This year’s Charity Governance Conference (CGC) themed “Towards Excellent Governance – Building a Sustainable and Progressive Charity” sought to engage and aspire the charity sector in uplifting its governance standard and to build sustainable and progressive charities in Singapore. The conference was held virtually from 29 to 30 September 2021, and was attended by 684 participants, of which 586 participants are charity representatives from 294 charities. The other 98 are guests and partners.
The Guest-of-Honour was Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law. The audience were also greeted by Mr David Gerald, CEO & Founder of SIAS and Dr Gerard Ee, Chairman of Charity Council. Mr Desmond Chin, Commissioner of Charities was also present at the conference.
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Dr Gerard Ee, Chairman of Charity Council
| Mr Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law
| Mr David Gerald, CEO & Founder of SIAS
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This is the 6th Charity Governance Conference that the Charity Council has partnered with Securities Investors Association (Singapore) (SIAS) as part of their Corporate Governance Week. Many experts and charity representatives were invited to share their insights and best practices during the conference and workshops.
Conference Topic 1: From Crisis to Opportunity - How to be Resilient and Sustainable in Any Situation
Speaker: Mr. Seah Chin Siong, Chairman, NVPC and Member, Charity Council
Moderator: Mr. Melvin Yong, Management Committee Member, SIAS & Singapore Country Head, CPA Australia
Panelists: Mr. Seah Chin Siong, Chairman, NVPC and Member, Charity Council, Dr. Gerard Ee, Chairman, Charity Council, Mr. Rajan Krishnan, Member, Charity Council, Ms. Choo Shiu Ling, CEO Assisi Hospice
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Mr. Seah Chin Siong, Chairman, NVPC and Member, Charity Council presented first on the topic
“From Crisis to Opportunity - How to be Resilient and Sustainable in Any Situation”, with interesting case studies on how corporates and charities collaborated to impact the lives of their beneficiaries. Mr Seah shared that charities, community leaders and other diverse stakeholders should consider coming together to improve the quality of life of the communities. He also highlighted the concept of anti-fragility which is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the anti-fragile gets better. Charities are encouraged to collaborate with various stakeholders creatively and holistically so that charities can be resilient and sustainable in any situation.
The panel touched on the following key points:
- The Board members must be aware of global and local changes and have diverse skillsets to handle any situation.
- There should be a good alignment between board and management committee as this equates to strong governance. Charities should invest in continuous learning and staff training. Charities need to remain relevant to the community interests.
- Leaders should come together to share their views, and platforms should be created for charities to have collaboration and conversation.
Conference Topic 2: Digitalisation: From Risk Management to Risk Resilience
Speaker: Mr. Irving Low, Co-Head of Risk Consulting, KPMG
Moderator: Mr. Irving Low, Co-Head of Risk Consulting, KPMG
Panelists: Professor Ho Yew Kee, Member, Charity Council, Mr. James Tan Kim Yew, CEO, Touch Community Services Limited, Mr. Bruce Liew, Director, Sector Digitalisation & Transformation, NCSS, Ms. Yip Yuen Fong, Executive Director, iShine Cloud Limited
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The second topic
“Digitalisation: From Risk Management to Risk Resilience” was presented by Mr. Irving Low, Co-Head of Risk Consulting, KPMG. Mr Low shared on the changing risk landscape caused by the pandemic and the new risks which emerged that charities should be aware of. They are Cybersecurity/ IT Systems Risks, Relevance/ Strategic Direction Risk and Fundraising Risks. He also shared about risk governance which encompasses an organisation’s efforts to direct, manage, and report risk management activities across the enterprise based on the “Four Lines of Defense” principles. He encouraged Boards to set the right tone for the charities regarding risk management.
The panel touched on the following key points:
- Technologies allow charities to be better prepared for crisis and it should be part of risk management. It enables consistency and allow charities to make better assessment and decisions.
- Board and Management need to be knowledgeable and need to hire the right staff to help with the digitalisation journey. Management should be well-trained in risk management and charities should consider tapping on available resources to consult external professionals to develop the risk management framework.
- Smaller charities are encouraged to collaborate among themselves to share resources and help each other to uplift their governance standards.
The first day of conference ended with an additional sharing by the National Council of Social Service on Tech-and-GO! Charities Funding.
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For more information on Tech-and-GO! Charities Funding, please click
HERE.
The conference continued the next day with three Governance Workshops:
Governance Workshop 1: Succession Planning and Human Resources Planning - for a Resilient Charity
Speaker: Dr. Fermin Diez, Deputy CEO, NCSS
Moderator: Mr.
Eric Lim, Head of Corporate Governance and Investor Rights, SIAS
Panelists: Dr. Fermin Diez, Deputy CEO, NCSS, Mr. Ang Hao Yao, Member, Charity Council, Ms. Geraldine Lee, Co-Founder, ARC, Children's Centre Co Limited, Mdm. Yvonne Tham, CEO, Esplanade
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Governance Workshop 2: Risk Disclosures - How Much Should a Charity Disclose of its Operations and Risks
Speaker: Ms. Woo E-Sah (Partner & Industry Lead, Not-for-Profit Practice, RSM)
Moderator: Mr. Loh Uantchern, Vice President, SIAS
Panelists: Mr. Han Fook Kwang, Member, Charity Council, Ms. Catherine Loh, CEO, The Community Foundation of Singapore, Mr. Yap Poh Kheng, CEO, Care Corner Singapore Ltd, Mr. Sovann Giang, Senior Director, Business Consulting & Deputy Lead, Not-for-Profit Practice, RSM
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Governance Workshop 3: Fraud Prevention, Anti-Money Laundering & Countering the Financing of Terrorism
Speaker: Ms. Cassie Ng, Public Institutional Fraud Division, Commercial Affairs Department, SPF, Ms. Quek Yong Xin, Anti-Money Laundering Policy Branch, Commercial Affairs Department, SPF, Ms. Lim Yee Teng, Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office, Commercial Affairs Department, SPF, Assoc. Prof El’fred Boo, Ethics Committee Member, ISCA
Moderator: Mr. David Toh, Risks & Controls & Internal Audit Leader, PwC Singapore
Panelists: Assoc. Prof El’fred Boo, Ethics Committee Member, ISCA, Ms. Theresa Goh, Member, Charity Council, Mr. Benjamin J William, Secretary General & CEO, Singapore Red Cross, Mr. Joshua Ong, Managing Partner, Baker Tilly
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Please find Conference materials and presentation slides listed below:
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