Empty Vessels Makes The Most Noise
The 11th July 2010 edition of The Sunday Times reported an interesting case of a couple who misled a Dutch writer. The article, The ‘millionaire’ Couple Who Couldn’t Pay Up, listed the extravagant lifestyle Ms A.J Hameedah and her husband Mr S. Thomas enjoyed and exaggerate claims made. Details of the charges and their stay at the Burji Al Arab, the only 7 star hotel in the world in Dubai, were shown. Claims like the governments acceptance of Mr S. Thomas’s ‘ideas on how to revive the economy’ in 2001 and him having mentors like Mr Rajaratnam and Mr Lee Kuan Yew were made. In actual fact, they were living in a Pasir Ris HDB flat and they have been harassed by loan sharks who splashed paint on their door. There were many credit related lawsuits against them and their company starting from 1999 till last year.
Reading this article reminds me of the numerous scammers and dishonest practitioners out there. All of them have a common trial – they were loud and made exaggerated claims. I had the opportunity to talk to a practitioner who had worked with a well know ‘couch’. His verdict of this man – Some people can only talk… I have seen him giving a preview talk for one of his seminars. He gave a totally inappropriate promise of giving a 5% return that the then popular preference shares can give. I’m from the industry and know what he was referring to; he was talking about a particular Investment-Linked-Plan. This man is into forex trading courses now.
The successful millionaires I have met were nothing like those I have wrote about in this post. They were humble and down-to-earth, wearing 3 for $10 T-shirts and signing documents with Pilot pens when less successful people serving them would be wearing designer labels and writing with Mont Blancs.
The next time you meet someone with making exaggerated claims, remember – empty vessels makes the most noise.
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Tags: Scams
