The following is a comment left on my blog by anonymous reader:
A few points that I want to bring up:
1. Minibonds were not sold in many countries because there regulators deem it too complex e.g. Malaysia did not allow it.
2. MAS allowed the minibonds to come into Singapore but did not regulate the selling process. Oversight was missing and there were numerous complaints in the past but nothing concrete was done.
3. There is clear mis-selling on the part of the banks - minibonds were not bonds in the first place.
4. When the fiasco erupted MAS took a reactive approach.
It is the job of the govt to see that justice is done and the truth is found. The HK govt made ths same mistake as the Singapore govt in allowing these minibombs to be sold. But once it is clear the ordinary people will lose out, the HK govt stand firmly on the side of the people. We don't see this in Singapore. It is very disappointing for Singaporeans.
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1 comment:
I'm the same anonymous who wrote the above. I want to say somemore.
We as Singaporeans serve NS and do our reservist duties. But everyday many of us ask what we will be fighting for. Not towering million $ condominiums downtown or not the wealth of the companies that set up here and can close shop and leave when the bad time comes. We defend our pledge which holds the values that binds our society - democracy, justice, equality.
We have understood that we voted for a govt who will serve the people. But in times of crisis like this, we see the govt is not even sure which side to stand. It is like an NS man who is not sure whether to fight or not. There is no question in my mind that the leadership has to be on the side of the people from day 1. What we saw was dithering, denial and trying to spread the blame. It was shameful. Totally shameful. The MAS and govt seems to be hiding from the people on the 1st week of the saga. It was when Tan Kin Lian screamed "MAS Do the right thing" on his blog that people in the ivory tower realise they need to act.
10,000 ordinary Singaporeans losing their lifesavings wrought no sense of urgency from this govt. Their natural instinct was to adopt a minimalist approach if there was "little noise" from the ground.
I did not invest a single cent in structured product but I invested my entire life in this society called Singapore and accepted this form of elitist govt sold to me by the PAP. I've been mis-sold a govt. They are not worth the millions they are paid. There is no guarantee they are on the side of the people in times of crisis. There is no protection of the values in our pledge - Justice and equality. It seems their only interest in running this country to make money from ordinary people to grow the GLCs for the benefit of a handful of elites.
It is very clear to me that I've been mis-sold a whole govt called the PAP. It is a structured product - they have a power structure that downgrade the interests of the ordinary people. They structured our society so that there is a huge income gap between themselves and the ordinary folks. This structured product matures/expires in 3 years time, I'm not sure if I can get my 'principle' back. I'll make very sure the next time I stand in front of that ballot box I'll make the right decision. No amount of advertising and marketing will help them to mis-sell this structured product called PAP to me ever again.
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