Rules for Unused Funds

Malaysians are quite a generous lot.

I remember quite a few years back, there was a major campaign by many organisations to raise funds via TV, radio and newspapers and millions of ringgit were donated.

At the time the song, “We are the World” was used as the theme and if I remember correctly it was to aid the thousands of people in Africa who were dying of starvation.

Does anyone remember if all the funds have been used up and accounted for? Was there a company that was responsible to ensure that proper records and accounts were maintained until the fund was officially closed?

Today tens of thousands are still suffering from wars, ethnic conflict and tribal reprisals. We see this everyday on the TV the suffering that is happening in Iraq, Lebanon and Sri Lanka where man inflicts such great suffering and hardships on his fellow men.

As we try to raise funds for various causes, we should be mindful of the intentions of the donor. If we raise money for local charity we should not use the money for overseas relief unless we have already obtained the permission of the donor.

Otherwise it may be construed as a misuse of funds. Perhaps a law requiring all surplus funds should be surrendered to a Malaysian Welfare Fund administered by the Welfare Ministry to be used for poor Malaysians would be timely.