Act of generosity
Clementi and Bukit Timah folks take own initiative Mystery donor gives charity RM143,900 every month
Mystery donor gives Singapore charity RM143,900 every month
BUKIT Timah United. This is not a new soccer team but an initiative to stamp out the ‘O$P$’ nuisance.
One of its leaders, Chow Nan How, had stepped out of his flat in Clementi two years ago to see the ‘O$P$’ callsign – owe money, pay money – of loan sharks and their runners painted across the common corridor.
The engineer felt that more had to be done to curtail the brazen act, and promptly joined his neighbourhood’s Residents’ Committee (RC).
“I had moved in recently and felt angry to see the writing. The area is ours, and it was upsetting to see it look so bad,” he said.
Chow, 39, is one of more than 100 residents and grassroots leaders in Clementi and Bukit Timah who have banded to form Bukit Timah United, a residents’ watch group against loan shark harassment.
The initiative was launched on Saturday at “You Harass, We Arrest”, a community event. Holland-bukit Timah GRC MP Sim Ann was the guest of honour.
The event was jointly organised by the Bukit Timah Citizens Consultative Committee (CCC), the Clementi Neighbourhood Police Centre, and the RCS of Toh Yi Drive and Bukit Timah Zones 4 and 5.
Skits and game booths helped drive home the message that everyone has a role to play, to keep their area safe from harassment.
Police will train watch group members to look out for telltale signs that can help police, Commander of Clementi Police Division Melvin Yong said.
“We don’t want them to directly confront the runners. We train them to look out for suspicious behaviour and people who don’t belong,” said the Deputy Assistant Commissioner.
“While the area does not have a particularly bad loan shark problem, the initiative came from the residents themselves,” he added. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network EVERY month, like clockwork, someone drops S$60,000 (RM143,900) in thousand-dollar bills into the donation box of the Singapore Thong Chai Medical Institution.
The charity, which provides free medical services to the poor, believes the mystery donor has given more than S$2mil (Rm4.79mil) over the past three years.
“We don’t know who the donor is. But we think it is the same person as he gives the same amount every month, and the money comes as thousand-dollar notes,” said Thong Chai chairman Lim Guan Lee.
Staff of the charity first noticed the big donations about three years ago, when thick wads of thousand-dollar bills appeared in the donation box on its Chin Swee Road premises.
At first, there was a wad totalling S$20,000 (RM47,967) lying in the box.
The next month, it was S$40,000 (RM95,930).
Soon, the mystery donor was leaving S$50,000 (RM119,910) every month and this went on for two years. —