Growing a culture of giving in Asia

Excellencies

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

1. A very good morning to all of you and it is a pleasure to join you this morning for the Credit Suisse Philanthropists Forum.
   

2. The Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth in Singapore – my Ministry – oversees corporate giving and philanthropic giving in Singapore. So when Lito sent me the invitation I was only too happy to come here to promote what we are doing. And I want to start by thanking Credit Suisse for its efforts in promoting philanthropy in Asia, in Singapore, and I'd also like to extend a warm welcome to all participants here, especially those who have come from overseas.  
   

Philanthropy's role in addressing global challenges

3. Asia's growth story is a familiar one to all of us – it has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.   But as Asia's wealth continues to rise, we also recognise the growing challenge of income inequality – the gap between the rich and the poor is widening. 

4. The fact is that the consequences of globalisation and rapid automation are increasingly devastating for workers without the right skills. It is not just the low-skilled blue-collar workers but it is affecting more and more white-collar jobs. This is why around the world you see more and more questions being asked on established approaches to economic and social policy, the models are not working, it's not bringing about an increase in incomes across the board and new solutions are being sought.

5. Governments around the world are all grappling for answers on how to preserve and uphold a fair and inclusive society.  Clearly, there can be changes in government policy, there can be changes, in economic policies, and it's important to have the right policies and incentives but government policies are only part of the solution.

6. We cannot think about a fair and inclusive society purely in monetary terms, or in terms of redistribution, tax and redistribute.  It must involve the community – to engage the human spirit, to provide personal fulfilment and to strengthen collective well-being. It must strengthen the culture of responsibility for one another, so that we all feel a sense of duty to one another and not just a right to the benefits of citizenship. 

7. And so it is in this context that we are discussing philanthropy, and I think within this changing economic landscape and social landscape, philanthropy can and must be an integral part of the solution in evolving and strengthening our model of capitalism. 

8. Philanthropy has the potential to mitigate inequality. It can soften the hard edges of the free market and it provides a mechanism to dismantle accumulated wealth tied to the past, and reinvest it to strengthen the entrepreneurial potential of the future.  And so when we talk about philanthropy, it cannot be just good to have but it must be an integral part of the kind of model of capitalism that we'd like to evolve in the future.

9. And through philanthropy we have a recycling of wealth which creates social stability. It creates opportunity for those who have to be helped to the starting line. This is an important part of the social contract that continuously nurtures and revitalises our society. In other words, individuals can be free to generate and accumulate wealth even; but that wealth must be recycled and invested back into society to expand opportunity for others. This is the kind of social contract we hope philanthropy will help to nurture in our society.

Challenges facing philanthropy

10. Some societies are better at it than others. America has a long history of philanthropic giving. America's great capitalists of the 19th century, like Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller, amassed enormous wealth, but they also gave back generously. Carnegie had a dictum: “the man who dies rich dies disgraced”.

11. And today's billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are following in these footsteps and giving away the bulk of their wealth, and in the case of Gates, he is personally overseeing this as a full time occupation.

12. Likewise in Asia, philanthropy is not new, and we can trace its roots to deep religious and cultural beliefs. But I think if we have to look at it carefully, we have to acknowledge that in Asia, and in Singapore, it is still not very strong. I think if you ask many first generation Asian business tycoons whether they believe in the dictum that Carnegie had that “the man who dies rich dies disgraced”, I'm not sure if they fully subscribe to it. They could have strong views of what to do with their wealth. But as you heard just now, attitudes are changing and there are generational shifts and so we are making process and we are seeing more philanthropists emerging and we are growing our philanthropic tradition in Asia.

13. According to the World Wealth Report recently published in 2014, almost all the well-off in Asia-Pacific feel that it is important to invest their time, money or expertise to make a positive social impact. I think the statistics were like more than 97% and that's higher than the global average. So that is a positive sign that the higher proportion of the well-off of Asia believe that it is important to invest their time, money and expertise to make a positive social impact.

14. So what can we do to further strengthen philanthropy in Asia? Let me suggest three broad areas that need I think we can pursue.

15. First, we need to strengthen the channels to match critical needs with available resources.

16. Many individuals and business leaders expressed a strong desire to give back to society. The survey I cited just now is an example. But the challenge is how to channel this wellspring of philanthropic impulses into effective and meaningful giving that is aligned with the donor's area of interest, and also meets critical community needs.

17. This is not a new issue, in fact, it is an age-old issue. There' an old saying: “To give away money is an easy matter and in any man's power. But to decide to whom to give it and how large and when, and for what purpose and how, is neither in every man's power nor an easy matter.” This quote is not a recent quote but comes from Aristotle the Greek philosopher. So this is not a new issue. For centuries, mankind has struggled with this, but we ought to be able to solve this problem better that Aristotle's time because we have much more access to information today, and we are able to do better connections with the Internet, with social media, we ought to solve this problem. But the fact remains that there is a gap between mapping the unmet needs of the community and matching them with a pool of ready donors. So we need to put some resources and energy to help bridge this particular gap. That is the first issue.

18. Second, I think there is room for corporate giving to grow in Asia. Across Asia, corporate philanthropy remains still limited in scope. There's philanthropic giving from individuals but corporate philanthropy, institutional philanthropy, can grow.

19. In China, for example, the view that philanthropy is a personal rather than a corporate matter has limited the growth of corporate philanthropy. And in Singapore, while private philanthropy has grown steadily over time, the Government remains the largest funder of the non-profit sector, and government-sponsored organisations continue to play a dominant role in delivering social and welfare services.

20. So, because giving is not seen as part of doing business, and thus institutional and strategic philanthropy is less well-developed in Asia. So the role for companies is something I think that we have to address. It is not uniquely an Asian thing. In the West, we've had movements where in the 70s, Milton Friedman wrote a milestone article, I think, in the New York Times, that the role of businesses is only to make money. There was a very strong view then that companies ought to only make money, and that is the only moral thing that companies need to do. Because when they make money, they make more profits, government taxes the profits and the taxes can be used to do good. But that has changed and CSR has been an integral part of ballroom discussions. So, I think in Asia, we also need to evolve corporate mindsets. Businesses can do more in developing long term sustainable solutions for the common good and corporate citizenship can play a bigger role where companies work closely with non-profit organisations focusing on specific long-term sustainable solutions that can make an impact. This will take time and will require mindset changes but is an important part of how we can grow our philanthropic sector.

21. Finally, we need to increase the transparency and accountability of charitable organisations.

22. It is not enough to put money into a cause. We need to ensure that after a charity receives the funding, it will be channelled effectively to their beneficiaries. Again, this has not always been the case in Asia, where charities are often small and insufficiently equipped to handle large amounts of funds effectively and accountably. As a result, giving may suffer from a deficit of trust between donor and charity. 

23. So, this calls for enhanced governance and greater transparency to strengthen the trust between would-be donors and the causes they champion, so that donors can give in good faith, in full faith, knowing that their funds are being put to good use.

Growing a culture of giving in Singapore

24. Within Singapore, we face similar changes too, and the trends that I have described in Asia, and suggestions that I have laid for Asia, are relevant in the Singapore context as well. And we are doing whatever we can to nurture a culture of philanthropy in Singapore.

25. To better match would-be donors to the right causes, we set up the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) to do matching. We set up the Community Foundation of Singapore to offer advice to High Net Worth Individuals wishing to support worthy causes, and where feasible, pool funds from multiple donors so as to manage them more efficiently.

26. We have made good use of technology to match resources with community needs, and we have online platforms such as SG Gives that does the matching. This has helped to increase access to different channels for philanthropic giving in Singapore, and to bring donors and causes together.

27. The Government has also put in place various financial incentives to encourage philanthropy. For example, donations to Institutions of a Public Character (or IPCs) attract 2.5 times tax deductions. The Government supports the good work by non-profit organisations by matching donations through various schemes.   

28. An example of this we launched this year is the Care and Share Movement, a national fundraising and volunteerism movement we launched to commemorate Singapore's Golden Jubilee. In 2015, Singapore celebrates 50 years of independence. So, the Government will contribute $250 million in matching grants to double the impact of every contribution to the social service sector, and encourage donations to charities. This has been underway for some time and we have had very good response so far.

29. To complement these financial incentives, the NVPC is also stepping up its engagement efforts to get more companies involved in giving back to the community. So it has started a regular series of lunches with CEOs and business leaders. Some of you may well be invited so if you are asked, please respond positively to help us strengthen this network because through these sessions, NVPC will facilitate the matching of companies with non-profit organisations, to share best practices and build a network of like-minded individuals which could make a significant impact on society and benefit many social causes.

30. So, we have programmes and schemes in place but none of these can work if we do not also have in place a sound regulatory framework and code of governance so we have put some effort in this area to ensure transparency and accountability in our local charity sector. We have the Charity Council to promote good governance in the charity sector, and enhance public confidence in our charities.

31. We have also put in place programmes to help donors make informed choices in giving. For example, we've recently made the financial statements of charities available on the Charity Portal. These are available for public viewing, so that anyone with an interest in a particular charity can review their statements and assure themselves that they are making the best funding decisions.

32. These are just some of the things that we are doing and we continue to enhance the schemes we have in place today. We aim to strengthen and expand them progressively, and I welcome your active suggestions in making giving an integral part of our national DNA.

Conclusion

33. All of you are here today because you have a passion for philanthropy. You are interested in the greater social good, and have the capacity to create change in your communities through the examples you set.

34. And this is exactly how we hope to spread the culture of giving in Singapore – through partnerships with people like you, people who are driven by compassion, conviction and passion to build a better society and a better world for all of us. And this is why we want more people to donate and give back according to their means and from their hearts and I hope that you will join us to be our advocates and be our ambassadors. Because through our collective efforts we can built our own tradition of philanthropy in Asia and Singapore, and keep our social fabric strong and vibrant.