Laws have been revised or reinforced to restore to charities, and the act of charitable giving, the people's confidence that had been lost after the old NKF's mismanagement and excesses came to light.

Recovery will take some time, although the right actions have been taken. But an unhappy twist is that the reconstituted NKF itself, leaner and totally unflashy, may be denied part of the financial restitution it had obtained through court judgments.

This has to be the practical effect of news that Richard Yong, the former NKF chairman, has gone missing.

He had been made a bankrupt for failing to settle preliminary claims of about $1 million. He sold his houses while court proceedings were going on, and left Singapore sometime last month without the permission of the Official Assignee.

To rub it in, he sent to the NKF papers notarised by a lawyer in Kuala Lumpur certifying he had exactly $247 left in bank accounts and that the $7.5 million proceeds of the property sales had been paid to banks in loan settlements.

The circumstances point to Yong having absconded. Unless the NKF's current managers have abiding faith in the innate goodness of humankind, they will have to write off any share attributed to Yong of the damages that are yet to be assessed by the courts after the charity won its civil claim against Yong and three other ex-directors in February.

The NKF was claiming about $12 million in compensation and donations lost.

To say this is an unsatisfactory end to a scandalous episode in a matter of public trust is an understatement.

Singaporeans who have ever given money to charities big and small, no questions asked, had never been more incensed.

Their notion of justice requires that court judgments entered against the defendants be satisfied as it was in the end they who had been deceived by individuals they had taken on trust as do-gooders.

It may be moot whether a Mareva injunction that has been granted against Yong, after his asset disposals became known, will lead to recovery of some of the money due the plaintiffs.

He is also a bankrupt, remember? A question the public will reasonably ask is whether the turn of events might have been anticipated.

Could the Official Assignee's office have applied for Yong's passport to be handed over, as a precaution? This is not an academic question.

Substantial amounts in damages could be involved. The public interest is involved. It is conceivable cases of breach of a public duty to care can crop up from time to time.