- Joined
- Aug 8, 2008
- Messages
- 3,619
- Points
- 0
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,187130,00.html?
TEENS' SALES PITCH AT MRT STATION
Please buy pen to help poor families
THE REALITY: MONEY GOES TO THEM & COMPANY
By Arul John
December 18, 2008
HELP, PLEASE: Two of the teen sellers (both wearing caps) appearing to show passers-by letters at Admiralty MRT station on 12 Nov. TNP PICTURES: JONATHAN CHOO
BUY a pen or mechanical pencil for $2 to help a needy or low-income family.
That was the pitch that four teenagers made to passers-by at an MRT station last month.
However, The New Paper has learnt that they are not collecting on behalf of a charity.
They are working for a direct-selling company.
There is also confusion over whether they are selling the pens and pencils to raise money for the needy or for themselves.
They told The New Paper that the sales proceeds would go to help needy families and low-income families. When asked, they also produced an authorisation letter that stated the same thing.
But a director of the firm later said that the teenagers had said the wrong thing.
DEAL?: A passer-by with a teen seller (wearing a cap) at Admiralty MRT Station.
He also denied that the letter had stated that the proceeds would be used to help the needy.
He faxed over what he claimed was the actual authorisation letter, which stated that the teens were selling the pens to earn money for themselves.
The police are looking into the case following inquiries by The New Paper.
The New Paper met the four teenagers at Admiralty MRT station on 12 Nov, after a concerned reader called our hotline.
Insurance agent Syed Jaffar, 49, was puzzled after some of the teenagers told him they were selling the items to earn money for themselves, and that they did not issue receipts for items sold.
He said: 'They said the money they collected would be given back to the company at the end of each day. What is stopping them from taking the money for themselves?'
Play on sympathy
His colleague, Mr Richard Seah, 66, said: 'Some of the people approached by the teenagers are primary schoolchildren who give their savings and the teenagers seem to play on their sympathy.'
The teenagers claimed they were working for 3(BS) Consultancy Services (3BS) and were helping low-income and needy families by selling pens and pencils.
A check with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority showed that 3BS was registered as a direct-selling company.
Each teenager had an authorisation letter signed by Ms Anabella Sonya, one of its directors. The letter also included 3BS's address, company registration number, and company stamp.
The letter stated that 3BS was a non-charitable organisation and those carrying the letters were authorised to sell items like pens and mechanical pencils for $2 to $3 each to collect money to help low-income families and families of prisoners.
The teenagers did not have any permits.
When The New Paper called 3BS to verify the teens' claims on 12 Nov, Ms Sonya, 21, said the teenagers were authorised to sell the items to raise money to help low-income families and families of ex-prisoners.
She said the teens received half the proceeds as commission, while the rest was used for the company's administrative costs and to help families who approached 3BS for help.
However, when The New Paper met the company's other director, who wanted to be known as Mr Mahthi, 29, he had a different story.
He said 3BS was a direct-selling company and a non-charitable organisation that helped young people earn an honest income, and it did not need a police permit for its direct-selling activities.
He initially said part of the sales proceeds went to needy people, after deductions for sales commissions, stock purchases, printing and other administrative costs.
He later said that the proceeds, after cost deductions, went to the teenagers as they were from low-income families and were selling the items to raise money for themselves.
He said the company had been selling the items since August and had about 15 sellers.
Apart from pens and pencils, they also sell bookmarks, Christmas cards and small ornaments.
When asked how much the company made a month, he would not give a figure, saying that it varied depending on the sales for that month.
Mr Mahthi said the sellers did not issue receipts as he was afraid that his firm may be considered a charity.
But lawyer Rakesh Vasoo said although the company was a non-charitable organisation, it still needed a licence to do the sales because it was doing some form of charity work by claiming to use its proceeds to help the needy.
Mr Mahthi said 3BS hired people from mainly low-income families and they get a commission of 35 to 40 per cent of their daily sales.
He claimed 3BS had records of the helpers and their families, and how much money they received, but he declined to show them to us, citing confidentiality.
When told that his version was different from what the four teenagers told us on 12 Nov, Mr Mahthi said they had said the wrong things because they were new at the job.
He denied misleading the public and claimed that 3BS had always told its salesmen to tell the public that they were selling its items to raise money for themselves, not to help needy families.
He also claimed that this aim, together with the fact that 3BS 'provides proper training to earn a decent living', was stated in each salesman's authorisation letter.
Mr Mahthi faxed us a copy of the form yesterday.
When told that the words in the faxed form were different from what The New Paper had seen in each teenager's authorisation letter, Mr Mahthi insisted that the form he faxed was the same one the teens had used.
Initially, he said that the teenagers may have been issued with the wrong forms.
A National Council of Social Service (NCSS) spokesman said 3BS was not its member or under its purview, and it had not authorised the company to collect money for low-income or needy families.
Consumer Association of Singapore president Mr Seah Seng Choon said it had not received any complaints about 3BS, but said its activities on 12 Nov were likely a case of collecting money without a permit.
A National Environment Agency spokesman said that 3BS' activities were regulated under the House to House and Street Collections Act.
The New Paper understands that under the Act, a licence is needed if an appeal for money is made or items are sold for charitable causes.
TEENS' SALES PITCH AT MRT STATION
Please buy pen to help poor families
THE REALITY: MONEY GOES TO THEM & COMPANY
By Arul John
December 18, 2008
HELP, PLEASE: Two of the teen sellers (both wearing caps) appearing to show passers-by letters at Admiralty MRT station on 12 Nov. TNP PICTURES: JONATHAN CHOO
BUY a pen or mechanical pencil for $2 to help a needy or low-income family.
That was the pitch that four teenagers made to passers-by at an MRT station last month.
However, The New Paper has learnt that they are not collecting on behalf of a charity.
They are working for a direct-selling company.
There is also confusion over whether they are selling the pens and pencils to raise money for the needy or for themselves.
They told The New Paper that the sales proceeds would go to help needy families and low-income families. When asked, they also produced an authorisation letter that stated the same thing.
But a director of the firm later said that the teenagers had said the wrong thing.
DEAL?: A passer-by with a teen seller (wearing a cap) at Admiralty MRT Station.
He also denied that the letter had stated that the proceeds would be used to help the needy.
He faxed over what he claimed was the actual authorisation letter, which stated that the teens were selling the pens to earn money for themselves.
The police are looking into the case following inquiries by The New Paper.
The New Paper met the four teenagers at Admiralty MRT station on 12 Nov, after a concerned reader called our hotline.
Insurance agent Syed Jaffar, 49, was puzzled after some of the teenagers told him they were selling the items to earn money for themselves, and that they did not issue receipts for items sold.
He said: 'They said the money they collected would be given back to the company at the end of each day. What is stopping them from taking the money for themselves?'
Play on sympathy
His colleague, Mr Richard Seah, 66, said: 'Some of the people approached by the teenagers are primary schoolchildren who give their savings and the teenagers seem to play on their sympathy.'
The teenagers claimed they were working for 3(BS) Consultancy Services (3BS) and were helping low-income and needy families by selling pens and pencils.
A check with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority showed that 3BS was registered as a direct-selling company.
Each teenager had an authorisation letter signed by Ms Anabella Sonya, one of its directors. The letter also included 3BS's address, company registration number, and company stamp.
The letter stated that 3BS was a non-charitable organisation and those carrying the letters were authorised to sell items like pens and mechanical pencils for $2 to $3 each to collect money to help low-income families and families of prisoners.
The teenagers did not have any permits.
When The New Paper called 3BS to verify the teens' claims on 12 Nov, Ms Sonya, 21, said the teenagers were authorised to sell the items to raise money to help low-income families and families of ex-prisoners.
She said the teens received half the proceeds as commission, while the rest was used for the company's administrative costs and to help families who approached 3BS for help.
However, when The New Paper met the company's other director, who wanted to be known as Mr Mahthi, 29, he had a different story.
He said 3BS was a direct-selling company and a non-charitable organisation that helped young people earn an honest income, and it did not need a police permit for its direct-selling activities.
He initially said part of the sales proceeds went to needy people, after deductions for sales commissions, stock purchases, printing and other administrative costs.
He later said that the proceeds, after cost deductions, went to the teenagers as they were from low-income families and were selling the items to raise money for themselves.
He said the company had been selling the items since August and had about 15 sellers.
Apart from pens and pencils, they also sell bookmarks, Christmas cards and small ornaments.
When asked how much the company made a month, he would not give a figure, saying that it varied depending on the sales for that month.
Mr Mahthi said the sellers did not issue receipts as he was afraid that his firm may be considered a charity.
But lawyer Rakesh Vasoo said although the company was a non-charitable organisation, it still needed a licence to do the sales because it was doing some form of charity work by claiming to use its proceeds to help the needy.
Mr Mahthi said 3BS hired people from mainly low-income families and they get a commission of 35 to 40 per cent of their daily sales.
He claimed 3BS had records of the helpers and their families, and how much money they received, but he declined to show them to us, citing confidentiality.
When told that his version was different from what the four teenagers told us on 12 Nov, Mr Mahthi said they had said the wrong things because they were new at the job.
He denied misleading the public and claimed that 3BS had always told its salesmen to tell the public that they were selling its items to raise money for themselves, not to help needy families.
He also claimed that this aim, together with the fact that 3BS 'provides proper training to earn a decent living', was stated in each salesman's authorisation letter.
Mr Mahthi faxed us a copy of the form yesterday.
When told that the words in the faxed form were different from what The New Paper had seen in each teenager's authorisation letter, Mr Mahthi insisted that the form he faxed was the same one the teens had used.
Initially, he said that the teenagers may have been issued with the wrong forms.
A National Council of Social Service (NCSS) spokesman said 3BS was not its member or under its purview, and it had not authorised the company to collect money for low-income or needy families.
Consumer Association of Singapore president Mr Seah Seng Choon said it had not received any complaints about 3BS, but said its activities on 12 Nov were likely a case of collecting money without a permit.
A National Environment Agency spokesman said that 3BS' activities were regulated under the House to House and Street Collections Act.
The New Paper understands that under the Act, a licence is needed if an appeal for money is made or items are sold for charitable causes.
