Refund of Pinnacle Notes

Two years ago, a finance company sold $40,000 in a Pinnacle Notes to my wife. She brought back the sales brochure and felt convinced that it was a good investment. She believed in the assurances given by the finance company. She was told that many people rushed to buy the product which would be sold out soon.

I saw the wording on the brochure, "You stand to lose all of the amount that you have invested". I read the brochure for more details, but was told that they are explained in the prospectus and other documents (not made available to my wife). I said, "What kind of rubbish is this?".

At that time, I had a distrust of all structured products as my wife had earlier invested in two series of capital guaranteed  products and got back just 2% after investing for 5 years (when a safe government bond would have earned ber 15% at that time).

I told my wife to cancel the investment and ask the finance company to return the money to her. She said that it was not possible, as she had been told that the investment cannot be rolled back. I told my wife to tell the finance company that if they did not refund the money, I would fight them on a matter of principle.

My wife got back her $40,000. If not, she would have lost nearly all of her invested money as the notes are now worthless.

Lesson: It is important for Singaporeans to think for themselves and be aware of their legal and human rights.

Tan Kin Lian

Two sides to a story

Read this article.

My comment
It is better for the government minister to be above the fray and not be defensive about people presenting the other side. By acknowleding that there is another side, the minister will set the environment for a more open society in Singapore. I continue to be hopeful that our leaders have the integrity and intelligence to understand my message.

Online sale of my books

I was surprised that about 1,000 copies of my Intelligence Quiz Vol 3 has been sold at the bookstores. This is much better than I expected. My online sale of this book has been rather slow. It seems that Singaporeans are still quite traditional in their method of buying. Perhaps, it is quite troublesome to pay through the interent? I allow payment by internet banking, Paypal, ATM and by cheque.

Some people describe the Intelligence Quiz as the "word" version of Sudoku. There is some resemblance. So, Sudoku fans may enjoy this puzzle.

I sold 1,000 copies of the Financial Planning book at the bookstores and about 200 copies through my online shop. In this case, the online sales is doing quite well.

The tangram book is available now and can be ordered online. It will be available in the bookstores by 15 May.

Order books online.

Tan Kin Lian

Press Freedom

Read this article by Yoong Siew Wah.

My comment
The media can play a useful role in educating the public to have good values and be able to think for themselves. This requires the media to present both sides of an issue, so that the public is able to make a judgment on what is right from wrong, good from bad. Generally, Singaporeans are weak in the values, due to inability to think for themselves.