July 11, 2005
NKF CEO earned S$1.8m over past three years
By Bertha Henson
A CLOSELY-GUARDED secret of the National Kidney Foundation was finally made public on Monday: the salary of its chief executive Mr T.T. Durai.
On Day 1 of NKF's defamation suit against Singapore Press Holdings, it was revealed that on top of his S$25,000 a month salary, Mr Durai also received 10 to 12 months in yearly bonuses. That makes his annual salary between S$550,000 and S$600,000, or S$1.8 million in total, over the past three years.
The NKF, which is entirely dependent on public funds, offers dialysis treatment to kidney patients.
It is taking issue with an article published in The Straits Times by senior correspondent Susan Long on April 19 last year headlined 'The NKF: Controversially ahead of its time?'.
The NKF and Mr Durai contend that the words in the article had damaged their reputation by implying that donors' funds were being misused.
The article stated that a gold-plated tap had been installed and later replaced in the private bathroom in Mr Durai's office suite.
During the hearing before Justice Tan Lee Meng, Senior Counsel Davinder Singh, acting for SPH, sought to show that the NKF was neither honest nor transparent about the way it uses donors' funds.
He told the court he had to ask the NKF three times, including twice through the courts, to have the salary of its CEO made public.
Mr Durai, represented by Senior Counsel Michael Khoo, argued that he was not required by law to tell the public what he earned. Also, he wanted to protect his personal privacy, he said.
Under questioning on Monday, he also admitted that he had flown First Class on some airlines, even though the NKF had maintained consistently that none of its executives flew First Class and had threatened to sue people who said Mr Durai did so.
His explanation: The NKF Board allowed this as long as he did not bust the Singapore Airlines Business Class rate.
Mr Singh countered: 'Isn't it your duty as a trustee of people's monies to make sure that you get best value on a business class seat instead of deploying this clever device... using it for First Class on another plane?'
Mr Durai replied: 'This is a decision made by the board. I used the entitlement.'
For the full story, see Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.