God is S(o) GOOD

Friday, 6th March 2026

Yesterday, I attended a full-day session that is meant for board members of charities and non-profit organisations, called SGOOD 2.0, which is a collaboration between the Singapore Institute of Directors ("SID") and NCSS ("National Council of Social Services").

Per the Singapore Institute of Directors' website, 

https://www.sid.org.sg/SGOOD

SGD 2.0 - Governance for Outstanding Organisation Directors (SGOOD) 2.0 Programme

Effective governance of nonprofit organisations starts with informed and empowered board leaders. Serving on a nonprofit board requires not only a strong foundation in governance and strategic oversight but also the ability to drive meaningful impact while balancing diverse stakeholder interests.

The SGOOD (Governance for Outstanding Organisation Directors) 2.0 Programme provides nonprofit organisation board members with the necessary governance tools to lead with confidence. Developed in collaboration with the National Council of Social Service, it is part of GovernWell: Excellence in Charity Leadership, an initiative launched by the Commissioner of Charities and Charity Council.

How did this begin? When I changed CG in October 2022, one of my fellow CG mates Wayne Soo, who is also a Chartered Accountant, noted that I was kinda retired and had the capacity to do volunteer work. So he roped me into serving at a nursing home meant for people with dementia called Apex Harmony Lodge as one of her Management Committee member (the equivalent of its Board).  My term began in April 2023 and after 2 years, my role is now as her Assistant Treasurer, with Wayne as the Treasurer.

The Lodge is deliberately built to look like a chalet resort, so that long-term residents (yes, we call them "residents" rather than "patients") feel like they are on a staycation, rather than in a nursing home of sorts. In fact, some of them feel so comfortable that they do not want to go back to their own homes.

The Lodge even employs 2 in-house musicians to entertain the residents daily.  At their CNY gathering last month, they were so kind to invite the ONNB (oi nang noob bassist) to jam along with them.  Here is a picture of us, with me holding onto my bass ukelele.

Back to the SGOOD session and the title of today's post.  When I agreed with Wayne to come on board, I had no agenda of any sort.  Not only is this an unpaid volunteer role, we even have to pay the Lodge $12 a year in membership fees!  The constitution requires one to first be a member of the Lodge before he can become a management committee member.

But God is so good and this is why.

At my table yesterday were sat other like-minded individuals who want to give back to society, while still holding onto daytime jobs in the corporate world.  One is an accountant that heads up risk and compliance in a commodities trading conglomerate.  Another is a lawyer working as the general counsel to a family office.  Yet another is a lawyer working for a venture capitalist fund focused on the life-sciences industry.

Those close to me will know that I currently rely very much on passive income (being kinda retired), and is heavily vested in the private credit space.  By the grace of God (and more so because I have been tithing faithfully), I will very soon be receiving a significant inheritance, and leading up to that day, have been asking God how to best steward what He will be bestowing upon me.  The earlier promptings has been to go into private equity, and God confirmed it yesterday by placing those 3 individuals to sit at the same table as me!!!

What do commodities trading, family offices and venture capitalists have in common?  Yup, they all operate with private companies.  Hallelujah!

Yesterday, the 4 of us (2 accountants and 2 lawyers) connected with one another via Linkedin, and I am so looking forward to the much more that God has in store.  Amen?