Willie Cheng's Insight into "Value in Charity' and 'Charitable' "
Hello! The first DevelopmenTwist Spotlight in the discussion den is on the 'Value in words'. It focusses attention on two words 'Charity' and 'Charitable'. Both these words are used so often.......that they have become elastic...... we keep stretching the limits of their meaning and adapt it to suit our conditions. The spotlight aims at provoking us into evaluting the relevance of terms that we now take for granted and continue to use out of habit.
Experts have been invited to share their opinion on the 'charity' and 'charitable'.
In the opinion of our first expert Mr.Willie Cheng .............
To the man in the street, charity is often seen as working with the disadvantaged of society – the poor, the handicap, the infirm. For some other people, especially those involved in the sector, charity takes on a broader definition to include other not-so-disadvantaged sectors of the community – youth, animals, environment, arts. I guess you could argue these are also disadvantaged – artists are hungry, mother nature is bullied, and animals are helpless against humans.
In law, a charity is defined in the Charities Act to mean any institution which is established for charitable purposes. The Act provides no definition of what constitutes charitable purposes, but IRAS, the administering body, has identified four categories of charities: 1. the relief of poverty 2. advancement of education 3. advancement of religion and 4. a catch-all clause, “other purposes beneficial to the community”.
So you can see that the law takes the wider definition of what a charity is.
And that’s what it should be. Charity is about developing society. And whether we contribute out of compassion (what is often associated with being charitable) or a firm conviction that the cause is right, it is charity.
Experts have been invited to share their opinion on the 'charity' and 'charitable'.
In the opinion of our first expert Mr.Willie Cheng .............
To the man in the street, charity is often seen as working with the disadvantaged of society – the poor, the handicap, the infirm. For some other people, especially those involved in the sector, charity takes on a broader definition to include other not-so-disadvantaged sectors of the community – youth, animals, environment, arts. I guess you could argue these are also disadvantaged – artists are hungry, mother nature is bullied, and animals are helpless against humans.
In law, a charity is defined in the Charities Act to mean any institution which is established for charitable purposes. The Act provides no definition of what constitutes charitable purposes, but IRAS, the administering body, has identified four categories of charities: 1. the relief of poverty 2. advancement of education 3. advancement of religion and 4. a catch-all clause, “other purposes beneficial to the community”.
So you can see that the law takes the wider definition of what a charity is.
And that’s what it should be. Charity is about developing society. And whether we contribute out of compassion (what is often associated with being charitable) or a firm conviction that the cause is right, it is charity.
(Willie Cheng was formerly country managing partner of Accenture. He currently sits on several corporate and nonprofit boards, and is involved with several charities. He is well known for his perspectives on the charity scene, which are carried in SALT, the magazine of the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre)
We are currently awaiting the insights of the other experts!
