Be aware of your rights

Many Singaporeans are ignorant of their rights as individuals or as a human being. This is due to many decades of trust in a government that will take care of the people, i.e. the "nanny state".

In recent years, the people are expected to take care of themselves, in line with the trend towards a "free market" environment. Unfortunately, they are ill-prepared for this responsibility. Many people are not aware about their individual or contractual rights.

It is easy for certain unscrupulous parties to take advantage of the ignorant people using unfair contract terms, unfair trading, investment scams or outright cheating, and get away under the guise of "caveat emptor".

The people who are cheated do not even know how to seek redress. They can engage a lawyer, but they find the fees to be too high, and they are wary about trusting the lawyer.

Here is my advice to Singaporeans:

a) Spend time to learn about your rights as human beings
b) Learn about the law of contracts and agency
c) Learn about the law on consumer protection, fair trading, fair contractual terms
d) Talk to lawyers who are your friends.

Tan Kin Lian