinations. Although double tax deductions are enjoyed if donations are given to Institutions of Public Character, the rules are rather complex and restrictive.

Arguments have been made for a relaxation of the rules, but it must be understood that the government’s policy is to impose a lighter burden on the companies and to leave them to choose what to do with their surpluses.

Companies, especially those with healthy profits, should play their role. In an article in Newsweek in January 2004, it was suggested that the way companies can truly help the communities in which they do business is if they donated one per cent of their revenue, stock and employee’s time to improve the lives of those around them. In many cases, these companies would be even more powerful than some of the largest governments in the world today!

In Singapore, the above suggestion is probably too bold for many companies to adopt. Dedicating one per cent or at least half a percent of profits (as opposed to revenue) to corporate philanthropy may be a much easier pill to swallow.

When that becomes a corporate policy adopted widely by companies, the business world in Singapore will likely be viewed as among the best corporate citizens in the world – a worthwhile goal to aim at in line with all the other accolades given to Singapore. ✩

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HOME Is Where The Heart Is Marginalised foreign workers in Singapore now have a place to call their own, thanks to a place called HOME. BRENDA YEO drops in for a visit.

ome 500,000 semi-skilled and unskilled foreigners live and work in Singapore. They tend our homes, help build our roads, clean our streets and more. Still, every so often, says Bridget Lew, “They are like a foreign body in our tissue that gets rejected.”

“Lower skilled foreign workers in Singapore are a marginalised group,” she observes. “They don’t have the competencies – language for instance – to help them understand the rules of the game.

They get cheated by unscrupulous people as a result. We feel we have to help.”

Refusing to simply stand by, Lew set up and is now President of the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME).

Registered as a society in September 2004, HOME opens its doors to migrant workers in need – hopefuls who have come to Singapore on promises of work and plumper wages, but end up jobless and destitute, cheated by employment agents; domestic helpers who haven’t been paid in months, don’t get days off or enough to eat – the list goes on.

Out of a shop house on Veerasamy Road in Little India, HOME plays advocate to these migrant workers on thorny issues like trafficking, exploitation, even abuse. It runs two shelters, one for men and another for women, and also provides financial assistance when needed.

The staff estimate that some 50 men have sought help from HOME since it opened its doors. The number is higher for women – HOME’s shelter for women houses about 18 women at any given time.

Of necessity, the society works with a broader network that includes government bodies like the Ministry of Manpower

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women’s shelter plate up regional favourites. It’s begun work on an employment agency and there are plans to set up a hostel on HOME premises.

Do they have their fingers in too many pies?

“We have to make a run for the money. Opportunity lost is cost,” responds Lew. By her calculations, the Bridget Lew of HOME (left) and Jeanette various social enterprises (MOM), Singapore Har of Ministry of Manpower. HOME was officially launched on 18 December 2004, should generate $100,000 Immigration and International Migrants’ Day. a year for HOME – a Checkpoint Authorities, target Lew is confident they can reach legal firms and civic and religious groups. within six months.

It’s been no walk in the park. For Still, it’s early days yet, and HOME, instance, Lew drew deep from her personal Lew concedes, is finding its feet. “There funds, her CPF included, to bankroll are so many challenges, so many things HOME’s two staff, its programmes, to do,” she says. “What we’re doing now services and facilities. “I feel like I’m is fire fighting. Our advocacy, welfare and bleeding everyday,” says Lew. empowerment programmes, and services But the financial front looks sunnier of are yet to be really established. We’d like late. HOME received a leg up recently with to have the luxury not to just fire-fight, a $100,000 New Initiative Grant from the but to be proactive and work ahead.”

National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre.

With their work cut out, volunteers will be a critical resource. HOME volunteers pitch in as translators, help collect odds and ends for the thrift shop and lend a hand at HOME’s various enterprises.

HOME’s volunteer pool swelled in recent months when HOME put out the call in its tsunami crisis response. The society was working with MOM to provide assistance to foreign workers affected by the disaster. “We hope to engage the local Over the longer term, Lew is looking community more in what we’re doing to a handful of social enterprises to keep and get more talented people who them going. The society operates a thrift believe in the cause to help us.” ✩ shop and an Internet café from its For more information on HOME, log premises. It offers catering services, onto www.home.org.sg. where the multinational residents of its

“Lower skilled foreign workers in Singapore are a marginalised group.

They are like a foreign body in our tissue that gets rejected.”

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SCENE&SEEN Spreading the Joy We’re almost there...

Volunteer Power 5 December 2004, The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, The Padang

It was apt indeed that the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon was held on 5 December, which also happened to be International Volunteer Day. Some 700 volunteers were mobilised for the marathon to help as time chip collectors, water distributors, road marshals and first aiders, some from as early as 3am that day!

Among the volunteers was NMP Eunice Olsen, who was also appointed the NVPC’s Youth Volunteerism Ambassador that day, and performed her duties as a medal presentation volunteer with utmost professionalism, despite the sweltering 35 degree Celsius temperature!

NVPC’s Youth Volunteerism Ambassador Eunice Olsen doing her bit for the marathon.

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18 December 2004, HSBC Children’s Christmas Party, Raffles House, Fort Canning Park

An 80-strong team of volunteers from the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) treated 70 children and youths from the Singapore Association for the Deaf and the Singapore Children’s Society Convalescent Home to an evening of merry-making and a sumptuous Christmas Her smile says it all. feast at their annual Children’s Christmas Party. To top off the festivities, the children were treated to a tour of the Christmas lightup along Orchard Road in specially chartered buses that had a balloon sculpture artist, a glitter tattoo artist, a caricaturist and a face painter on board!

May the Force Be With You 12 December 2004, The Suntec Singapore G-Force Concert, Suntec Singapore Convention Centre Theatre

Three hundred beneficiaries from different welfare organisations such as The Tent and The Institute of Mental Health were treated to an exhilarating afternoon of song and dance by volunteer performers eager to spread the message that the arts is an avenue for giving. Jointly organised by Suntec Singapore and the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), the performers included girl group CCCrush, Chinese rap outfit Chou Pi Jiang, taikoo drummers from the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS), the kids from childcare centre Child At Street 11, and sign/dance group Xtomic from the Singapore Association for the Deaf.

CCCrush sang their hearts out for the beneficiaries.

Hit that perfect beat – MINDS taikoo drummers.

Poolside Fun 10 December 2004, St. Luke’s Hospital Day Out, Police Academy

Volunteers from the Police Academy and the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) organised a poolside party for 30 residents from St. Luke’s Hospital Day Rehabilitation Centre, fulfilling a wish that St. Luke’s Hospital had submitted to NCSS for the President’s Challenge last year. Most of the residents were stroke survivors, but the volunteers came up with interesting games that suited different mobility levels and also educated the residents on basic safety measures such as how to ward off pickpockets and conmen. To round off the day, residents and volunteers sang their hearts out during the karaoke session.

Happy 75th, BB!

The BB Old Boys’ Band strike a pose.

10 January 2005, Boys’ Brigade Jubilee Reception, The Istana

Boy, did they sing with gusto!

Surf’s Up!

As part of a year-long celebration of its 75th year in Singapore, the Boys’ Brigade Singapore (BB) held a special jubilee reception at the Istana to honour outstanding BB volunteers. The Old Boys’ Band showed that the passage of time had not dulled their passion for music as they entertained the guests with familiar BB favourites. Guest-ofHonour President S R Nathan hosted the reception and presented appreciation awards to long-serving BB volunteers.

4 December 2004, The Great Singapore Volunteer Surf, Singapore Polytechnic

Some 200 senior citizens got their first taste of surfing the Internet at the Great Singapore Volunteer Surf, thanks to guidance from 20 student volunteers from the Overseas Family School. The participants not only learnt how to familiarise themselves with using the Net, but also discovered online about volunteering opportunities available as well as how to make an online donation, proving that you’re never too old to get Net savvy and to start giving.

On your mark, get set, go!

Faster, Higher, Stronger 20 November 2004, State Street Children’s Olympics, Woodlands Sports Hall

Volunteer cyber guides show the way forward.

Joyous sounds of running feet and laughter filled Woodlands Sports Hall on a Saturday morning when kids from Life Community Services, En Community Services and Galilee Centre participated in the inaugural State Street Children’s Olympics, organised by volunteers from State Street Bank. The children competed in six challenges for a chance to walk away with a commemorative trophy and gift vouchers sponsored by State Street Bank.

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9 – 12 March White Men With Weapons

Ms Janice Soon at 62253133 ext. 18 or email janice.soon@kdf.org.sg.

Time: 8.00pm Venue: The Necessary Stage Black Box

16 March Rediscovering Resources Within Time: 6.30pm – 8.30pm Venue: Patient Care Services Lobby, Level 2, National Cancer Centre A group for self-rediscovery of one’s inner strengths that are often lost when illness strikes. All about regaining energies and strengths that once worked, this workshop helps you to find your resilience in the midst of uncertainties.

To register, please call 62255655 during office hours.

6 – 24 April Boeing Boeing

Part of nonprofit drama group The Necessary Stage’s annual M1 Theatre Connect series, this awardwinning South African play explores what happens to the minds of men who are forced to fight a senseless war in a foreign land. Written and performed by Greig Coetzee, this play is by turns funny, poignant and harrowing, and has won acclaim for its hilarious but clear-sighted examination of masculinity, militarism and what happens when you realise you’ve been fighting the wrong war.

Tickets are priced at $19 and $24 and are available from SISTIC outlets island-wide or call 63485555 or visit www.sistic.com.sg.

13 March KDF Patients’ Family Day Venue: Fort Canning Park The Kidney Dialysis Foundation (KDF) is organising a Family Day for patients and their families to provide patients with some recreational time away from their regular treatment regimes and to enhance interaction amongst patients and their family members. Help from corporate and individual donors and volunteers are needed to help make this event a success.

To donate or volunteer, please call

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Time: 8.00pm Venue: Victoria Theatre Back by popular demand after its sold out run in 2002, not-forprofit theatre company Wild Rice

8 – 11 March

Susan Ellis Volunteer Management Seminars A highly sought after international speaker for volunteer management, Susan Ellis is the president of Energize, Inc., an international training, consulting and publishing firm specialising in volunteerism. Author of 11 books on volunteerism and numerous articles, Susan is also co-publisher of the international online journal, e-Volunteerism (www.e-volunteerism.com).

8 & 9 March Beyond the Basics: Advanced Training for Volunteer Coordinators Time: 9am – 5pm Venue: Amara Singapore, 165 Tanjong Pagar Road On 8 and 9 March, Susan will be conducting an intensive two-day seminar on Beyond the Basics: Advanced Training for Volunteer Coordinators, designed to offer the opportunity to explore in depth several key elements of volunteer management. This seminar is meant for those who have completed the course An Overview to Volunteer Management Systems conducted by NVPC or experienced volunteer coordinators who have been in the field for at least three years. The seminar fee is $350, inclusive of course materials and refreshments.

11 March Volunteer Management for Employee Volunteer Programmes

brings back this hilarious comedy about a bachelor and his three air stewardess girlfriends, each blissfully unaware of the others’ existence!

Just how long can he keep this act up? Guaranteed to lift your spirits, bust your stress and take you on a mile-high adventure, this play is directed by Glen Goei and features the acting talents of Lim Yu-Beng, Emma Yong, Pam Oei, Chermaine Ang and Brendon Fernandez.

Tickets are priced from $18 – $58 and are available from all SISTIC outlets island-wide or call 63485555 or visit www.sistic.com.sg.

Time: 9am – 5pm Venue: National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, 7 Maxwell Road, MND Complex Annex B, #05-01 On 11 March, Susan will be conducting a one-day seminar on Volunteer Management for Employee Volunteer Programmes, aimed at teaching companies how to put in place and manage effective Employee Volunteering Programmes (EVP). It is targeted at staff managing corporate volunteers in an EVP or companies intending to start an EVP. The seminar fee is $157.50, inclusive of course materials and refreshments.

To register, visit www.nvpc.org.sg to download the registration form. For more information on the seminars, please call Ms Lam Moy Yin at 65509566.

The Nonprofit Sector Training Grant (NTG) is applicable for the seminar fees.

For more information on NTG, please call Ms Gim Ong at 65509583.

23 April St. Luke’s Hospital and St. Luke’s Eldercare Joint Flag Day Venue: Island-wide Volunteers and staff of St. Luke’s will be all around Singapore selling flags to raise funds for the operations of St. Luke’s Hospital and St. Luke’s Eldercare. A voluntary welfare organisation, St. Luke’s relies heavily on donations to run its programmes and day care centres for the elderly

that seek to provide quality and affordable healthcare, so donate generously when you are approached!

Volunteers are also needed to help sell flags on that day.

To volunteer, please call Mr Sitoh of St. Luke’s Hospital at 65632281 or email sitohtc@slh.org.sg.

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Photo courtesy of Singapore Red Cross Society

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TSUNAMI DISASTER IN NUMBERS Highest death toll: Indonesia

Number of deaths: (approximately)

(approximately)

297,000 Total aid contributions pledged by governments and the World Bank: Largest international community donation to date:

Germany

S$522 million (approximately)

243,000 S$11.9 billion

Amount raised by the Singapore Red Cross Society:

Country that pledged the most money:

USA S$75 S$1.6 billion million S$316 million

Amount needed to provide food to tsunami survivors for the next six months:

(approximately)

“This was a natural phenomenon so brutally destructive, it almost seems evil.”

Jonathan Head, BBC correspondent reporting from Banda Aceh, Indonesia

“This disaster seems like a nightmare from which we are still hoping to awake.

Except that for millions, this nightmare is devastatingly real.”

Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General

Number of groups involved in worldwide relief aid:

9

academic and research institutions

100

UN and international organisations

Number of world heritage sites destroyed or damaged:

60

government bodies

5

19

news and media organisations

200

non-governmental organisations

(Including the Old Town of Galle in Sri Lanka, the tropical rainforest in Indonesia and the Sun Temples of Konarak in India)

Number of people displaced:

1,675,000 Amount needed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for psychosocial trauma support for survivors:

Number of children orphaned:

Between 6,000 and 35,000

S$61 million (approximately)

All information accurate at time of print. Sources: www.cnn.com, The UK Telegraph, www.timesonline.co.uk, Channel News Asia Singapore, www.newsscientist.com, www.globalissues.com, www.un.org, www.reliefweb.int, www.cbcnews.ca, www.alertnet.org, www.cbsnews.com, www.nationmaster.com, www.abcnews.go.com

“It hurts my heart.”

Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai Prime Minister on the tsunami disaster that has killed scores of Thais and tourists

“Actually, I just struck the lottery.”

Response from an anonymous donor who, together with his friend, dropped off $200,000 in cash for the tsunami victims at Singapore Press Holdings’ headquarters in Toa Payoh North on 31 December 2004

“We are encountering a second wave of tsunamis, bigger and more powerful than the first. It is the tsunami of compassion and care we have received from the international community.”

Surasak Chuasukonthip, Thai Charges d’Affaires at the memorial service for tsunami victims held at the Singapore Expo on 9 January 2005

“People who sincerely want to do good deeds don’t need publicity. It’s from the heart.”

A Singaporean businessman based in Bangkok who supplied 20 four-wheel drive trucks from Bangkok to Phuket to help search for survivors. He wanted only to be known as Mr Soh. Compiled by Michelle Bong

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A NATURAL DISASTER OF NIGHTMARISH PROPORTIONS ALSO AWAKENS OUR MOST VITAL TRAITS AS HUMAN BEINGS.

BY SHOWING COMPASSION, YOU GIVE OTHERS THE HOPE TO CARRY ON.

A HEARTFELT THANK YOU FROM NVPC TO ALL WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO KEEPING THAT HOPE ALIVE This advertisement space is sponsored by HSBC.