Society’s conscience they are not

By Terence Fernandez, The Sun

THE do-gooders of society have always been on the receiving end of brickbats and the butt of jokes and cynicism for their passion, principles and causes. They are the conscience of society. The public and private sectors have recognised them as a “necessary nuisance” to keep public officials in check and private enterprise honest.

The annual grants to many of these groups which have been elevated from street-fighters to respectable, structured organisations, is testament to their importance in society.

Unfortunately, not all of them are there for noble reasons. Now that there is money to be made from setting up NGOs, there have been the mushrooming of many self-acclaimed campaigners and experts who are eyeing the generous coffers of the government and private sector which exceed RM100 million for civil society and NGOs.

They issue press releases like a mill, churning out statement after statement. One individual is linked to at least a dozen organisations, hence his name appears in the papers almost daily.

We had once approached some of these groups to open the books. Only Transparency International and the WWF obliged. The rest were protective of their earnings although some received government grants – concerned perhaps, as in one case, that the public would discover that the head of the organisation pays herself almost RM30,000 a month.

Not a bad way to make a living. Don’t get me wrong. If it is commensurate with the amount of work done and the results, then one would say she is most deserving of it.

However, the government has become more discerning now. Ditto some private firms which have doled out millions of tax-exempt ringgit as CSR initiatives.

Speaking about this to Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob some time back, he wondered what taxpayers got out of the millions spent on grants to some of these NGOs.

“We want them to educate the public, but issuing press statements alone is insufficient. I also can issue statements all the time and it doesn’t cost the public anything!”

Ismail was concerned about the “return on investment” from a RM2 million annual grant that the ministry has been awarding a consumer group. “They must start accounting for what they have received,” he said.

I was reminded of Ismail’s words from this conversation we had over a year ago, following the power tariff hikes which was reported on Tuesday. As usual, reporters are asked to call consumer groups for a response on a price hike and its effects on inflation and the pricing of consumer groups.

One NGO – the same one mentioned by Ismail – was uncharacteristically silent. Moreover, the president of the organisation was evasive and non-committal when approached. He kept pushing the reporter to his other exco members and even other consumer groups.

Our younger reporters were stumped, but those of us who had been in the newsroom longer were not surprised. “Of course lah that fellow won’t talk. TNB (Tenaga Nasional Bhd) gave his organisation RM1.5 million two years ago,” I said.

Continued research also revealed that both TNB and this organisation had been partners in various campaigns – money from the former in return for awareness projects from the latter.

Whether RM1.5 million is a lot to print posters and booklets on energy conservation is for the people privy to the books to answer.

But this is a sad reflection of the state of consumer activism and NGOs. Granted that they need funding to keep afloat, but here is an example of how one’s principles and cause can be compromised by the power of money.

Likewise those who give out grants should also give them out freely without expectations if they are sincere – but to expect this would be naïve.

In any case, the rise in tariffs must be looked at comprehensively. No one is asking anyone to solely blame TNB. The deals the government entered into with independent power producers (IPPs), the pricing of natural gas, which is heavily subsidised, and the disparity in demand and supply in power generation are issues that bona fide consumer groups have touched on.

So too should have this consumer advocate and his organisation, but they chose to be coy, perhaps worried that their cash cow will stop doling out the dough if it were unhappy with statements and suggestions that this group makes.

But what they fail to understand is that if we in the press feel there is no substance in what is said by these organisations or their leaders, or if there is vested interest involved, then their precious statements will most likely find their way into the waste bin!