Daily Lesson from Life 22 July 2008

"Tue, Jul 22, 2008 AsiaOne Durai cleared on false invoice charge

FORMER National Kidney Foundation (NKF) chief executive T T Durai was cleared on Tuesday of the remaining charge of using a false invoice to deceive the charity.

The 59-year-old, who was brought to court in orange prison overalls and handcuffed, is currently serving a three-month jail sentence for deceiving the charity with a fake invoice of $20,000 to be paid to his interior designer friend, Mr David Tan.

In end-May, he lost his appeal against conviction and sentence in the High Court, which upheld the lower court's decision.

He started serving his sentence on June 10. The case followed on the heels of the scandal which rocked the charity and led Durai and the entire board to step down in 2005.

In court on Tuesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor David Khoo told District Judge Liew Thiam Leng that the prosecution had decided to withdraw the remaining charge against Durai. He applied for a discharge amounting to an acquittal."

For those who had followed this case since the big scandal broke, this must be a shocking ending. For some, it seems surreal! It is pure drama! For some, it is a big puzzle as to why the deputy public prosecutor decided to withdraw the remaining charge against Mr. Durai? This is very unusual unless subsequent inquiries by the public prompt the public prosecutor to reveal why he decided to withdraw the charge revealed solid reasons acceptable by the million of public who had supported the old-NKF in a very personal and big way before been disappointed with the conducts of Mr. Durai then.

Lessons for me:

1. why does the withdrawal of the charge signalled to the public and those who were not sure if they should go the other way in case they have to serve a long jail term?;

2. will the leaders explain for such a behavior and action knowing that some public will be puzzled or even enraged that the accused did not get a chance to prove his innocence in the court of laws! Some may dismiss it as a trivial thing and that the man has served his jail term for the 1st fraud charges and should not be made to serve another jail term for a similar 2nd fraud charges! The truth is: Mr Durai were denied a chance to clear his name in the 2nd fraud charge here! This is not what justice is meant to be. Yes?;

3. it will be interesting to see if Singaporeans will take this up with the deputy public prosecutor for his reasons for dropping the charge? It can be brushed aside and nothing significance will happen or it could ignite serious talks on if 'the well-connected' who committed crime can get off lightly in Singapore. A thought that I could not entertained given the clean and just nature of our national leaders!

May Mr. Durai ask for a trial to prove his innocence instead of letting the deputy prosecutor go without defending his honours!

Also, if Mr. Durai truly repent, I wish him well.