10/04/2012

A lesson from Genneva



Genneva, a gold trading company that offered its customers 24% returns on their investments has its business suspended. It was definitely too good to be true. Its office has been raided and is now under investigation by CAD. It was under the watchlist of MAS all the while.

When the company was set up, it tells a story of good returns and everything good. The returns were absolutely good, very good, outstanding. No one borders to ask what can go wrong to make the promises turn sour. The company would be the last one to want to tell what can go wrong.

Sinkies are now living it up, in high heavens. Everything is so rosy, so good, so very good. The housing price is just on one track, up. The savings in the CPF with 4% interest rates for the oldies must be excellent. Jobs aplenty and more foreigners and more citizens are needed. Nothing can go wrong. Really?

Murphy’s Law says that what can go wrong will go wrong. Same thing happened to Genneva. Same thing happened to toxic notes and Lehman Bonds. Same thing happened to all the too big to fail banks in the US and Europe.

Anyone believes that nothing can go wrong? Anyone believes that the housing price will be happily stay up there? Anyone believes that the high population is only good? How many believe that their CPF savings will not be worthless at the end of the day?

And how many believe what the ministers said, that the young today will have a lot of money when they retire? Anyone out there willing to say what can go wrong, what can go awfully wrong?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The most fearsome thing to happen to Sinkies is that after 30 or 40 years of savings in the CPF and depriving one of the use of the money, one day they work up and found the money worthless, not there or value diminished to literally nothing.

Don't think it will not happen.

Anonymous said...

What can go wrong? Our Reserves. With no one except a few know exactly how much we still have, one day we may find nothing left.

Anonymous said...

Singaporeans will wake up one morning to discover that we have been betrayed by the Government that they elected.

Not that this is an unknown fact. Many are aware, few are bothered as they have good jobs, million dollar homes, expensive cars and inflated egos still floating high in the air.

When the music stops, the party ends and the organisers fled, laughing all the way to their overseas homes, Singaporeans will be left holding all the banana notes, or homes that can be sold for billions in banana notes.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

A 3 rm or 4 rm pigeon hole is a pigeon hole. Why make the citizens pay that kind of money when they don't have to and ended in big debt and big mortgages to service.

Is this really so brilliant? If the money is made from foreigners and citizens need only to pay much lesser, it will be a good thing. Making obscene profits from our citizens is never a good thing.

Anonymous said...

The question is not why they pay that kind of money, but how can they avoid doing that.

Not a bloody chance, when practically the whole island belongs to the Government. Most average Singaporeans have no choice when it comes to housing. That gives the Government the unquestionable monopoly of setting them up for the alsughter, willingly or not.

If present young Singaporeans are finding it tortuous paying their mortgage, what about those yet to be born? Does not surprise me that our birth rates are going downhill, even though marriages are reported to be higher.

More I think about it, my blood pressure goes up.