Sim Lim Square incident: Vietnamese declines iPhone, money

SINGAPORE — The Vietnamese tourist whose dispute with a Sim Lim Square retailer sparked off a wave of outrage against unscrupulous sales tactics by some errant shop owners at the mall, left for home today (Nov 7).

But first, Mr Pham Van Thoai met Singaporean businessman Gabriel Kang, who has raised over S$12,000 via crowdfunding site Indiegogo to buy him a new phone as a gesture of goodwill.

At their meeting at Changi Airport Terminal 3, Mr Pham refused to accept both the brand new iPhone 6 that Mr Kang had bought for him and the money raised, but accepted the Singaporean’s other gifts, such as kaya, bak kwa and chilli crab.

Mr Pham, who had wanted to buy an iPhone 6 for his girlfriend, attracted much public sympathy after the story of how the factory worker knelt and tearfully begged for a refund from phone retailer Mobile Air, went viral earlier this week.

Speaking to TODAY over the phone, Mr Kang said he will not be able to end the fund-raising campaign until Nov 12 due to Indiegogo rules. He has also been inundated with emails from people all over the world claiming they have been scammed, seeking help.

“My motive was to right a wrong. Nobody should be treated that way,” said Mr Kang on why he launched the crowdfunding campaign for Mr Pham.

While Mr Kang is uncertain how he would manage the more than S$12,000 raised so far, he hopes to distribute some of the money to various charities in Vietnam, and use the rest to help other scam victims.

“If they can provide documented proof that they have been scammed, I will use some of the money to try to help them,” said the 37-year-old entrepreneur who runs a robotics company.

Mr Kang has not identified the Vietnamese charities yet, and plans to discuss the matter with Mr Pham.

Amid the bad press on Sim Lim Square’s allegedly unethical retailers, its management today held a press conference to emphasise that out of over 500 retailers at the mall, there are just 10 “black sheep” among them.

Sim Lim Square’s vice-chairman Kwek Theng Swee said the management had sought legal advice to see if they can sue these errant retailers, but cannot proceed as the by-laws do not give them the right to do so.

Noting that competition is stiff, with e-commerce and trade fairs, Mr Kwek said: “Some retailers can’t handle it, so they think of funny ways to handle the situation.”

With regard to Mobile Air, Sim Lim Square’s chairman Raymond Chua said they had gotten in touch with the owner of the shop space leased to Mobile Air. The owner had not known the space was rented to Mobile Air as the agreement was conducted via a third-party. The owner wanted to terminate the contract upon learning the fact, but has not done so, said Mr Chua. WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CHANNEL NEWSASIA.