I think it’s about time this came about - and I stand by this point be it from the donor perspective or organization perspective. I like to be bounded by rules and regulations. I like to follow convention and I have no entrepreneurship. Serious! Just look at me? What am I? I’m just a life science research student, who happens to like programming and doing web design, who happens to like to compose music in my free time, who happens to do music videos just for the hack of it, who happens to be really distracted. Me? An entrepreneur? Nay…

THE Charity Council has launched a new code of governance for charities and Institutions of Public Character (IPCs) to serve as an industry benchmark in governance standards.

The launch comes after extensive consultation with the public and charity sector, which has seen the code tweaked since a draft version was released earlier this June.

The amendments were made based on feedback from 977 individuals from more than 700 charities and IPCs, as well as 200 written responses from individuals and organisations between June and August this year.

The Code
The voluntary code will affect about 1,900 charities here, and covers nine key areas, including board governance, conflict of interest, financial management, human resource policies, and fund-raising.

One key recommendation is that a charity’s board be ‘wholly’ independent’ from its executive management.

However, recognising that some charities may find it necessary to keep paid staff on the board, the code will allow it as long as they comprise not more than one-third of the board.

While the Council has recommended that board members should not be paid a salary, it said those that do must declare their exact salary and remuneration package.

To better safeguard the charities financial interest, board members holding the treasurer’s post should step down from the position after serving a maximum of four consecutive years.

The code is also ‘tiered’ such that IPCs and bigger charities will have more stringent guidelines, as they handle larger amounts of charitable resources for the public benefit.

Working on the principle of ‘comply or explain’, charities and IPCs unable to adhere to certain code guidelines will have to explain their non-compliance.

Charities and IPCs must submit a code evaluation checklist to the appropriate sector administrators via the Charity Portal by March 31 next year. All IPCs are to publicly disclose their extent of compliance by March 31, 2009.

The extent of their compliance will affect their application for renewal of its IPC status.

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 26th November 2007

Please help to keep the music alive. This is not just any other piece of music, but a solo from Reuben Kee - one of the 5 paddlers who was unfortunately claimed by the Dragon Boat tragedy. He is a talent. All of them were!

How I wished he could really be back home.

Do help to keep this music alive by cross-posting (copy paste) this entry on your blog if you own one. For more information, please go to http://plaktoz.blogspot.com/. Thank you

My condolences goes out to the 5 paddlers who drowned after the race in Cambodia. This isn’t another of those “I-don’t-know-them-so-I-won’t-care-less” kind of situation because (i) they were friends of my friend and (ii) this was an accident that could potentially have been avoided.

I won’t like to talk about things on hindsight because it is usually very sad when I have to do that. The natural question would have been on why the use of life jackets was abandoned. However, I can almost put myself in the shoes because there is a chance that I would have done the same. I won’t call it peer pressure, but rather, if you were from a dragon boat team, you would understand the cohesiveness (and perhaps, to a certain extend, the competitiveness to win) of a team. When something is decided upon, the whole team stands with it.

For this team spirit, I applaud them. No, I don’t mean that abandoning the life jacket was a good idea, but I applaud them for their unity. It’s sad that this had to happen, and from a governance point of view, investigations would probably have to do into why this was not discovered earlier. But hey, if you were ever in competitive sports like this, where donning of life jackets are not compulsory, then it really depends on the team to make a decision call.

While I stand by their decision, I mourn for them at the same time. To them, thank you for fighting to do the nation proud. We will remember you.

Hehe… no marks for guessing it correctly! =)

Do you know who this is? Answer below:

Read the rest of this entry »

I whipped out a camera and recorded it. There’s nothing else that I could have done, but I felt so ashamed. What has blogging done to me? =(

Special thanks to spyer, here’s the spoof for the beloved MDA music video. =) Enjoy! Remember to turn up your speaker volumes!

I’m really didn’t expect that I have to write this post, or rather, I didn’t expect that I’d have the courage to write this post basically because I am afraid of one thing. Fear. The fear of being rejected outright. I thought it’s going to be easy, but it really turned out to be really difficult.

Isn’t it that it’d be easier for me to find a girl then to find a guy? However, I think I am totally wrong now. I’d thought that amongst all of my friends, at least one would be the one whom I’d be looking; the one whom I’d want; the one whom…

Sigh.

I feel really helpless now. I don’t know why I’m in this hopeless situation. It seems like my mind is completely blank now - in a state where I am almost totally lost for words. I have always dreamt of being able to find a girl, someone whom I can make her smile, someone whom I can make her eyes dazzle in front of the camera… someone who would be able to come down for the filming at library@orchard.

Yes, I am short of a girl to complete the music video for the closing of the library@orchard. If you are a girl (doesn’t matter how old or whether you are working or studying or bumming like me), and don’t mind lending me 1 hour or so of your time, do drop me an email in the contact page here with your number so that I can get back to you? The filming will probably be on Sunday, 25th November 2007.

If you can; if anyone can, please help? I’d really be thankful. =)

Firstly, they used a photograph obtained from a suspect blog. Now they brush it aside as “not worth discussing”.

I’m not a lawyer, but is it normal for either side to submit a piece of evidence only to say that it is “not worth discussing” when the other party starts to question its authenticity? I didn’t know you can tikam* your evidence. Heh heh… like that I also wanna be a lawyer.

Rebuttals by Malaysia turn out to be a surprise

It countered few of the new arguments raised by Singapore

IN ITS final pleadings on Pedra Branca before an international court, Malaysia surprisingly rebutted few of the fresh points raised by Singapore earlier this week.

It chose instead to restate its chief argument that the Johor sultanate possessed the original title to Pedra Branca.

Malaysia’s counsel offered no substantive response to a new argument Singapore fleshed out on Monday and Tuesday, upon which the verdict in the case could well hang.

What Singapore did was to tell the court that if neither side could prove it had title to the disputed island, then Singapore’s claim must prevail because it was the only one with state activities on Pedra Branca in the past 150 years.

On Thursday, a day set aside for Malaysia’s rebuttals, its counsel James Crawford said the shift in the Singapore position showed that ‘doubts have set in’.

But he quickly moved on to other issues, after promising to return to the matter in the final half of Malaysia’s rebuttals (which was set to end late on Friday night, Singapore time).

There was no response either to Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar’s speech on Monday, in which he rebutted five allegations Malaysia levelled at Singapore last week, including a charge that Singapore had concealed letters from the court.

As for a brewing controversy over Malaysia’s use of a photograph taken from a suspect blog, that was brushed aside by one counsel as ‘not worth discussing’.

Singapore and Malaysia are appearing before the International Court of Justice to resolve their dispute over the sovereignty of Pedra Branca, an island 40km east of Singapore which stands at the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait.

Malaysia’s stand is that the Johor sultanate possessed the title to Pedra Branca - which it calls Pulau Batu Puteh - from time immemorial.

It claims the Johor rulers gave permission to Britain to build and operate a lighthouse there, and that Singapore continued to do so after it gained independence.

Singapore disputes that.

It argues that Pedra Branca was terra nullius, that is, it belonged to no one, when the British took lawful possession of it in 1847 and built the Horsburgh Lighthouse there.

In the 160 years since, Britain and then Singapore have confirmed and maintained their title through a series of actions that were an open, continuous and effective display of state authority, it told the court.

In restating Malaysia’s case on Thursday, its lawyers said Singapore had failed to prove that Pedra Branca was terra nullius in the 1840s.

They said that Orang Laut, or sea gypsies, who paid allegiance to the Sultan of Johor, had fished in the waters around Pedra Branca for centuries.

That showed the island could not be terra nullius, they added, but belonged to the Johor ruler.

But Singapore, in its rebuttal, had noted that not all the Orang Laut in the area paid allegiance to the Johor Sultan.

It also pointed out that the Orang Laut’s fishing activities were private acts which, under international law, have no bearing on sovereignty. Only state activities, such as those carried out by Singapore, do.

On Thursday, Malaysia’s counsel, Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, ridiculed Singapore’s argument that the British intended to claim sovereignty over Pedra Branca when they went and built a lighthouse there in 1847.

‘What they wanted was a light. The addition of so small an item to the vast British empire never entered their minds,’ he said.

The hearing ends once Malaysia wraps up its rebuttals (set to end late last night, Singapore time).

The verdict on the case is expected next year.

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 23rd November 2007

* tikam - a malay phrase meaning to choose randomly

I just saw the music video at http://www.mda.gov.sg/wms.www/video.htm. Hmm… I don’t quite know what to make of it, but can someone tell me what was the MV all about?

I have made some observations though, that:

• It was generally a good effort
• People who were in the MV didn’t quite know how to rap (but that’s ok)
• There was at least one person who looked like he/she was forced to do the "yo-yo-check-it-out" sign
• It was one brave guy who donned the red underwear cape

I’m not sure what to make of it. Really. I’m in… shock!!! *gasp*

Update: So it’s in the news after all! =P

YES, yes, y’all, they don’t stop!

The top brass in the Media Development Authority (MDA) have pulled in 20,000 views on the video-sharing website YouTube in just two days.

It is a feat few local acts manage. A video of opposition leader Chiam See Tong during the last General Election - considered well watched - has been viewed only about 11,000 times.

The MDA video, classified under ‘comedy’ on YouTube, features the agency’s senior people jabbing their fingers in the air and rapping about a vibrant Singapore.

It was produced to showcase the agency’s work on the media scene.

The brainchild of MDA communications director Cassandra Tay, the four-minute clip was first shown at a staff conference in April.

It was also screened at the reception areas of offices and to new staff.

The rap video was so well received that it was later sent to those in the industry in a memory drive together with the agency’s annual report.

A version was also put on its website.

The public cottoned on after newspaper reports this week and so far, at least six copies of the video have been put up on YouTube.

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 23rd November 2007

Went back to “office” again today in the evening and was greeted with a new face behind the counter.

“This is Jason, our new partner”, said a familiar face.

Apparently, Jason just joined Starbucks and is getting familiar with the environment. I placed my usual order of Tazo Chai Tea Latte, more foam, less milk, 4 pumps of Chai, which will probably get him confused should I order from him one day without his mentor around. Soon after, another staff presented a cup of warm water to me and that apparently got him confused.

“Why did they give her a cup of warm water?”, Jason asked his mentor, and she told him that I was their regular customer. Haha… apparently the entire usual team is behind the counter today and almost all recognised me.

Oh well, I guess I am all too comfortable being in a place where everyone knows me. I wonder how it’d be like if they were to change the entire crew one fine day. Hmm…