The Jover Touch

A couple weeks ago, the battery of my LG smartphone began taking on a bloated appearance, like it had engaged in a torrid one-night stand with the charger and gotten itself knocked up. This meant it was time to get a new battery.

Naturally, I headed down to Sim Lim Square, one of Singapore's hotspots for IT merchandise. Horror of horrors - it was a ghost town. Granted, it was hardly gathering cobwebs and filled with shambling zombies. But it was definitely a far cry from the days you couldn't walk five steps without swerving to avoid some other visitor. The problem was particularly pronounced at the high levels. It was barely 7pm, and shops were closed. Closed! Around the second and third floor, more eateries had sprung up. I could have sworn I even saw a barber shop! Sim Lim Square's days as an exclusively IT stop looked to be over.

A chocolate shop? Wait, what?

A small cluster of eateries
among conspicuously inactive shops.

A western food section
where an IT parts store used to be.

The most striking change, of course, was the first floor. The row of dodgy-looking shops touting mobile phones and accessories had been replaced by spanking new, expensive-looking brand names showroms for laptops.

I call this The Jover Touch. You know the story about Midas, who turned everything to gold with his touch? Well, a certain Jover Chew seems to have done the exact opposite.

It was June last year when Jover Chew, boss of Mobile Air, and a few of his employees were arrested on charges of cheating and criminal intimidation, among others; and finally sentenced in November.

Mobile Air's shenanigans had been going on a while before this, with CASE receiving complaints from customers who had been burnt by their practices. One woman went through the trauma of having to count about 1000 SGD's worth of refunds in coins at Mobile Air while Chew taunted her.  And shortly after that, a video of a Vietnamese tourist crying and begging for his money back on his knees at Mobile Air, went viral.

At this point, Jover Chew had gone too far. He had made himself impossible to ignore.

Most people can accept a man trying to turn a profit - that's what retail is for, isn't it? So that rascal Jover Chew used a few sneaky tactics. No big deal, moving on.

The fact that he picked on low-wage earners and people who had little power to stand up for their consumer rights, was rather more disturbing. This makes him a little shit... but he's no more guilty than many employers in Singapore in that regard. (Fess up, how many of you like employing foreigners because they can't stand up for their rights?)

But all this is small potatoes compared to gangster-like behavior used to intimidate customers, and humiliating them. Laugh at a man as he begs you on his knees for money you cheated from him? That was totally unnecessary. What a bastard. Money can be earned back, but dignity is priceless.

Jover Chew has been sent to jail. And it is my opinion that he deserves every day spent behind bars, every cent fined. All of it.

One other thing concerns me about this entire affair. Perhaps I'm mistaken as to the legal process, but it is absurd that this was allowed to go on for so long despite numerous reports, before this bunch of miscreants was finally taken to Court. While it may not be the truth, perception is everything. And public perception seems to be that in order for the legal system to get off its arse and start working, the public has to first make enough noise about it.

I think it goes without saying that this should not be the way. And it is hardly reassuring to the man in the street, who has been brought up to have absolute faith in Singapore's brand of justice.

So - yes. I obtained my new battery. But it was a sad day. Hopefully Sim Lim Square recovers from this bout of consumer distrust.

Just something to Chew on,
T___T