It’s been an incredibly busy period for me at Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, the secretariat for the President’s Challenge.
The President Star Charity, NUSSU Rag and Flag Day, SingHealth’s production of “Hey Florence!” and the President’s Challenge Thank You Reception cum President’s Social Service Awards are just some of the PC events coming up.
We also recently came on board Give.sg as a beneficiary.
Phew.
It’s been tiring and quite exhausting period. I’ve been running all over Singapore overseeing production for various PC events.
One of the highlights was overseeing the President’s Challenge Commemorative Video. I went to the Istana to oversee the interviews President S R Nathan was giving to both Mediacorp (for the President’s Start Charity) and to our vendor.
President Nathan recalled how the President’s Challenge (PC) started. He remarked how the President’s Star Charity, an fund-raising platform started under President Ong’s term, was one of the President’s signature fund-raising events.
Under President Nathan, PC would grown into a year-long initiative involving various partners and their fund-raising events. But when discussing PC, most Singaporeans still think of the President Star Charity.
It is only natural that this initiative was started by President Nathan. He was a medical social worker in his youth. People working on the ground tend to have a better idea of how dire the situation be.
On Monday, we had the MCYS-Centurion President’s Challenge Golf tournament which raised over $600,000 for PC. Centurion has been a great PC partner over the years.
President Nathan was in attendance. He gave an impromptu speech where he thanked Centurion and the donors for their generosity.
“It’s very difficult for me to reciprocate your kindness,” President Nathan said humbly. He also mentioned that there are many people in Singapore who need help, but they don’t know how to ask for it.
No one knows this better than I. Before I started work at MCYS, I helped Sanctuary House, also a former PC beneficiary, with their publicity and fund raising campaigns. Sanctuary House is a great, but an incredibly small VWO that desperately needs help. They do great work.
I was in a position to help them so I did.
Working on the President’s Challenge isn’t very sexy or fun. But it’s interesting to see the inner working of the President’s team.
His Principal Private Secretary, Aide-de-camp and all the people from his office that I’ve met are nice and approachable. It’s a great team and they are easy to work with.
But despite everything that team has done over the past 12 years, some people still have some misconceptions about PC.
The biggest one is what happens to the donated money? How much goes to the beneficiaries?
Singapore Pools and the Tote Board are sponsors of the PC. They pay for all administrative and fund-raising costs we incur.
This allows all money donated to PC to be channeled to beneficiaries. Because PC is ‘gahment’ it goes through ‘rigorous’ (‘convoluted’ to experienced civil servants) auditing procedures. It is audited by the Auditor General’s Office.
Auditing is a real pain for my colleagues. 2010’s numbers are still being audited. The process can be quite slow, which can be frustrating especially if it means that beneficiaries need to wait longer to receive funds they desperately need.
But over the years, PC has done well financially.
In 2009, it raised $12,250,790.94. Fund-raising costs were $681,180.34, or 5.6% of funds raised, well below the 30% of the 30/70 fundraising rule.
Honestly, the system isn’t perfect. Sometimes I see many things that could be done better. But there’s only so much that I can do. Like everything else I do in life, I try my best, exercise due diligence and sleep peacefully at night knowing that I’ve acted responsibly.
Watching President Nathan wrap up his 12 year Presidency, I wonder if he feels a sense of nostalgia. He’s closing one of the biggest and most important chapters in his life. I’m not sure what PC, or my future will be. But it was interesting seeing how things work during my time here.
If PC stays and I stay with it, I hope I get more opportunities to help the very small and marginalized VWOs that need help to raise funds . But I suppose that’s up to the next President to decide.
