The U turn
The blogging world is all over this. And, no doubt it has become coffeeshop talk after the front page treatment given in today’s Strait’s Times. In straitlaced Singapore, this whiff of a scandal no doubt has whet many appetites. Especially when this time, its between two fairly influential organisations. This is no David vs Goliath matchups which Singaporeans are used to. You know, the one which often ends ups with the David losing and paying for the suit to the government/government related agencies? This time, both sides can afford Senior Counsels and both sides have a reputation to maintain.
But, today’s startling revelation that NKF CEO Durai earns a yearly salary of almost $600,000 is just mindboggling. I mean, this guy gets 10 month bonuses when most people would have been happy with 2 months. That virtually doubles his monthly salary of $25,000, a princely sum if there was one. If he were the high flying CEO of a bank or MNC, noone would begrudge him for his excesses, but as a charity, the CEO should know better. But, as someone who subscribes to the belief that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys i can’t begrudge this. I think that NKF has achieved remarkable success, with huge reserves and has managed to change people’s image of working for a charity. Thus i believe his pay to be fair, but getting such huge bonuses when the economy isn’t exactly soaring is too much. In addition, the alleged opulence, including the much talked about first class flying definately counts as excesses, especially when used with company money.
However, that is not my main beef against him. I do not begrudge his high salary; that is fair pay for doing a good job and running an efficient organisation. I do, however, question the excesses of the senior management as well as the ludicrously generous bonuses. But my main point against Durai is his audacity to actually sue SPH. I mean if he has a clear conscience and has indeed lived a frugal life, he has every right to sue when SPH casts aspersions on his character. But that is patently not so, as the reports today indicate. His case against SPH was, simply put on thin ground, though even then i was surprised by the hasty U-turn today when it was reported that “NKF withdraws defamation suits against SPH and journalist“. The trial that was supposed to last 10 days ended on the second day. Abit anticlimatic, yes, but the fact was that after Senior Counsel Davinder Singh totally demolished Durai’s credibility, the plaintiffs had lost the case. Speaking of which, it was quite a delight to read the transcripts of Davinder Singh’s sharp repartee that probably had Durai lost for words.
In the end, defamation suits are a double edged sword, as Durai no doubt realised. The fact is, i barely remembered reading that article in April of 2004, but by suing SPH, NKF has opened a can of worms, thereby ensuring that everyone knows about the issue, giving it the publicity it never had. If the aim of the courtsuit was to restore the perceived slight to its reputation, then it has backfired spectacularly. As CEO, Durai certainly will face repercussions. Notwithstanding NKF’s excellent work in helping the ill, and its corporate efficiency, that is no excuse for a lack of transparency and its haughtiness in assuming it is right. NKF’s reputation has no doubt diminished, and it is time for NKF to do some soul searching.
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