NKF saga and fiasco by Prof Hwang - the similarities

Categories: Wormie Says

The embarrasing debacle experienced by Singapore and South Korea seemed to have something in common. I am talking about the report on the debacle in the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and the fiasco created by formerly Prof Hwang Woo-suk of Seoul National University on stem-cell research.

In Singapore, the NKF had been the most successful non-governmental organisation (NGO) in terms of fund-raising and support for hemodialysis service. It had been so successful that every year it managed to garner over S$15 million in donations. It has been the envy for many charitable organisations here with some organisations voicing their concerns that donation dollars may dry up due to the success of the NKF. Through the years, it had even become a brand name for a fund-raising organisation. This is evident by its branching into the NKF Cancer Fund and NKF Children's Medical Fund, although there are already charity organisations looking into their plight. Because of its successes, rumbles regardings mismanagement and regulator suspicion on lack of governance were not thoroughly followed through. Each accusations were either explained to the regulators satisfaction, not found out by the audit or simply sue to frightened off any would be accusors.

Another 'contributing' factor is the fact that the Government works on the policy of not over-spending on health care. Only 3% of the GDP is spent on healthcare here. Don't get me wrong. Despite this the Government manages to provide good basic healthcare at a very affordable price to the general public. No patient is deprived of healthcare because of inability to pay. Because of an aging population and the "need to preserve the country's reserves", charitable NGOs are 'encouraged' to provide some of the costly medical care, the best example being hemodialysis, to off set some of the expenses from the Budget. Because of this, it is easier to overlook some of the grievances brought against NKF. How can a charitable organisation, which on paper had a good governance, which provide so good a support for the patients it looked after, and so successful in fund-raising be mismanaged? The auditors were unable to find anything wrong. Everything must be in order.

In South Korea, a similar climate exists. Over there, the need to be successful had always been a priority. This has brought South Korea to the forefront in technology and sports in a short span of time since World War 2. Ten years ago, brands like LG (then Goldstar) and Samsung were never heard of, but now it is a household name, able to stand against names like Panasonic, Sony and Nokia, Siemens. In the sports arena, now they are deemed strong contenders in the field of hockey, football and badminton when previously they were rarely mentioned even in Asian sports.

When it comes to stem-cell research, the whole nation were thrill when researcher Hwang Woo-suk were able to come up with ground-breaking research papers. He became a national hero of sorts overnight. In the Koreans' quest to excel and particularly to stamp its presence in the world of stem-cell research, they had backed Mr Hwang fully and compassionately till the truth comes out and South Koreans felt betrayed.

In both instances, here in Singapore and in South Korea, apart from the similarities mentioned about - that of the need to excel, the financial promise and pride of the nation - lies the most important similarity of all. Both men are intelligent and charismatic. Both seemed to be able to sway others into believing them and seemed able to convince others about their 'good' work. Their charisma and persuasiveness had made regulators so comfortable and trusting that they become so easily persuaded and convinced.

These two incidents hopefully will teach all of us a lesson. No matter how successful and agreeable any organisation is, there should not be any letting down of guards. The regulators must ensure that any rules laid down are follow and any reports of misgivings should be thoroughly looked into. This is the only way forward so that embarrassment of such scale will not happen again.