T. T. Durai - Subsequent Fallout and Public Backlash

Subsequent Fallout and Public Backlash

Just after the trial, when Mrs. Goh Chok Tong, patron of the NKF, was interviewed, she commented that "$600,000 per year is peanuts compared to the reserves the NKF has.". This then sparked The Peanut Controversy, in which the public was irked by this comment. The public then called for her to apologise for this statement, in which Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong did on behalf of his wife. Mrs Goh, apparently has now realised the importance of words and its impact thus, recently has denied any knowledge on knowing about Mr Durai's salary before the scandal erupted.

In days following the trial, around 30,000 donors terminated their monthly contributions to the NKF. An online petition was set up, calling for Durai to step down, which, as of writing, has 43589 signatures on it. The morning after the trial, the wall outside the NKF headquarters in Kim Keat Road was vandalised by an unknown person, most probably angered by the lack of transparency in NKF. Spray painted all over the wall were the words 'liar'. On one wall, the words "骗子" (Liar) and "大骗仙" (God Of Liars) were spray painted in Chinese characters along with the Malay words 'Hang Turi', the misspelling referring to Durai. The NKF signboard was also vandalised with the words "liar" spray painted in both English and Chinese. The graffiti was quickly painted over and the affected areas of the signboard was quickly covered up. These acts were severely condemned and investigations were carried out.

On 14 July 2005, Durai and the NKF Board met with Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan to discuss the future and were told that 'business as usual' would not do. The evening, the NKF called a press conference at which Durai and the entire NKF Board announced their resignations.

An interim board was appointed by the government to keep the organisation going and begin the task of restoring public confidence. Dr. Gerard Ee was appointed as interim chairman to oversee the restructuring of the NKF and Professor Goh Chee Leok has taken over the post as interim Chief Executive officer. Prof. Goh has described his service to Singapore as a National Service which he intends to ensure that the NKF cleans up its act fully. Together as a team, they face a mammoth task of convincing the general public to continue to donate to the NKF.