COMMENT | Is your money going to a good cause?

COMMENT | Soon after former Selangor menteri besar Mohd Khir Toyo’s BN state government fell in March 2008, a pile of documents running into a few dozen pages landed on our desk.

Among them were those related to the gift of an RM160,000 Patek Phillipe watch as a souvenir for his services as the then chairperson of Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd (PNSB).

Ten months on, he declared: “It is all ‘old tactics’ to tarnish Umno and BN. This is an old issue. I have already said that I returned the watch to them.”

Also in the pile were details of the exploits of certain officials of the Wives of Selangor Assemblypersons and MPs Welfare and Charity Organisation (Balkis).

I then wrote: “Among the ‘gems’ that were unearthed and put in the public domain were documents related to a rombongan (delegation) which went to ‘study how the poor lived in Cambodia’.

“But the leaders flew first class and stayed in five-star hotels! So much for knowing about poverty.”

I am using this to illustrate the need to be transparent and accountable for the use of public funds.

A more recent example would be the testimonies of witnesses in the criminal cases of Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who also headed a charity.

Since there has been no finality in the court case, I will refrain from saying anything lest I am cited for contempt.

All too common in sports bodies

In 2014, about RM3.8 million disappeared from the Malaysian Paralympic Council. It was later established that the money was “invested” by its president in a scheme that subsequently went bust.

Everything is not hunky dory in the Malaysian Golf Association (MGA). At its annual meeting last year, the accounts were not presented.

MGA president Mohd Anwar Mohd Nor “addressed the rumours circulating within the industry and assured the delegates that the association’s finances are healthy”.

The Star reported: “This comes amid talk of raising concerns about the MGA’s finances, with some suggesting that the association might be in deep debt.”

Anwar was quoted as saying that the outgoing treasurer Bryan Perera would present the audited account in detail in Agenda 5.

“The MGA president’s assertion that Perera ‘would present the audited account in detail in Agenda 5’ also left some questioning as to how he would be able to do this now that he is no longer treasurer,” the newspaper commented.

These issues which made the news are microcosms of what is happening in some charities, NGOs, sports clubs, and associations.

The need to be open and transparent in the spending of their funds - the bulk of which comes from individuals, the government, and the private sector - should take precedence over everything else.

The Youth and Sports Ministry gives out millions in grants to organisations to promote sports and related activities, and some even do their own fund-raising. Some big corporations give out large sums of money as part of their CSR programmes.

(But the Ministry had its own drawbacks having previously spent RM300,000 to bring down aerobic dancers from Australia for an opening ceremony.)

How do the government and the donors know if the money is indeed used for the purposes for which they were sought?

In the case of NGOs, the complaints are that there is no transparency and large sums of money are spent on salaries and expenses attending international conferences.

The allegations and claims made against the Malaysian Association for the Blind some years ago attest to this claim.

In another case, the president of a tech NGO was promised a monthly allowance of RM7,000 when it was already in debt. Having occupied the seat for six months, he was told that he would be paid “when we get the funds”.

This problem is not unique to Malaysia. In England, two homelessness charity bosses who authorised the spending of thousands in funds on watches, 50-inch TVs, and spyware to eavesdrop on clients were found guilty of misconduct by the Charity Commission.

The expenses included the purchase of Apple watches, a £1,000 (RM5,800) iPhone, and a £300 Dyson hairdryer.

When asked by the commission what these were for, they said they were gifts “for people we thought would be of help to us in the future”.

The law enables hoodwinking

How would you know if the money you donate ends up paying for the road tax and insurance of the fleet vehicles owned by officials?

The biggest stumbling block in examining accounts and asking the right questions about NGOs and other related organisations is the Societies Act.

Section 30 of the Act keeps prying eyes off the activities and spending. It states: “A member or subscriber or person having an interest in the funds of a registered society may inspect the books of the society at all reasonable hours at the registered office of the society or at any place where the books are kept.”

Any NGO can refuse your request for an inspection when you call their office by stating that “only members” have that right. 

NGOs are required to send their annual reports and financial statements to the Registrar of Societies. However, the registrar will only allow you to inspect documents if you are a member. If you are a donor, you will not get a chance.

So, what can donors do? They should demand transparency when they are asked to part with their hard-earned money for a “good cause” as it is always claimed. They should also insist on documents of payments and related issues.

In this way, notice is given that the donations are subject to such conditions and it will deter anyone from having other ideas.

R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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