VOLUNTARY WELFARE ORGANISATIONS (Standards for good governance)

Column No : 1955

VOLUNTARY WELFARE ORGANISATIONS:

(Standards for good governance): 4.

Dr Chong Weng Chiew asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports in light of the new standards to be introduced to ensure good governance of Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs), whether his Ministry will consider including (i) assistance schemes to help VWOs meet the requirements of financial control and management; and (ii) measures to act on information from, and provide protection to, whistle blowers.

The Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports (Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon) (for the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports): Mr Speaker, Sir, Voluntary Welfare Organisations or VWOs are at the heart of the people sector. VWOs have been doing very good work helping the less fortunate in our society, and ought to be commended for their charitable spirit and their commitment to the people they serve. Volunteers who serve in these organisations must also be appreciated for donating their time, expertise, and leadership for committees and boards. Such people with a sense of community and ownership should continue to drive the sector just as they have been doing for the past decades. However, it is not enough to just have good hearts. It is also important for VWOs to be transparent and accountable to the donors and volunteers, just as it is important for them to be effective in serving their beneficiaries.

The Government recognises the crucial role that the boards and management of the VWOs play in leading the sector, and will continue to support them. The Government will put in place regulatory requirements and governance standards that will ensure good service delivery, but without imposing an unnecessary burden on the VWOs. Government agencies will also simplify rules and reporting processes. The Inter-Ministry Committee on Charities and Institutions of a Public Character will announce its preliminary recommendations later this month.

There are multiple schemes and programmes to help VWOs enhance their financial control and management capability. The assistance takes the form of training, as well as funding support. The Social Service Training Institute (SSTI) under the National Council of Social Service, or NCSS, has been providing training to VWOs on governance and financial management issues since 2003. NCSS will also provide customised training to help VWOs to comply with the prevailing governance standards, if necessary. VWO participants can get funding support for such training, through the $30 million VWO Capability Fund or VCF. VWOs can also tap on this fund to engage consultants to advise them on how to upgrade their governance and management systems, or implement info-communication technology initiatives to enhance their financial control, accounting and HR systems.

As for the suggestion on whistle-blowers, I would like to assure the House that my Ministry takes every complaint seriously. MCYS and the NCSS are just a phone call or an email away. We will protect the confidentiality of the complainants' identity during the course of the investigation. We will inform the Commissioner of Charities, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, the Commercial Affairs Department and Police if appropriate for further action. If prosecution in court is necessary, we may require the complainant to be a witness.

I would also urge that we maintain a sense of fairness and responsibility. This open channel should not be abused for frivolous complaints. Furthermore, I would also urge the leadership of the VWOs to also keep an open channel for feedback from public and staff. I am sure most, if not all, VWOs will take the appropriate corrective actions to resolve the problems.

Finally, let us not just focus on surfacing faults or pointing fingers. We need a climate of trust, confidence and openness to constructive criticism. Such feedback and sharing will be beneficial for the sector as a whole. It will also help foster a stronger learning culture within the social service sector.

Dr Chong Weng Chiew (Tanjong Pagar): Sir, in many countries, whistle-blowing has been a major source of discovery of many fraud cases. Could the public have a clearer understanding of the exact protocol and processes in which complaints can be made and also subsequently on what grounds would such complaints be further investigated, that is to say, what information the public must offer in order to kick-start a significant level of investigation?

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon: Sir, like I said just now, the current system has worked well and to put in place such a system may cause distrust within the sector. Moreover, protection of whistle-blowers is a much larger issue that goes beyond the charity sector. I think Mdm Halimah also asked the Prime Minister about MAS and the Companies Act which has implication on the criminal law in general. Even the UK and US have implemented some sort of protection but at this moment they cannot prove whether it has really worked well. We should wait and see. We are quite happy with the present arrangement.

As I said, in this society, we can use email and give a phone call, and MCYS, NCSS and the various Ministries are very open to any complaint or feedback. If a person is prepared to give feedback, he must be prepared to stand by what he has complained about. When we investigate we do not reveal the identity of the person. But if the evidence proves that it is positive and we need to go to court, then the complainant must be prepared to be called up for justification or clarification.

Mdm Halimah Yacob (Jurong): Sir, I thank the Minister of State for the explanation. I also think that just because legislation does not work in other countries, that does not mean that we should not consider, review and look at what aspects of the legislation that is useful to us and we can then apply our situation in connection with the earlier point about the need for legislation on whistle-blowing. We have reached a certain turning point where obviously the existing framework is not sufficient to protect whistle-blowers.

Mr Speaker: What is your question, Mdm Halimah?

Mdm Halimah Yacob: My question is: will the Ministry still consider a whistle-blowing legislation, Sir?

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon: Sir, at this moment, the important thing is that we wait for the IMC report. We should put in place some very basic regulatory framework and make sure that VWOs and the charitable organisations carry out their tasks stringently, such as auditing of accounts and convening of board meetings and general meetings. All these should be properly conducted. We still want to put the responsibility on the boards and the volunteers. We must have this internal control system in place.

At this moment, the problem is more on the execution and the leadership. We should make sure that the boards and volunteers of VWOs take their responsibility seriously and carry out what is required of them by the Commissioner of Charities, MCYS, NCSS or the various Ministries. We will then observe and see what is the response of this new regulatory exercise. So internal control and leadership are very important. We should give the VWOs some time to go through training to respond to the new requirements. We will have an open mind to see what is best for us.