Dr Ismail Muhamad Hanif. Dr Ismail, 35, was seen mingling with Bukit Batok East residents on Sunday morning. — FILE PHOTO: NUS ALUMNI OFFICE
BY NUR ASYIQIN MOHAMAD SALLEH
Research scientist Dr Ismail Muhamad Hanif, 35, was seen mingling with Bukit Batok East residents on Sunday morning as Jurong GRC MP Madam Halimah Yacob took Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong on a walkabout around shops in the area.
Dr Ismail, who is married, has been a member of the Tampines West Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) since 2009 and had helped out in the last general elections.
Madam Halimah told reporters that she had met Dr Ismail at a community event and invited him to volunteer in her ward.
She declined to say if he was a potential PAP candidate for the next polls, only that he was part of Bukit Batok East’s Volunteer Induction Programme, which was started in 2010.
If you see fraud, and you do not call fraud, you are a fraud.
Recently I have noticed a large number of ‘get-rich-quick’ (GRQ) schemes that seem to target the Malay community such as Galaxy Trio. Galaxy Trio claims that (directly taken from a promoter’s post):
● Not a business, Investment or MLM
● No monthly maintenance
● Low risk
● Highest return
● Safest concept
● Achievable by all
● NO SELLING REQUIRED
● Not a Ponzhi or pyramid Scheme
● A proven platform
● Training and full guidance provided
And that by signing up for this program you can turn your initial investment of $2k into $11k.
These above claims are FALSE. These schemes are merely referral schemes which involve a new member (coughing up S300-$2000) being required to find NEW referrals in order to recoup the initial investment and gain something out of this scheme.
Organisers of such schemes claim it is ‘low risk, high return’. How is it low risk when there is no possible way of refunding the initial investment? How can it be the ‘safest concept’ to making money?
If the deal seems too good, it probably isn’t. Such GRQ schemes show our fellow Malays with ‘fans’ of money in order to attract new members. No advertising on the actual product being sold or even a product list, just flamboyant displays of money fans.
This is perhaps the worst and most unethical form of marketing available: selling hope. These schemes sell the hope of making quick fast money with no downside and that manyfold returns are ‘achievable by all’. Worst of all, these schemes target the Malay community for their scams, with the knowledge that they might be more susceptible to the BS of GRQ schemes.
Credit: Berita Harian SG
MUIS has recently released an irsyad on MLM and the like. I think that the irsyad underplays the nature of such schemes.
I hope this has shed some light on what these schemes actually do and their inequitable nature and pray that members of our community do not get scammed any further.
More and more readers are writing to Rilek1Corner to share information about the Get-Rich-Quick scams. We thank you for the contribution and we assure you that identities will be kept secret. We were also informed that readers who had openly share their grievances/concerns were harassed and threatened. We urged those affected parties to contact the authorities immediately. If you are uncertain on how to go about doing it, please do contact Rilek1Corner and we will gladly be of assistance to you. Otherwise you can do so by:
You can lodge a complaint with the Department either in writing or in person:
Director
Commercial Affairs Department
391 New Bridge Road #06-701
Police Cantonment Complex Block D
Singapore 088762
The following information should be contained in the report:
An account of the relevant facts;
Copies of the relevant documents, if available; and
Your name, NRIC / passport number, contact number and address.
Complaint in Person
You may appear in person at the above address. To avoid any inconvenience, you are advised to call the Department at 1800-325 0000 (Toll-Free) to make an appointment. Our office hours are as follows:
Monday – Friday (8.30am to 5.30pm)
Complaint via Electronic Police Centre
Alternatively, you may lodge an online complaint via the ePC at the following web-site:
I am a muallaf. Chinese guy who embraced Christianity when I was in Sec Two. Met the love of my life who is a beautiful Malay woman when I was 28. Embraced Islam wholeheartedly when I was 30 and married my lovely wife. Proud to be a Muslim and appreciate the beauty of Malay culture.
I often come across many Singaporeans who now calls me a Malay. In reality I am still a Chinese. I speak fluent Mandarin. Before I take up Islam, I used to eat pork, I drank alcohol. I gambled like crazy during CNY. Now, I stopped all that already. Islam has brought new meaning to my life and I am much happier now.
BUT…
Oh boy, calling me a Malay, that pisses me off big time. Haven’t they noticed that race and religion are two separate issues? I don’t understand why would people ask me questions like:
“Why do you want to be a Malay?”
“Your family members are still Chinese?”
“You are now a Malaylah, is it?”
“Do you miss pork? Let’s eat bak chor mee now?”
“Must have been terrible for you to fast for a month, right?”
“Really Malay pray 5 times one ah?”
“Do your Islam God accept only Arabic language or you can say prayer in English or Mandarin?”
“Is your boss okay about you going to prayer in many times in a day time?”
“Amazing you can keep a beard when you are Chinese!”
“What happen to your Chinese family line? You have any other siblings to carry on the family name?”
“Do you have to cut kukujiao?”
“So now you have join the rilek clan?”
“How can you eat Malay food high in cholesterol!”
“As long no pork, mean you can eat already lor, right”
#
In Singapore, Malay and Muslims don’t always come in a package. Not all Malays are Muslims. Muslims can be Indian, Chinese, Caucasian, Eurasian, and the list goes on. I noticed many times the local media and even the Malay community themselves often confused the two terms together.
Perhaps it is the lack of education and awareness about race and religion that made them form such distasteful mental picture of Islam and Malays?
Time to clear these misconceptions- starting from the media. Stop using the term ‘Malay-Muslims’.
SINGAPORE — A former civil servant who became a corporate high-flyer has reportedly joined the ranks of the Workers’ Party (WP).
In what some analysts have described as a tit-for-tat response to the tactics of the People’s Action Party (PAP), Mr Leon Perera was out and about in WP colours under the full glare of the media last Sunday.
Mr Perera, 44, who is chief executive of Spire Research and Consulting, was among party volunteers and members handing out food rations and daily necessities to elderly residents in the Paya Lebar division.
Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao identified Mr Perera and Mr Firuz Khan, 48, who works in the banking and retail industry, as the opposition party’s potential candidates for the next General Election due by January 2017.
In recent weeks, the PAP has exposed to the public eye its potential candidates for the next GE — a move analysts felt was a significant departure from its practice of keeping its cards close to the chest as far as the identities of potential candidates were concerned. Analysts noted that the party had learnt from the 2011 GE that voters need time to familiarise themselves with new candidates.
Unlike Mr Khan, who has been with the WP for several years and was on the council of its youth wing in 2007, Mr Perera is a new face in the WP’s ranks. When contacted, Mr Perera declined to comment. The WP was also tight-lipped about his involvement.
A former assistant head of the Economic Development Board’s Enterprise Development Division, Mr Perera graduated from Oxford University with double first-class honours. He is also an adviser for The Independent news website and vice-president on the board of the Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics. Last Sunday, Mr Perera was photographed by Lianhe Zaobao beside WP’s Aljunied GRC Member of Parliament (MP) Chen Show Mao.
Political analysts previously noted that the PAP was taking a leaf out of the WP’s book by having potential candidates work the ground early. Singapore Management University law don Eugene Tan said the opposition party is now, in turn, responding to the PAP as well.
“The WP realises that they need to also demonstrate a sense of urgency and informally introduce their potential candidates early,” said Associate Professor Tan, who is also a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP). Agreeing, former NMP Siew Kum Hong said the WP was “following PAP’s playbook”.
Assoc Prof Tan, who was Mr Perera’s classmate in junior college, said he was not surprised to learn of the latter’s political involvement. Adding that it was a natural transition for Mr Perera as an activist, he said: “Leon has always been politically conscious and has very strong ideas about government and politics in Singapore.”
So far, five potential PAP candidates have been identified. Most recently, corporate lawyer Amrin Amin, 35, was described last Saturday to reporters by Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Education and Manpower) Hawazi Daipi — who is also an MP for Sembawang GRC — as “someone who has the potential to be a candidate”.
Mr Perera is the latest in the line of former civil servants who have joined the opposition. Others include husband-and-wife pair Tony Tan and Hazel Poa, who are with the National Solidarity Party.
Mr Siew said: “It’s just a natural state of things as politics in Singapore normalises. You are going to see good candidates going to both sides.”
Muis is currently monitoring the emerging concerns on commercial transactions in the form of multi-level marketing (hereupon MLM), specifically within the Singapore context. We have also received questions on the Islamic position on such transactions.
Islamic Position on Multi-level Marketing
In addressing this issue, Muis refers to our scholarly traditions in laying down the general guidelines for all MLM transactions. Muslims who would like to participate in MLM transactions should ensure that such transactions adhere to the following elements:
i)
Participants must participate willingly, and are not coerced or pressured into becoming a member or an agent.The Prophet (s.a.w) stated in a hadith: It is unlawful to benefit from a property of a Muslim, except on the basis of willingness (Al-Baihaqi).
ii)
Transactions must include products that are of tangible and inherent value, and which the product benefits are independent from the MLM scheme. The price paid should thus be appropriate for the products transacted, and not something one would normally not buy at that price. In Islam, transactions which involve products that have no tangible value are considered Bay’Gharar or ambiguous transactions.
iii)
Products involved should also be permissible from the legal and Islamic aspects (halal). The Prophet (s.a.w) said; If Allah makes something unlawful, He makes its sale unlawful (Abu Dawud).
iv)
Bonuses and incentives received by all parties involved in the scheme should be made known and agreed upon by all members and agents.The Prophet (s.a.w) has also exhorted Muslims to strictly adhere to truthfulness in business transactions. “…and if both the parties spoke the truth and described the defects and qualities [of the goods], then they would be blessed in their transaction, and if they told lies or hid something, then the blessings of their transaction would be lost (Bukhari).Hence all conditions pertaining to a transaction must be clearly specified and clarified upfront.
Muslims should also be cautious of the following:
i)
Schemes that involve promising its members payment or services primarily through enrolling other people into the schemes, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products or services.
ii)
Schemes that will collapse in the long-run, hence causing later participants to lose their upfront payments. Those who are most vulnerable are those towards the bottom of the pyramid, where it becomes nearly impossible to recruit new members required to pay off the previous layer of recruiters.
iii)
There is a compulsory purchase of goods and services, or required investment whether in the form of a joining fee or buying inventory, as a requirement before one is entitled to the bonuses and benefits offered in the scheme.
iv)
Elements of manipulation, exploitation, injustice, unfairness and deceit.
v)
Elements that contradict what have been underscored in the shari’ah with regard to commercial transactions.
Legal Prohibition
In Singapore, the Ministry of Trade and Industry administers the Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Selling (Prohibition) Act. Any MLM activities will thus be governed by this Act. The products offered will also be subjected to all prevailing laws of Singapore. There are exclusions to this Act, and they are captured in the revised Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Selling (Excluded Schemes and Arrangements) Order.
Conclusion
Muis would thus like to advise Muslims who are considering participating in any investment schemes to be cautious and to observe the abovementioned guidelines. They should also ensure that they do not contradict any religious principles or the law of the land prior to joining any schemes.
OFFICE OF THE MUFTI ISLAMIC RELIGIOUS COUNCIL OF SINGAPORE
