Inculcating the Needy

 

Chinese New Year begins this week, and Singapore will enjoy what counts for a long public holiday (Thursday and Friday).  The Passengers are going to Lombok for some tropical relaxation in Indonesia.  We will be sure to put up a couple of pictures.

As in many cultures, new-year festivities are a chance for new and better beginnings. Chinese traditions associated with the lunar new year include spending time with family, carrying out a massive cleaning of the home, and giving to charity. We received the above solicitation for donations to the Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society tucked inside our gas/electric/water bill from SP Services.

THKMS is a major good-works organization here. They run their own hospital and retirement homes.  We walked past one on Saturday while exploring the old Peranakan neighborhoods around East Coast Road. Donations to the charity are not only tax deductible, but the Inland Revenue of Singapore will automatically factor in the donation when they prepare your annual tax assessment.  Sometimes it helps to think of this island as a family business rather than a city-state.

Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society's appeal for donations.

Be sure to read the above appeal for donations written in English (Click the picture for a larger image.). It's a great example of written English as practiced in Singapore. It is generally technically correct, though occasionally a few articles and nouns get omitted where they would not be used in Chinese syntax. It reads very differently from copy written for British or American non-profits. Sometimes Chinese terms like "ancestor village" receive rather awkward direct translations. Other times older English usage has remained from colonial times: "Granny Yang is at peace too with her present lot..."

United Homeless Organization Revelations

One of the streetcorner tables where homeless or formerly homeless people ask passersby for donations to the United Homeless Organization. Photo from the New York Times.

On Monday the Attorney General for New York State Andrew M. Cuomo filed a lawsuit against the president and director of the United Homeless Organization alleging that the leaders used the charity's funds for personal expenses while doing little, if anything, to help the homeless in New York City. The organization has long maintained a visible presence in the city. Almost every day people on the Manhattan sidewalks pass by one of the folding tables draped in a distinctive red tablecloth with an empty water-cooler jug to collect money. The lawsuit alleges that the UHO president Stephen Riley and director Myra Walker used the charity's funds largely for personal expenses.

The details suggest a case of small-time crookery. This was not a racket that provided powerful people with the opportunity to unnecessarily fly business class on dubious business or to condemn large swaths of Brooklyn for a sports arena. As reported by the New York Times:

The expenses, the lawsuit said, included premium cable television service at Mr. Riley's apartment, restaurant meals; trips to Cleveland, Mr. Riley's hometown; and shopping purchases from GameStop, the Home Shopping Network, and the web site for Weight Watchers.

But the filing also shines a light on how those ubiquitous donation tables work. Each homeless or formerly homeless person who staffs a table pays the first $15 of donations back to the group for using their name and equipment. The rest is kept by the table's worker. Essentially UHO has been sanctioning begging on the city streets. The arrangement has been known since 2001, but it appears now that all those $15 fees collected by UHO have done little to provide any wider relief to those in need.