Sunday, July 12, 2009

Ask for investigation report through FIDREC

Dear Mr Tan,
I have filed my case with FIDREC and I am waiting for FI's investigation report. I will decide, after getting the report, on whether to proceed to the next step, i.e. to get FIDREC to adjudicate the case. It is important for me to get the investigation report first.

For any investor who wants to go through legal action, it is necessary to get FI's investigation report. In Chinese, we have to know the enemy to win the battle.

Currently, when we were interviewed by the FI, it is one direction. We have to answer many questions, but FI do not need to answer us anything.

REPLY
I agree with your approach. It is important for the complainant to get the report from the financial institution and decide how to present your case for mis-representation. You should submit documentary evidence or witnesses who can attest to your side of the story.

The Emperor's Clothes

Edited from Wikimedia

"The Emperor's New Clothes" is a fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about an emperor who unwittingly hires two swindlers to create a new suit of clothes for him.

The tale is one of Andersen's most popular. It appears often in selected collections of his work and is frequently published in illustrated storybook editions for children. The tale has seen adaptations in animated film, and television drama.

Plot
An emperor of a prosperous city who cares more about clothes than military pursuits or entertainment hires two swindlers who promise him the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they tell him, is invisible to anyone who was either stupid or unfit for his position. The Emperor cannot see the (non-existent) cloth, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing stupid; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they dress him in mime. The Emperor then goes on a procession through the capital showing off his new "clothes". During the course of the procession, a small child cries out, "But he has nothing on!" The crowd realizes the child is telling the truth. The Emperor, however, holds his head high and continues the procession.
Morale
How do you tell the Emperor that things are going wrong, or things that he does not like to hear?

Brain Workout in The New Paper

The Brain Workout in the New Paper is taken from my book, TKL Intelligence Quiz. The puzzles in this book is based on the famous quiz created by Albert Einsten. Einsten said that 98% of the people in the world could not solve the quiz. My book teaches the reader on how to be among the 2%.

There are 72 quizzes in my book: 24 at each of three levels. The first level is based on 4 houses and is easier to solve. The next level is based on 5 houses and is the same as Einstein's quiz. The third level is based on 6 houses and is more challenging than Einstein's quiz.

After practicising a few quizzes, the reader will be able to master the technique and be able to solve the quizzes quite quickly. This quiz is also suitable for a challenge among several competitors - to see who can solve the quiz first.

www.easyapps.sg/iShop

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Serangoon North HUDC Privatisation

Dear Mr Tan,
Hope you can post this article in your blog site. Hopefully someone out there may be able to offer the residents in Serangoon North HUDC estate some ideas on how they can proceed from the present jam they are in.
Aik Theng Chong

Friday, July 10, 2009

Idling ships clog up Singapore shores

The global economy is still bad and will take some time to recover. Read this report.
I hope that the Government will consider new ways to create jobs for the unemployed and school leavers. The old ways will not work. My suggestions are stated here.




Thursday, July 9, 2009

Rebuttals to editorial in Straits Times

Dear Kin Lian
I was very upset with the editorial in today ST because the editorial is full of errors. I am wondering if you will be putting up a rebuttal in your blog on this article.

It is easy to rebute the factual inaccuracy of the article (rebuttals in bold italic)

> Unfortunately, Lehman brothers turns out to be a company in their basket of "reference entities" - this is not the case
> 10 FIs here weren't selling anything that was unknown to tetail investors. Hundreds of varieties were sold during boom years - this is not the case
> Many investors happily pocketed returns much higher than what could be earned in comparable time deposits - this is not the case
> A fine that is unduly large will raise alarm bells over the fairness with which Singapore's internationally oriented financial sector is run, especially given the difficulties of assign blame in this matter - in HK, financial institutions voluntarily proposed that they compensate ALL investors a minimum 60% to 70% of their invested amount.

There are many more errors that you could probably can point out than me.

S

Issues not addressed by MAS investigation findings

Dear Mr. Tan,

I am disappointed that the MAS investigation findings did not address the following issues:

1) Are minibond products suitable for the retail investors?
2) Are ordinary investors with education level above primary 6 able to comprehend the complexity of the prospectus?
3) Are minibond products defective?
4) Whether minibond products are fair with respect to the return and risk?
5) Whether the newspaper advertisements misled the investors into believing that minibond is a bond from the six leading banks?
6) Whether the sales brochures misled the investors into believing that it is a bond from the six leading banks?
7) Whether the prospectus confusing and/or misleading?
8) Whether the sales brochures and prospectus omitting any important information?
9) Whether conflicts of interest arise: can Lehman alone being the arranger, issuer and swap counterparty?

Thank You,
P