Peter Ong Kean Suan the Freeloader

There's no easy way or free lunch to success or wealth...
  
Posted: 08 Jan 2014 01:29 AM PST
Any 31-year-old who makes millions, has the titles 'Dato Seri' and 'Dr' precede his name arouses more than my admiration. It stirs my curiosity big time.

I have worked hard my whole life, lived frugally and now at the ripe old age of 65 have accumulated savings sufficient only to continue living frugally for the rest of my retirement years. After a lifetime of sweat and toil, I still don't have a title to my name or millions in my bank account.

I want to know how this Dato Seri Dr Peter Ong Kean Suan did it. How did he amass so much financial wealth at so young an age that he can play philanthropist to the hilt and not feel the pinch? I am talking about donations amounting to RM690,000. Certainly not an amount to scoff at.
 
This advertorial in The Star, 19 Nov 2013, got me asking 'Who is this Peter Ong Kean Swan'? 
 

Don't you want to learn his secret of generating wealth? Well, I certainly do. I want to learn from this making-money sifu.

Thus began my Google search to find out more about this bigger than life young man who is CEO of Surewin4u. With such a name for a company, how can anyone who invest in it not win? That's probably how this Dato gets folks to part with their money - by convincing them they will make many times more the amount they have invested in Surewin4u!
 
From Surewin4u website. Except for figures to impress the gullible, few specifics are mentioned. Why is this so? 

Basically, this is how the system works. The company uses the money you have invested (entry point fixed at RM25,000) to gamble on your behalf at the casino. They claim to have devised a system that is guaranteed to beat the odds at the gambling table 100% of the time, and you get a monthly dividend of 8%. They are so confident about their system they even have a refund policy to assure investors they have nothing to lose. This is the carrot that they dangle before potential investors. Those who can see only dollar signs in the carrot and not the beta carotene in it will fall for this scam.

Intrigued by this 'sure-win-for-you' system (scheme? scam?), I decided to investigate further. Guess what turned up? - this picture below of a certain Ong Kean Suan (sans titles) in handcuffs being escorted by the police to the magistrate's court on a charge of impersonating royalty to get room discount at a hotel! The picture is dated 20 March 2013. As far as I know, the company is still operating and still attracting (luring?) investors.
 
This looks like a direct translation from Malay in the original post dated 20 March, 2013. Eight months later, Ong is back celebrating his birthday in grand style. Is this the same Ong Kean Suan of Surewin4u?
(Photo: The Star, 13 Nov 2013)
So the question you may want to ask me - why am I so interested in this Peter Ong and his mission to help make millionaires out of us ordinary folks? Well, I have good friends who have invested their retirement savings and had their fingers burnt. That's why. A young man can still get a job and work hard to rebuild his lost fortunes. But not for a retiree. He sees his dream of retiring to a comfortable life going up in smoke.

Retirees are a favorite target of agents dealing in pyramid or multilevel get-rich schemes. We have all read about people who have lost their life savings in their desire to make money quickly and easily. Yet they don't seem to have learned their lessons. As is often the case, greed or desperation makes good people throw caution to the wind, and they end up with nothing to show for all the years of hard work and saving. The worst off are those who find themselves in debt because they borrowed money to invest in these schemes. Now life is hell  for them as they are hounded by Ah Longs or loan sharks.
 
If you don't have excess money to play around with, if you know next to nothing about investing, if you have no clue how the stock market works, the safest thing to do is to do nothing, and let your money remain in the bank. You won't get much in interest, but the risks are low. Alternatively, find a financial consultant you can trust and who truly has your interest at heart to manage your money. He must have an excellent track record of good returns on investments.

It is easy to tell whether a scheme is a scam or not. Remember, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is, especially if it promises easy money and quick returns. So stay away from it. Your retirement savings is meant to see you through your golden years. Make sure you protect it.

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