Former NKF director Matilda Chua files defence in civil suit

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 23 May 2006 2045 hrs
By Rita Zahara, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE: The National Kidney Foundation's former director Matilda Chua has filed her defence for the civil suit brought against her by the new NKF.

In it, she has denied most of the claims made against her by the new board.

Ms Chua, who is already embroiled in a high-profile criminal lawsuit, is among four others sued last month for breach of duties.

The NKF scandal broke when details of former CEO TT Durai's salary came to light.

In a 20-page defence, Ms Chua denied knowledge of any matters relating to Durai's remuneration, saying she was merely an employee with the NKF.

She claimed that by the time she became an exco member and director, there was already an audit committee in place and she did not have any reason to doubt or question its effectiveness.

Ms Chua also alleged she did not receive any remuneration or benefits herself as an exco member and NKF director.

The 36-year-old woman is among four others the new NKF is suing in an attempt to get its money back.

The other four are former NKF CEO Durai, former board of directors Richard Yong and Loo Say San, and a friend of Durai's, Pharis Aboobacker.

Ms Chua questioned why they were being singled out.

She said the NKF had not provided any explanation for this.

She also denied being involved in the negotiations and deliberations with Protonweb Solutions and Forte Systems, companies which the old NKF had business dealings with.

Ms Chua claimed she only became a corporate representative of Protonweb Solutions after the NKF entered into contracts with them.

Now that a defence has been filed, NKF has two weeks to issue a reply.

Ms Chua further averred she was never involved in the preparation or treatment of the accounts in respect of the fund-raising activities, and that the fund-raising accounts were audited and there was then never any objection or query over the 30/70 guideline imposed by the NCSS Code.

Ms Chua, who started on a salary of S$1,300 a month in 1991 and gradually came to earn S$10,000 per month by 2000, claimed she did not have any influence on the decisions to make these payments.

After Ms Chua had announced her intention to resign in April 2000, her monthly salary was increased to S$12,500 in June 2000, and backdated to April 2000, without any exco approval.

To this, she said her successor had a higher monthly salary and performance bonus.

And her increments in 2000 were given in recognition of her contributions in helping to complete the charity show held in June 2000. - CNA /dt/ct

Matilda Chua files her defence in NKF civil suit

Wednesday, May 24, 2006
— Channel NewsAsia

The National Kidney Foundation's (NKF) former director Matilda Chua has filed her defence for the civil suit brought against her by the new NKF.

Ms Chua, who is also embroiled in a criminal lawsuit, has denied most of the claims brought against her by the new board, which is also suing four others.
In her 20-page defence, she denied knowledge of any matters relating to former CEO T T Durai's remuneration, saying she was merely an NKF employee. She claimed that by the time she became an exco member and director, there was already an Audit Committee in place and she did not have reason to doubt its effectiveness.

Ms Chua, 36, also alleged she did not receive any remuneration or benefits herself as an exco member and NKF director.

Ms Chua denied being involved in the negotiations and deliberations with Protonweb Solutions and Forte Systems, companies the old NKF had business dealings with. She claimed she became a corporate representative of Protonweb Solutions only after the NKF entered into contracts with them.

She added that she was never involved in the preparation or treatment of the accounts in respect of the fund-raising activities.

Ms Chua, who started on a monthly salary of $1,300 in 1991 and was earning $10,000 by 2000, claimed she did not have any influence on the decisions to make these payments.

After she announced her intent to resign in April 2000, her monthly salary was increased to $12,500 in June and backdated to April without exco approval. To this, Ms Chua said her successor had a higher salary and performance bonus. Also, she said, the increments were given in recognition of her efforts for the charity show held in June 2000.

New NKF seeks over S$12m in damages from Durai, four others

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 22 May 2006 1659 hrs
By Rita Zahara, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : The new National Kidney Foundation (NKF) management is seeking more than S$12 million in damages in a civil suit against its former chief, three former directors, and a business associate.

Lawyers explain that several unquantifiable claims, upon assessment before the courts, could tip the scales beyond S$12 million.

All the claims were detailed in an 85-page statement to the High Court on April 24, and NKF lawyers Allen & Gledhill say unquantifiable ones make up a substantial portion of it.

The new NKF claims it suffered losses not only through improper payments, but also in its credibility, resulting in a drop in donations and support from volunteers and agencies.

The charity alleges that the loss of its reputation and goodwill in the eyes of the public has resulted in a drop in donations from existing donors as well as those who had cancelled regular donations.

Projects such as the charity shows were also affected and there has been a drop in the number of volunteers and support from medical, government agencies and corporations, both within Singapore and abroad.

It was therefore seeking compensation for breach of duty from the five defendants, TT Durai, Richard Yong, Matilda Chua, Loo Say San, and Pharis Aboobacker.

Said defence lawyer K Shanmugam, "Part of it is quantified; part of it is unquantified. Some parts of it, NKF has put a dollar claim -- what is the claim amount -- and some part of it is a matter for the court to make an assessment after hearing evidence as to how much is the damages."

The quantifiable claims alone amount to:
- S$2.1 million in salaries, bonuses and other benefits "improperly" paid to Durai;
- S$4.08 million for loss of donations in the form of Lifedrops income;
- Over S$556,000 in legal costs incurred when Durai and the old NKF brought a defamation suit against Singapore Press Holdings;
- And S$5.28 million paid to three companies linked to Pharis Aboobacker.

Mr Pharis, a friend of Durai, is in India where relevant authorities are in the process of serving him the writ of summons.

He is the last of the five defendants to be informed that he is being sued by the new NKF.

Durai has been given additional two weeks, till May 31, to file his defence.

Richard Yong and Loo Say San filed their defence last Friday while Matilda Chua filed hers late Monday.

Failure to file by the stipulated time would allow lawyers for the new NKF to apply for judgment against the relevant defendants.

Channel NewsAsia understands the trial is expected to begin in six to nine months.

Meantime, the criminal cases against Durai, Yong, Chua, Loo, and former NKF staff Ragini Vijayalingam will be mentioned again on June 19 at the Subordinate Courts.

At the pre-trial conference on Monday, the defence asked the prosecution for more documents pertaining to the charges. - CNA /ct

Experience in legal, health sectors lands Tay NKF hot seat

Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Jasmine Yin
jasmine.yin@newstoday.com.sg

IT WAS probably one of the toughest job hunts in Singapore.

So imagine the surprise of Mr Gerard Ee, chairman of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), when he found 10 letters in his mailbag from potential applicants keen to occupy the hot seat of permanent chief executive officer at the foundation.

But what caught his eye among this pile of job applications — mostly from retired professionals with a background in accountancy or management — was a submission in January by Mrs Eunice Tay (picture), 57, then the chief operating officer from the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI).

"None of them had this combination of a legal background and years' of experience in the private and public sector in healthcare. She was the only one who had this and I can only say it's a godsend," Mr Ee said during a press conference yesterday.

He said her legal background could be useful in light of the civil case the NKF has filed against its former CEO T T Durai, as well as some former board members and staff.

Speaking to the media yesterday, the eloquent Mrs Tay — who takes over from interim CEO Professor Goh Chee Leok, who was seconded since last July from the National Skin Centre — stated her aims for the NKF: Transparency, donor accountability and affordable patient care.

"We must be accountable to all our donors. We will be transparent and be affordable to all our patients. We will constantly review how we can become more cost-efficient and cost-effective," she said. "Whatever savings we have, we will do our utmost to pass on to our patients."

Two weeks into the job, she has already visited 15 of the foundation's 21 dialysis centres islandwide to meet patients and learn the workings of the centres. She stressed that patient care will be the focus of the NKF under her leadership.

Mrs Tay, who is married to a pastor and has no children, was in the legal practice from 1986 to 1990. She joined the healthcare industry in 1991 and in 1994, was appointed special assistant to the Parkway Group Healthcare's managing director before crossing to the NNI three years later.

Mrs Tay said she was motivated to join the NKF after reading media reports about the beleaguered foundation — arguably the largest charity in Singapore — late last year.

"When I read in the press about what had happened and the resignation of the former CEO, I just felt so sorry for the patients and the people working at the NKF. I wanted to reach out to help them.

"So, when I read in the papers at the end of last year that they were looking for a permanent CEO, I decided to apply," she said.

"I met up with Prof Goh and submitted my application through him ... subsequently, he arranged for me to meet up with Mr Ee. And, as they say, the rest is history."

Currently on a three-year contract, Mrs Tay can be offered an open contract by the NKF when this term is up, as with the case for all NKF staff under the foundation's human resources policy.
Mr Durai's remuneration package — which included first-class air tickets and a fleet of chauffeured cars — was widely slammed as being extravagant and sparked off much public anger.

As new CEO, Mrs Tay's remuneration package will work out to be one-third of what Mr Durai, who is now facing a criminal and a civil lawsuit, received.

She will earn $13,500 a month, plus perks such as health insurance. She will also enjoy an annual bonus of a month's salary and up to two months in performance bonus, similar to what other staff members at the NKF are getting.

When asked if she was getting a pay cut to work for the NKF, Mrs Tay said that she would be paid "the same" as she was at her former workplace.

Mr Ee, who said that it was important "she will not lose out coming over here", added that her pay package was reviewed and given the go-ahead by a remuneration committee set up by the current NKF board.

Mr Ee also revealed that the NKF Children's Medical Fund will be hived off to a voluntary welfare organisation soon. He also commended Prof Goh for "his committed and dedicated leadership", which had helped the NKF "steadily regain the public's confidence".

Meanwhile, Mr Ee is prepping himself to represent the NKF at the upcoming civil case. The lawsuit was filed to recover $12 million the current NKF board had assessed to be improperly paid or used by the former board and management. "When it's a single representative that's required, the buck stops with the chairman. I don't (like it), but it has to be done," he said.

NKF's new CEO says priorities are accountability, affordable dialysis

Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: 15 May 2006 2034 hrs
By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : The National Kidney Foundation's new chief executive officer has listed her priorities as accountability to donors and making the organisation more cost efficient.

Mrs Eunice Tay took over the running of NKF from interim CEO, Professor Goh Chee Leok, on May 2.

Close to a year since the NKF saga, fund raising has stabilised.

The organisation now collects S$1.5 million a month, compared to S$2.1 million before the incident broke last July.

Most of this comes from the LifeDrops programme, in which about 234,000 people pledge a monthly sum.

The remaining donations come largely from organisations such as Chinese temples.

Staff numbers have also been cut, from about a thousand people to 640.

Most of those retrenched were non-clinical staff.

Looking ahead, NKF's new full-time CEO says the organisation will put its dialysis centres and nurses in the front line, adding that "everything else will exist to support this."

Said Mrs Tay, "I think the biggest challenge is to ensure we are accountable to the donors and affordable to the patients. We also have to ensure that there is good corporate governance. We must be transparent to everyone."

The 57-year-old says she intends to meet each of the over 1,900 kidney patients at the dialysis centres over the next six months. Mrs Tay will be paid S$13,500 a month.

In accordance with NKF's human resource policies, she is also entitled to a one month bonus and a performance bonus of one and a half to two months.

Mrs Tay says her annual income at NKF is similar to what she used to get as chief operating officer of the National Neuroscience Institute.

Said NKF chairman Gerard Ee, "There is going to be some that say, Oh, I will be very happy to do the job for you for S$5,000. At the end of the day, I'm ready to take the criticism. All I'm telling the public is judge us for the results."

Mrs Tay was also in legal practice for a few years, which the board of directors feel would put her in good stead in light of the ongoing lawsuits against former NKF chief TT Durai.

Meantime, NKF, under her charge, will try to expand the way it currently offers dialysis.

It will promote peritoneal dialysis (PD), which allows kidney-failure patients to undergo treatment at home.

This form of dialysis not only offers patients a better quality of life, but is also slightly cheaper.

The NKF will also now concentrate on operations in Singapore, and any dealings outside the country will be based on cost recovery.

Mr Eee says NKF's dialysis centres in the Pacific islands of Samoa and Fiji will be run by locals in those centres.

He added that any NKF dealings not based in Singapore must be done on a cost-recovery basis.

As for the NKF Children's Medical Fund, it will be taken over by another charity, though it was not revealed which one. - CNA /ct