I am back home, fresh from a dinner in honour of old folks of Pusing, which I had attended for the past few years. This year, the notable absence were some school children of local schools, who were to collect their token prizes for excelling in their studies.
We were late but were present when a committee member was on stage and he complained about certain people criticizing the organization for not being registered and not being transparent. He explained that to comply with registration and provide properly audited accounts require money which could better be served by providing free dinner to those deserving students. The necessity to have an office would incur overheads like rental, water and electricity.
As an observer, I am quite impressed with the simple Receipts and Payments Account provided at each table for attendees to peruse. Every year, the amount in deficit would be paid by someone among the diners (approached, after an announcement for aid). Though the accounts were not audited by a professional, the expenses totaled less than Rm30,000. The top donor for this year donated Rm1,400. For an annual event, I would give them the benefit of the doubt, especially when the purpose was so honourable as to honour all the old folks in town, and the oldest in particular. This year, the oldest is a woman of 104 years young!
The annual event is like a big dinner party organized by non-political social workers. The committee members are mainly average businessmen who feel good in what they do. The main supporters are local businessmen who need to give back what they made from the locals. Even the caterer charges reasonably and donated as well. Karaoke is a necessity for a small town, and as my wife commented, there are no shortage of talents in karaoke singing.
This year, there was no VIP table for local politicians. When I first attended in 2008, it was occupied by DAP representatives; then when BN took over state government, it was occupied by BN representatives.
I could sense the organizers' disappointment at being criticized for their alleged lack of transparency. The celebration was low key when compared with past years. I hope the committee members would continue with their good work and not be put off by those ungrateful critics.
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We were late but were present when a committee member was on stage and he complained about certain people criticizing the organization for not being registered and not being transparent. He explained that to comply with registration and provide properly audited accounts require money which could better be served by providing free dinner to those deserving students. The necessity to have an office would incur overheads like rental, water and electricity.
As an observer, I am quite impressed with the simple Receipts and Payments Account provided at each table for attendees to peruse. Every year, the amount in deficit would be paid by someone among the diners (approached, after an announcement for aid). Though the accounts were not audited by a professional, the expenses totaled less than Rm30,000. The top donor for this year donated Rm1,400. For an annual event, I would give them the benefit of the doubt, especially when the purpose was so honourable as to honour all the old folks in town, and the oldest in particular. This year, the oldest is a woman of 104 years young!
The annual event is like a big dinner party organized by non-political social workers. The committee members are mainly average businessmen who feel good in what they do. The main supporters are local businessmen who need to give back what they made from the locals. Even the caterer charges reasonably and donated as well. Karaoke is a necessity for a small town, and as my wife commented, there are no shortage of talents in karaoke singing.
This year, there was no VIP table for local politicians. When I first attended in 2008, it was occupied by DAP representatives; then when BN took over state government, it was occupied by BN representatives.
I could sense the organizers' disappointment at being criticized for their alleged lack of transparency. The celebration was low key when compared with past years. I hope the committee members would continue with their good work and not be put off by those ungrateful critics.
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