Business as usual despite probeStraits Times, The (Singapore)
Singapore
November 8, 2007
Author: Carolyn Quek & Theresa Tan
IT WAS business as usual at the Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre last night, despite news that the charity had come under scrutiny over 'possible irregularities' in its books.
Its compounds in Buangkok View and Jalan Tan Tock Seng were almost deserted, with only a handful of people visiting patients.
But a hum of a different kind was going on: Auditors from Ernst & Young Associates, sent there yesterday by the Ministry of Health (MOH), were seen carting documents from one office to another in its Buangkok View grounds.
More auditors arrived as the night wore on. One even came with empty cardboard boxes, presumably to store files. The Straits Times counted at least 10 auditors.
Ren Ci staff The Straits Times spoke to said they had not been told of the probe, but some had learnt about it through news reports.
Staff nurse San San Yee, 46, said that she was 'not worried' by the news.
Relatives of Ren Ci patients were surprised to hear about the probe. They had only good things to say about the quality of care delivered by Ren Ci's staff.
A 48-year-old sales executive, who identified herself only as Madam Lim, said her family owed the hospital about $10,000 for her bedridden older brother who has been there a few years, but that they had never been pressed to pay up. They pay about $600 every month.
Madam Lim said: 'The doctors here are nice and they take good care of him.'
Ren Ci's website said it had about 120 patients in its nursing wards and about 300 chronic sick patients in September.
Its patients are highly subsidised, and ward charges are, on average, $18 a day.
Copyright, 2007, Singapore Press Holdings Limited
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Charities that faced public scrutinyJuly 2005: National Kidney FoundationIT WAS Singapore's largest charity that took Singapore Press Holdings to court for defamation.
However, the trial collapsed after two days when it was revealed that its then-chief executive officer T.T. Durai received an annual salary of $600,000.
Other revelations made included how Durai flew first class on plane trips, and how the charity inflated its patient figures.
This eventually led to the resignation of Durai and the NKF's board of directors.
Mr Gerard Ee was appointed the charity's interim chairman by Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan.
Its current CEO is Eunice Tay.
Durai, 59, and several of the old board members were later convicted on criminal charges of corruption.
October 2005: Singapore Association of the Visually HandicappedTHE Commissioner of Charities started an inquiry into the governance and financial management of the charity, which serves the blind here.
This cost the 56-year-old charity its status as an Institution of Public Character (IPC) which meant that donors could not get tax exemptions on their donations to the charity.
Over a million dollars in annual funding from the National Council of Social Service was also lost.
SAVH finally regained its status as an IPC last September but has had some trouble raising funds.
In July, it was reported that the SAVH had about three months to go before funds for its day-to-day operations would run out.
August 2006: Youth ChallengeTHE charity, which sends young people on overseas humanitarian missions, came under the spotlight after a probe found irregularities. One of the sticking points especially was how its founder and then-executive president Vincent Lam's salary was computed and disclosed.
In 2005, he was paid $248,867, which amounted to 56 per cent of the charity's income of $442,287 for the period.
The investigation also found serious lapses in the handling of its finances, and in how the management committee was elected and run.
Mr Lam resigned in January.
He was eventually cleared of any criminal action by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore and the Central Provident Fund Board.
June 2007: St John's Home for Elderly PersonsA POLICE investigation was launched after about $3.88 million was found missing from the home's bank accounts.
This amount -the home's reserves - was painstakingly built up by the home since 1959.
Also missing was the home's superintendent, Benjamin Ho, 60, who handled its finances.
He left on overseas leave on May 30 and did not return.
He, as yet, cannot be found.
It is also believed that signatures on cheques may have been forged.
A lawsuit was subsequently filed against him by the home.
This led to a High Court ruling on Aug 22 that he must return the money.
A new superintendent, Mr Goh Beng Hoe, 44, was appointed in September.
