President’s Star Charity Show- is there a need for artistes to perform stunts to milk the public’s compassion for more generous donations?

Every year, there will always be a charity show broadcasted live on television, which never fails to win the hearts of many. Its aim is to invite artistes to perform dangerous stunts, to let Singaporeans know how important and serious it is to raise funds for the needy. By endangering the lives of the artistes, the viewers start to empathise with them, and are no doubt moved to tears, due to such strong courage and selflessness. The viewers themselves are amazed and touched by how far the artistes are willing to sacrifice for the sake of the needy, and they become motivated to sacrifice for the needy. Also, the viewers cannot bear to let their efforts go to waste, so they donate as much as possible. They are also reminded of all the pain and sufferings the patients go through from the look on the artistes’ faces. However, I do not find it necessary for artistes to perform stunts just to gain compassion and empathy from the public so that they will donate money.

Firstly, I find it unnecessary for artistes to risk their lives to gain compassion from the public. There is no point using such harmful methods when we can easily find other safer methods. What if something unexpected occurs and ends up with an artiste dead? Because he risked his own life when he could have done something else much safer? It is very dangerous for the artistes to sacrifice their own lives just to bring pleasure and entertainment, in which I feel some Singaporeans search for in charity shows, as no one would know whether it would be his last stunt. It is ridiculous to do such a thing. We can expect families feeling disgusted by how insignificant the lives of the artistes seem to the charitable organisation, thereby not willing to donate any money at all. They find such a foolish act of allowing the artistes to continue risking their own lives as a symbol of how insignificant the organisation views the lives of the patients. Therefore, it is not entirely beneficial to have the artistes perform stunts and it might not even gain the public’s compassion.

However, I believe that most Singaporeans are already generous enough to donate, and do not require artistes to perform stunts to milk their compassion. Singaporeans are willing to give whenever they can from what I experience. Sometimes along the street, Singaporeans selflessly donate a dollar to the disabled and some people are so willing to sacrifice their time to help raise funds for the needy to such an extent that they go to each person they see along the street to request for donations. Besides donating money, Singaporeans are willing to donate blood and household equipments to victims of the Sichuan earthquake. Singaporeans are indeed already compassionate enough to donate on their own will, and do not need artistes to perform stunts at all.

However, in some cases, there is no need for artistes to perform stunts because Singaporeans do not feel safe and secure about giving away their money. Some do not give money because they are selfish. However, that is not the main reason. It was the National Kidney Foundation Singapore scandal where the NKF misused the donors’ money. The National Kidney Foundation Singapore scandal was a July 2005 scandal involving National Kidney Foundation Singapore(NKF) following the collapse of a defamation trial which it brought against Susan Long and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). This caused a massive backlash and fallout of donors to the charity, and subsequently resulted in the resignation of Chief Executive Officer T.T Durai and its board of directors. Therefore, there is not really a need for artistes to perform stunts as Singaporeans have become more alert and are not willing to trust the organisation to make good use of their money.

In conclusion, I feel that there is not a need for artistes to perform stunts to gain the compassion of the public as it is dangerous, and Singaporeans are already generous but most of us cannot entirely trust the charitable organisation. However, as long as there are still people in need out there, I am sure Singaporeans can find other methods to help them, not just through charity shows.