The Electric New Paper :
WHAT WATER THEME PARK PROJECTS?
Blacklisted S'pore MLM company unveils lavish M'sian developments.
But M'sian authorities say...
THEIR presentation was certainly designed to impress and strike
awe.
By Hedy Khoo
29 October 2007
THEIR presentation was certainly designed to impress and strike
awe.
With just $12,000, you stand to make many times more by being part
of a 'global' company that has stakes in many high-profile projects
in the region.
These include a trading portal that is supposedly better than eBay,
as well as majestic theme parks in Malacca and Sabah that boast
floating villas and underwater hotel rooms.
To prove the point to about 100 people who attended Sunshine
Empire's talk last week, a slide show titled Anything Is Possible
was shown.
Without any explanation, the audience was shown several pictures,
including one of an overcrowded bus in India with some passengers
on the roof and others with legs dangling out of the windows.
Another photo showed square watermelons from Japan.
WOULD YOU BELIEVE?
The audience was told: 'To believe or not to believe is up to
you.'
Sunshine Empire, a multi-level marketing (MLM) firm, is now on the
radar of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Though MLM
companies are legal here, MAS has included the firm on its list of
unauthorised companies that investors should avoid.
The Securities Commission in Malaysia has also listed Sunshine
Empire on its investor-alert list. It advised the public not to
make any investment with companies that are not licensed or
approved by it.
The commission's website noted: 'Offers often come in the guise of
seemingly attractive investment opportunities or schemes and may
also be camouflaged as direct-selling or business
opportunities.'
In Singapore, a visit to Sunshine Empire's office in Toa Payoh Hub
saw several people there holding stacks of cash, presumably to pay
for their investment.
One man had a thick stack of Indonesian rupiah.
Earlier, they had been given a brief overview of 'the Empire', as
it is called, detailing its ventures in a range of businesses from
telecommunications to health to property.
A representative showed various slides of the company's regional
projects, including two impressive marine theme park developments
in Malacca and Sabah.
Graphics of the park in Malacca showed an intricate network of
floating villas and structures on the water which formed the shape
of a lion's head. The park also has an adjoining condominium
project.
Artists' impressions of the park in Sabah, called The Magic
Kingdom, showed a lavish underwater hotel.
An aerial view showed a network of structures in the water which
took the shape of an lobster. These structures are purportedly
underwater hotel rooms.
'You can open the curtains to your room and see your friends
swimming outside,' the representative said.
However, the Malaysian authorities appeared to be unaware of the
projects.
When contacted by The New Paper on Sunday, the press secretary to
the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah, MrFrancis
Au Chee Thong, said he had not heard about the Empire's plan to
build a water theme park in Sabah.
Mr Au said: 'To our Ministry's knowledge, we have no information
relating to a water theme park project.
'And, at this point, there is no such project that is under
construction or in progress in Sabah at the moment.'
As for the project in Malacca, Datuk Zaini Md Nor, the mayor of
Malacca City Council, told The New Paper on Sunday that the council
had indeed received an application in August for approval of a
piece of 0.87-ha land (slightly larger than a football
field).
The land, located at Pekan Klebang, is listed under developer
Empire Property Venture, an affiliate of Sunshine Empire. It is
supposed to be for a commercial building.
However, the mayor said the application is still being
processed.
On the water theme park, Datuk Zaini said: 'No application has been
made to the city Council for the building of a water theme park
till today.'
Nevertheless, the Empire's projects were not the only thing that
impressed visitors.
Its sprawling office on the seventh floor of Toa Payoh Hub exudes
opulence. Crystal chandeliers cascade from the ceiling and the
marble walls are trimmed in gold.
The company's logo - a lion's head - is imprinted everywhere, from
the carpet to a painting spanning an entire wall of the
lobby.
At the reception was a stream of people queuing up to hand money to
the receptionists. At least two people in the queue held wads of
$50 notes.
The New Paper on Sunday had earlier phoned the number listed on the
Sunshine Empire website and the woman who answered said it was not
an investment company.
She also asked for the name of our 'introducer' and recommended we
attend the 8pm presentation.
YOUNG SPEAKER
At the presentation, the speaker was a young woman who appeared to
be in her mid-20s. She was dressed smartly in a black blazer over
white business shirt and skirt.
The talk took the tone of a motivational speech with the speaker
running up from the back of the room to the stage
energetically.
The audience of about 50 (with 50 more in another room) appeared to
come from all walks of life. There were housewives in their 50s,
20-somethings in office wear and a handful of teenagers. Among them
were several people dressed in black suits.
At regular intervals, the speaker would urge the audience to
applaud themselves.
She would ask: 'Who is here to learn how to make more money?'
When some in the audience responded with a show of hands, she
exclaimed: 'Give yourselves a big round of applause!'
A 17-year-old student, who wanted to be only known as Tan, told us
he was approached by a friend from the company two weeks ago.
He said: 'My friend told me about a part-time job with many
benefits and I can start with just $2,000.
'All I need to do is to keep the money in the account for 11 months
and every month, the company would pay me a sum.
'At the end of 11 months, I would get my money back, and the
company would still pay me a monthly sum. My friend said he earned
$1,000 in two weeks.'
In the end, Tan said he did not sign up as he did not want to have
his money tied up for 11 months.
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