Singapore, with a five million population, has a vibrant charitable sector with over 2000 registered charities attracting approximately USD$2.18 billion in annual donations. How did Singapore’s charitable sector achieve its current level when it has been, in the past, segregated along mainly religious, race and clan-based communities? This paper explores this question by piecing together the current ecosystem, regulatory and tax infrastructure which facilitates the charitable sector in Singapore. Central to the development of the charitable sector has been the Singapore government’s role of being a gatekeeper, regulator and enabler of charities. In analysing the government’s role in the charitable sector, this paper locates Singapore’s charitable sector within the literature on government and nonprofit organization relations which has been described at times being cooperative, complementary, confrontational, and co-optive. These astute observations ring true with respect to the Singapore government’s relationship with the charitable sector. For organizations which pursue purposes consistent with state’s vision of public good, the state’s relationship with these charities has been largely cooperative and complementary. However, even within charities considered by the state to further public good, there is a strong element of co-optation where the state wields significant direct and indirect power over the charitable sector by way of provision of funding and board composition. In contrast, nonprofit organizations which engage in aims inconsistent with the state’s perceived public interest are, by law, unable to register itself as charities and enjoy corresponding fiscal benefits. Such nonprofit organizations also typically do not receive state funding. This demonstrates the confrontational nature of the state’s relationship with these nonprofit organizations. Through a close analysis of the laws, codes, media reports and academic literature on the charitable sector, the central thesis of this paper is that the charitable sector in Singapore is essentially a state facilitated endeavor.

中文翻译：

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新加坡的慈善组织：从基于氏族到国家推动的努力

新加坡拥有 500 万人口，慈善事业蓬勃发展，注册慈善机构超过 2000 家，每年的捐款额约为 21.8 亿美元。新加坡的慈善部门在过去主要以宗教、种族和宗族为基础的社区被隔离时，它是如何达到目前的水平的？本文通过拼凑促进新加坡慈善部门的当前生态系统、监管和税收基础设施来探讨这个问题。慈善部门发展的核心是新加坡政府作为慈善机构的看门人、监管者和推动者的角色。在分析政府在慈善领域的角色时，本文将新加坡的慈善部门定位于有关政府和非营利组织关系的文献中，这种关系有时被描述为合作、互补、对抗和合作。对于新加坡政府与慈善部门的关系，这些敏锐的观察是正确的。对于追求符合国家公共利益愿景的组织而言，国家与这些慈善机构的关系在很大程度上是合作和互补的。然而，即使在国家考虑促进公益事业的慈善机构中，也有很强的吸纳因素，即国家通过提供资金和董事会组成对慈善部门施加重大的直接和间接权力。相比之下，从事与国家所认为的公共利益不一致的目标的非营利组织，依法不能注册为慈善机构并享受相应的财政利益。此类非营利组织通常也不接受国家资助。这表明国家与这些非营利组织的关系具有对抗性。通过对慈善部门的法律、法规、媒体报道和学术文献的仔细分析，本文的中心论点是新加坡的慈善部门本质上是一个国家促进的事业。这表明国家与这些非营利组织的关系具有对抗性。通过对慈善部门的法律、法规、媒体报道和学术文献的仔细分析，本文的中心论点是新加坡的慈善部门本质上是一个国家促进的事业。这表明国家与这些非营利组织的关系具有对抗性。通过对慈善部门的法律、法规、媒体报道和学术文献的仔细分析，本文的中心论点是新加坡的慈善部门本质上是一个国家推动的事业。