Scams Minibond, High Note, Pinnacle Note, Jubilee Note Protest
Yesterday, I was at the Speaker’s Corner at Hong Lim Park for the protest against having been mislead into buying of structured products like Minibond, High Note, Pinnacle Note and Jubilee Note. An estimated 700 people was there. I had not bought any of such products but was there to understand the kind of impact in the local context. Maybe you can call me a ‘kay-poh’.
As only hand held mobile amplifier were allowed at Speaker’s Corner, many of the attendents were not able to hear what the speakers were saying even as the 2 gentlemmen were trying their best to address the crowd. From what I could make out of their speach, this is what they said (note: I could have miss out much of the speach or mis-understood it due to the poor sound quality and large ambient noise):
Mr Leong spoke about
- Briefly what the notes were
- Under the Financial Adviser Act, advisers have to do a fact find and recommend products on a resonable basis
- The importance of diversification
Mr Tan spoke about
- The inferior nature of the products in the way that in a bull market, the upside is limited. But in a bear market, you could lose everything. This is worse than stocks whereby you can earn alot in a bull market and lost alot in a bear.
- Getting the authorities involved as they hold the power to intervene.
- Getting the MPs involved as well.
- Getting an affidavit from a lawyer which cost around $120
Many in the crowd are senior citizens and retirees. A large portion of them were also Mandarin speaking and could not understand English. Some of them requested the speakers to speak in Mandarin.
During the break halfway through the talk, people gather into smaller groups according to the products they got. There was much outpouring of anger and grief as the attendees shared on how they were mis-sold the products. Many badly needed a listening ear…
I felt sad when reading through the various reports on papers and blogs and seeing videos of protesters in Hong Kong. But to see the kind of emotions first-hand in Singapore… They look just like any average uncle and auntie you find in any heartland. Anyone could be your relative, your dad and mom.
It makes me wonder how are these people going to seek redress when they couldn’t even understand the simplified message the speaker were trying to convey. Lodge a complaint with the financial institution? File the complaint with FIDREC? i don’t think it would be easy for them to do it.
Really hope the authorities can do something constructive about this issue. People’s life savings and retirement funds are at stake.
