Sim Lim Square saga continues as Singaporeans seek to wipe out dodgy retailers

Last week, a Vietnamese tourist to Singapore – who was scammed out of S$550 (US$440) when buying an iPhone 6 at the notorious IT retail complex, Sim Lim Square – found a guardian angel in the form of local entrepreneur Gabriel Kang. The businessman launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo with the goal of raising US$1,000 to make things right for the tourist, and ended up raising for more than that – around US$12,000 at the time of writing this article.

Since then, Kang has become somewhat of a minor celebrity in the island-state. Because the Vietnamese tourist declined to accept the gift of an iPhone from Kang, the funds have been diverted towards helping other scam victims. In a Facebook post, Kang says that he has been “inundated with requests for help” in the form of “thousands of emails, Facebook messages, comments.”

Wanting to do more, he launched another campaign two days ago – what he terms #OperationCleanUp. The first phase of this project involves running a hackathon to come up with ideas that can better protect consumers from the scheming vendors that Sim Lim Square is now notorious for:

Post by Gabriel Kang.

Kang tells Tech in Asia that over 150 interested parties have signed up within a single day, and he is expecting more to follow. According to him, they are in dire need of sponsors at the moment, especially for the event venue.

Other than Kang, the call for justice following the unfortunate event has seen both official and “vigilante” channels working hard to provide it. The Consumer Associations of Singapore (CASE), has started injunction proceedings against the main villain of the saga, Sim Lim Square retailer Mobile Air, as the store’s owners had declined to sign a Voluntary Compliance Agreement which would compel them to halt their unfair practices.

The unofficial – and far more popular – seeker of justice is satirical Facebook page SMRT Ltd (Feedback). It resorted to leaking information and photos of Mobile Air owner Jover Chew and sending pizzas to his doorstep. The group’s actions prompted member of parliament S Iswaran to respond that they had “gone too far”:

Post by Iswaran@West Coast.

The Facebook page vanished late last night, but another one – dubbed We Will Miss SMRT Ltd (Feedback) – has quickly risen up to take its place. In just 12 hours, it has received 4,229 likes.

WIth both official and unconventional channels working in unison to root out dodgy retailers, there might come a day when Sim Lim Square manages to clear its name. For now, the controversy rolls on.

See: Crowdfunding is like Batman: full of cool gadgets, seeks justice when the law falls short. But it’s not enough.

This post Sim Lim Square saga continues as Singaporeans seek to wipe out dodgy retailers appeared first on Tech in Asia.

Sim Lim Square saga continues as Singaporeans seek to wipe out dodgy retailers