Hyflux Hyflux episode reflect the selfish character of many people
I wish to share my views about the selfish character of many people in Singapore and why it is troubling for our future. 

I draw it from the recent Hyflux crisis. 

I did  not invest in Hyflux preference shares or perpetual securities. Still, 
I took the trouble to learn about the events that cause the crisis in Hyflux and the massive loss of the more than 80% of the $900 million invested by 34,000 retail investors. Many of them used their CPF savings to buy these securities.

I posted several views about this crisis. My view is that the massive loss is not solely attributable to the bad business judgment of the board and management of Hyflux. The government and the Public Utilities Board contributed to this problem by their actions and negligence.

I also blame the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Exchange for taking a lax approach in approving the sale of the perpetual securities in 2016.

There is the possibility that my views are not accurate or that I am biased in favor of the retail investors. 

I get two kinds of responses to my posts.

The first kind are mainly from the retail investors who are affected. They vote to support the views that I have expressed - that the government should help to reduce the loss suffered by these investors who were not aware of the  financial condition of Hyflux.

The second kind of response are from people who insisted that "the government should not bail out the investors of Hyflux".  Most of the comments came from people just muttered this slogan, without understanding the circumstances that led to the crisis.

No doubt, these people were not affected, i.e. they were not involved in the bad securities. 

In both cases, I do not see much thinking or reasoning from the people who either agree or disagree with me. 

I feel very sad that the majority of Singaporeans view the Hyflux crisis,  and perhaps most other matters, from a selfish perspective.

If they are not involved, they will object to any government action to help those affected, on the argument that the government should not use tax payers' money to help the victims. If they are involved, their reaction will probably be totally different.

It seems to me that  the majority of the citizens are selfish and not bothered to stand with other people in trouble or are not bothered with the unfair treatment of other people in circumstances that are beyond their control.

If this is the case, Singapore will not have a good future.

Tan Kin Lian



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