APPENDIX 2
The Electric New Paper : Bankrupt after heeding advice
THERE is some truth to the adage, ‘if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it’.
11 June 2007
A businesswoman here learnt this the hard way recently.
She hit a patch of bad luck soon after she changed her name and renovated her shops following the advice of the same geomancer seen by the Lims.
Ms Ting, 28, said that before changing her name, her beauty and boutique businesses were flourishing. She opened four shops in just three years.
Just when she was about to open a fifth branch, a friend suggested that she seek the advice of a fengshui master so she would continue to prosper.
The geomancer advised her to change her name and renovate the existing shops, all of which she did.
Nine months later, she found herself being declared bankrupt, with a debt of over $300,000.
Her downfall began when she took loans of nearly $220,000 for the renovations.
To cover that, she tried to increase the prices of her goods and services, a move that eventually caused her business to fold as her shops were in the heartlands.
Ms Ting showed us copies of her previous business certificates and demand-letters from creditors.
‘I can only blame myself for being stupid enough to believe that the geomancer had that kind of power,’ Ms Ting, who now runs stalls at night bazaars, added.
She added that it was hard to face her father now – he had been upset and had objected to her name change. He also had to sell their four-room flat to help raise money to pay her creditors. He is now living with a relative.
LOANSHARKS
Apart from the renovation loans that she had taken from two banks, Ms Ting had also borrowed money from loansharks when she had difficulty paying suppliers and her employees.
‘Aside from spending so much money on the renovations, I had also paid up nearly $10,000 for the fengshui man’s services.
‘Because of that, I had no choice but to raise the prices of the items in my shops,’ she said.
When things started falling apart, she tried to contact the geomancer but he avoided her calls, she said.
Like the Lims, she considered taking legal action, only to be told the same thing – it would not be easy to prove anything.