Angry Doctor

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Here's 2 cents that won't be going to any charity...

I don't suppose there's anything to be said about the NKF saga that hasn't already been said or written about.

What bugs me is not how easily we can all become victims to fraud, but how easily we can become the perpetrators.

Are they really worse than the young men who entered medical school because they wanted to heal the sick and comfort the afflicted, but now charge exorbitant rates for mis-used steroids and Subutex? Or are the delinquent doctos worse, because they not only steal your money, but also your health?

I hope I never lose my ability to feel angry.

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posted by angry doc at 5:22 pm

20 Comments:

  • Nice blogs and great post!

    Yes, it is a tough world.

    By Blogger Robin CHAN, At December 20, 2005 5:51 pm  

  • The NKF scandal made me feel very sad. Now nobody will donate.

    By Blogger tscd, At December 20, 2005 6:55 pm  

  • I am not going to donate to NKF anymore... not even a dollar.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At December 20, 2005 8:36 pm  

  • Compared to The Man, stockbrokers are saints.

    An abject lesson for all well meaning singaporeans who are after all not really that bright despite being ranked highly on the world's IQ standard. Or are Singaporeans too soft under that "Ugly" exterior. Me? I am ugly, I am mean, I am stingy.

    I have never donated a single cent to any ORGANISED charity because I had already smelt a rat in this one as well as in all the others as yet unscrutinized. But I will throw a few dollars into the bowl or hat of a CRIPPLED beggar if I happen to pass by one. I know for certain that any money I give would go straight into his pocket and not some con organisation mucking around with the books and using semantics and ambiguities to hookwink a gullible public.

    The whole sorry episode will not end here. This is just the beginning.

    People want retribution.

    Singapore is now being made to look stupid to our neighbour up north because we have all the while maintained that we were better than them when it came to transparency and proper conduct. When they can charge a much lower cost for dialysis without subsidy compared to ours with a subsidy, something is not right. That is already a smoking gun.

    Who's laughing now?

    By Blogger uglybaldie, At December 20, 2005 9:59 pm  

  • uglybaldie, I agree with you. To my friends, I am a big bad ogre who never bothered about organized charity. My view is this: anything that has to go through a middleman will be partially lost in the system. Even before this saga was fleshed out in the public eye, it bugged me that a cut of it would have ended up somewhere else other than in the hands of the intended recipient. Much like how sad and sorry a tale was with the donations that were meant for the Indian Ocean tsunami. But that's another story.

    Matters like this got me thinking. What is charity? Does it mean throwing a few dollars at someone and then forgetting about it? For everyone who claims to be charitable in this aspect, the challenge is to give your time in doing the dirty work of comforting the less-privileged. After all, the victims/welfare recipients/disabled etc have to live out their reality on a day-to-day basis while we who throw money, it is but a day's (or less) pay.

    To misquote Pontius Pilate: What is charity?

    By Blogger andrew, At December 21, 2005 9:04 am  

  • nkf will be better now, hopefully. In the end, the patients lose out.

    I hope we all don't lose our abilities to get angry. Indifference is the worst "feeling" or "emotion" on earth.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At December 21, 2005 9:28 am  

  • Charity?

    The government has repeated this again and again and again and again....

    "You must help yourself to help yourself and we will help you to help yourself"

    They keep telling people that. So why are Singaporeans still so stupid to donate and donate and donate?

    The government is very smart. They tell you the above and then people still donate. So the govt will say "we never say you must donate".

    Then the money used to help you to help yourself to help yourself is YOUR OWN money! Not theirs, not the taxes, not the GDP. From extras given by Singaporeans. Fantastic!

    And better still, they let THE MAN handle the money and use it however he wanted.

    I am now so happy to say that I too never ever donated a single cent to any charity. Not even to the chio bu schoolgirl flag sellers.

    My wife thought did donate $3 a month to NKF while she was a civil servant for 2 years.

    By Blogger Dr Oz bloke, At December 21, 2005 10:04 am  

  • why does angrydr "advertise" for the ST pocket money fund?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At December 21, 2005 2:49 pm  

  • Good question. In the interest of transparency, I will answer it. :)

    I put up the call for SPMF because:

    1. I believe in their cause. A little bit from you each month can give a child dignity. Hopefully when the child grows up he will remember strangers actually did him a favour, and that will give him faith in humanity.

    2. From the information I have been given, SPMF has minimal overheads and bureaucracy, and the fund is disbursed to peripheral agencies who can hand them out with little red tape or delay.

    Other than being a donor, I have no affiliation to SPMF.

    By Blogger angry doc, At December 21, 2005 3:08 pm  

  • Added: I included the link to the ST page on the SPMF. You can read about the details there.

    By Blogger angry doc, At December 21, 2005 3:10 pm  

  • andrew: what is charity?

    I believe true charity, as Mother Theresa put it, is to 'give till it hurts'.

    By Blogger angry doc, At December 21, 2005 3:14 pm  

  • dr oz bloke

    there are many charities that are not covered, and increasing number of them are turning to MLMs to raise funds. some of these people really need money, but the suspicion always lies in the organization. I always donate via cash/cheque to the org straight, not buying some tickets. buying goods that come from non-profit orgs like cottoncollege will help, because the money goes straight to the needy.

    in the end, you can say it's karma or what. but I believe that when I give a $2 to a auntie selling tissues by the roadside, she has better use of the $2 than me.

    'charities' are vastly misused - many non-profits use that word. but non-profit NOT equal charities... it'll be good to go suss out the one that you really have a burden for.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At December 21, 2005 5:37 pm  

  • Old NKF or New NKF .... I am not going to donate anymore !!!!!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At December 21, 2005 9:11 pm  

  • What is worth learning from the NKF saga:

    1. The buck for the blame has to stop somewhere.

    2. EVERYONE who has power and influence is a crook and a greedy plunderer unless PROVEN otherwise.

    3. Birds of the same feather flock together and help each other in their nefarious schemes.

    4. An audit by one of the big four on anything is just worth peanuts.

    5. Donating to an ORGANIZED charity is abetting crooks and just asking to be conned.

    6. The difference between organized crime and organized charities is that the patron of the latter is someone of prestige and impeccable character whilst the patron of the former is The Godfather, an olive oil peddlar.

    7. T.V. "stars" doing all those tear jerking stunts are not doing it for nothing. There is honey for everyone.

    8. In the stock market, it is axiomatic that a crooked winner is supported by a pyramid base of losers. Same with organized charities.

    9 Winners of the State's public service medals don't guarantee integrity and honesty. On the contrary, it enables crooks to hide behind the generousity and benevolence of the state.

    10. If you want to do a charitable act, give DIRECTLY to the really needy beneficiaries.

    11. Switch off your TV when one of those con shows comes on again. Once beaten twice shy was not taught to you in school for nothing.

    12. When someone is quick on the draw with legal suits on defamation, you can be damn sure he is guilty concious and wants to scare you away before you start digging up more dirt.

    13. When someone orders a gold tap for his bathroom, you know that, that is the beginning of the end.

    14. When in the airport and you see a local luminary connected to a charity taking a plane in first class, be not afraid to raise a smoking gun. Greedy men never learns their lessons.

    15. Be cynical of everything ever thought of by Man. They are the worst creatures who ever walked on earth.

    Thanks to The Man and his cahoots for reinforcing the above by no means exhaustive lessons learnt from the Saga of the old NKF.

    New NKF or Old NKF what does it matter. I am reminded of some hollywood movies showing you the ending of a horror movie with the devil killed off but his offspring coming to life for the sequel. That, my friend is a LESSON.

    By Blogger uglybaldie, At December 22, 2005 9:59 am  

  • Only in this instance the devil is still not dead.

    By Blogger Dr Oz bloke, At December 22, 2005 10:12 am  

  • If I were him, I'll do the honourable thing that the Japanese, bless them, do.

    That is the ONLY closure for the Nation, for the NKF and for his family.

    By Blogger uglybaldie, At December 22, 2005 10:32 am  

  • I don't think we are referring to the same devil and his offspring.

    The one you refer to is merely just one of the small servants.

    By Blogger Dr Oz bloke, At December 22, 2005 12:10 pm  

  • Sorry, I don't agree with you.

    Without this devil, you and I will still be eking out a living tilling the ground for peanuts instead of ranting here.

    I can accept one devil but everyone below him must be a saint.

    Give credit where credit is due.

    By Blogger uglybaldie, At December 22, 2005 12:24 pm  

  • I don't think we are referring to the same devil and his offspring.

    By Blogger Dr Oz bloke, At December 22, 2005 12:57 pm  

  • I don't think we are referring to the same devil and his offspring.

    By Blogger Dr Oz bloke, At December 22, 2005 12:57 pm  

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