DW group on the Newspaper Jan 25th 2004 !!
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Sunday Times 25th Jan 2004
His teen daughter joins company selling 'biomagnetic' mattresses
She starts drinking, smoking and keeping late nights
Now, she wants to quit school
By Arlina Arshad
BUSINESSMAN Tan Pin Ho set a curfew for his 16-year-old daughter and made her sign an undertaking that she would not sneak out of school to work as a salesgirl.
Nothing has worked, laments Mr Tan (above), who has been trying to get daughter Yi Zhen to concentrate on her studies. -- ENRIQUE SORIANO
He even threatened to lock Yi Zhen up and paid $800 for professional counselling. But she dropped out after a few sessions, he said.
Nothing has worked and Mr Tan, 57, says he is at his wit's end.
Instead, Yi Zhen wants to drop out of school to sell expensive 'biomagnetic' mattress pads and comforters for a direct-marketer called DW Group.
She was 15 when she joined DW in August last year, on a referral by a schoolmate who is her boyfriend, and she has definitely changed for the worse, said Mr Tan.
She attends group gatherings and talks that end at midnight or later, wakes up too late to go to school, and once came home drunk, he said. And her grades have nosedived.
Yi Zhen says she can earn $100 to $200 for every item she sells. She has not sold a thing so far, but gets $300 a month in transport and meal allowances.
Mr Tan said he has tried to get the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the police and her teachers to help. He has even spoken to DW's bosses. But to no avail.
MOM said that a child may be employed if he is 12 or older in 'light work suited to his capacity'.
The Direct Selling Association of Singapore (DSAS) says that direct marketers should not recruit anyone below 18.
But because DW Group is not registered with DSAS, it is not bound by its rules.
'Whatever it is, there must be parental consent in writing,' said DSAS chairman Benjamin Tan.
Mr Tan Pin Ho never consented. He didn't even know Yi Zhen was working with DW till she started bugging him and their relatives to buy its $2,880 mattresses.
'She said she needed to sell one to get promoted to a 'supervisor',' he said.
'She used to be obedient but now she doesn't believe anything I say. The company has influenced her and she doesn't realise this.'
He and his wife got divorced in 2001, and Yi Zhen lives with her mother, a 42-year-old insurance agent who wanted to be known only as Madam Tay.
Madam Tay said: 'We split but that doesn't mean we don't love her.
'Her colleagues take her to pubs and she smokes. It's not logical that they're selling a health product and yet they do all this.'
Yi Zhen told The Sunday Times that she sees a 'future with the company'.
'I used to be quiet but now I can make my own decisions. I want to quit school after my N levels this year and do this full-time,' she said.
'I want to prove to my parents that 16-year-olds can make it in this industry.'
She said she goes to DW's office at Apex Tower in Anson Road at 3pm every day, after school, to set up appointments with clients, and she makes two-hour sales presentations outside until as late as midnight.
Sometimes, she said, she stays back to attend gatherings with the directors because 'I want to learn more from them'.
'It's not a must but the directors said I've been specially selected because of my good performance and work attitude. So I go,' she said.
A 17-year-old said he quit DW after six months because his father cut his pocket money and threatened to disown him.
He said his superiors would take small groups out to pubs in the Orchard and Tanjong Pagar area for drinking sessions, sometimes as often as three times a week.
'I'd come home late and fall asleep during lessons,' he said.
His sister, Miss Liu, 24, an administrative executive, said he spent so much time working and earned only $400 a month.
She said: 'These are just impressionable kids. They dress smartly and think 'biomagnetism' sounds professional. But they know nothing.'
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Boss: She's not too young to start work
AT 16, Yi Zhen is not too young to sell mattresses, said DW Group's managing director Joey Tan, 34.
She's not staff, he said, but gets $100 to $200 for referring clients.
There are 10 other under-18 'recommenders', he said.
'It's not wrong to give her some money because she helps me, like a brother to a sister, right?' he said.
So how can she be a 'supervisor' if she's not on the staff?
'It's just a term to motivate her,' said Mr Tan, who set up the company in May 2002 and claims it has an annual turnover of $2 million.
He also said it had 200 staff working in 10 subsidiaries, all selling biomagnetic mattress pads and comforters from Japan.
A quarter are younger than 20.
He said his company gives her $300 a month for transport and meals, even if she doesn't make a sale, and she can attend daily two-hour talks to pick up communication, convincing and interpersonal skills.
'She earns as she learns,' he said. 'Out of so many youngsters, I feel that she has a vision. I feel that she's mature enough to work,' he said.
But he denies influencing her to cut classes and to quit school.
'She's not interested in studies, and isn't it better that she works with me than spend her time mixing with bad company?' he said.
Paper qualifications aren't everything, he added. Mr Tan, who holds a diploma in electrical engineering, said: 'I've never used it to be where I am today.'
Of the late-night gatherings, Mr Tan said he was aware that his employees go to pubs, but said that the 10 underaged 'recommenders' only get soft drinks.
Whether or not the teenage workers want to work or study, it is their decision, he said, and added: 'Their parents and I have no right to stop them from doing so.'
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4386,231645,00.html -
Do you want your 16 year old daugther to quit school and join an mlm company at the midst of her "N" or "O" levels ?
It is riduclulous that a person is actually stressing the importance of business to a 16 yr old teenager when the government is stressing on the importance of education ! There's a reason why RSAF don't have pilot who are 16 yrs old !
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dont get what u mean
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From a father's point of view .. Do you want your 16 year old daugther to quit school and join an mlm company at the midst of her "N" or "O" levels ? What if this 16 yr old was your daughter ?Originally posted by Alex Wong:dont get what u mean -
got to do with RSAF pilots?
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Its juz an example why we don't have 16 yr old in-charge and defending the country ! lolxOriginally posted by Alex Wong:got to do with RSAF pilots? -
the way u phrase ur english is too chim for me to understand.
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What about countries where they employ child soldiers?Originally posted by Akashi:Its juz an example why we don't have 16 yr old in-charge and defending the country ! lolx
a lot of students are disinterested in studies cos of many factors...
... look at what the father is doing?->>> business
like father like daughter...
And do you think that an education can gurantee job security nowadays?
We have to ask ourselves what is the purpose of high education? -> pursue of interest?
or
> a better career?
> more money making options?
If we are studying mainly not becos of knowledge, then she has better look for alternatives and do something meaningful...
Note: I am NOT encouraging students to quit schools early.
Look at the who's whos who have make it in life:
do they have a high education?
Having a good education to us is a protection. -
If you are referring to undevelop countries where famine occurs and their only priority in life is to struggle just for a bowl of rice in order to survive .. then of course they employ child soilders because in an undevelop country where people dies of hunger, they have no shelter or food, government is unable to take charge, there's no advancement in technology, society and people lack knowlegde and rising unemployment, unhappy citizens and i have to agree that in countries like that education is definitely not an issue because survival is their top priority !Originally posted by AlanChow76:What about countries where they employ child soldiers?
a lot of students are disinterested in studies cos of many factors...
... look at what the father is doing?->>> business
like father like daughter...
And do you think that an education can gurantee job security nowadays?
We have to ask ourselves what is the purpose of high education? -> pursue of interest?
or
> a better career?
> more money making options?
If we are studying mainly not becos of knowledge, then she has better look for alternatives and do something meaningful...
Note: I am NOT encouraging students to quit schools early.
Look at the who's whos who have make it in life:
do they have a high education?
Having a good education to us is a protection.
However, in a country such as Singapore where we have international banks, great technology advancement, sky scrapers, fast automobiles and recognised universities with a education system accepted in most countries, high standard of living and also people who are more affortable, highly educated, leading a comfortable living and have shelters over their heads. Under no logical cicumstances you will expect 16 yr old here to become soldiers at such a tender age .. can you imagine if every 16 yr old in Singapore were to quit school and come out to work ? Do you know what will happen to our whole society in the next 10 years ? -
Yes i agree with you that being highly educated does not neccessary mean you will earn more money .. but what if one day company stops business and decides to call it a day ! Not even an "O" level certification or ITC .. reality is gonna slap them hard in the face when something happens ! We are not talking about degree or advance diploma here .. we are taking about basic education "O" levels something that is needed to find jobs world wide. Then what are teenagers like them going to fall back on ?Originally posted by AlanChow76:What about countries where they employ child soldiers?
a lot of students are disinterested in studies cos of many factors...
... look at what the father is doing?->>> business
like father like daughter...
And do you think that an education can gurantee job security nowadays?
We have to ask ourselves what is the purpose of high education? -> pursue of interest?
or
> a better career?
> more money making options?
If we are studying mainly not becos of knowledge, then she has better look for alternatives and do something meaningful...
Note: I am NOT encouraging students to quit schools early.
Look at the who's whos who have make it in life:
do they have a high education?
Having a good education to us is a protection. -
i wonder..
if a minister's child got mixed up in scams like these, what the heck would happen?
after all, we're just proles to them... -
Whether the 16 year old girl have the right or not to choose not to study but do a business is totally beside the point here.
The FACT that this company DW recruit mostly youngsters PROVED the fact that this is NOT a good company. Simple, youngsters do not know much in MLM. This is the same culture AMWAY is practising all along. My research also showed that it is not the Company's preference to recruit mostly youngsters. Just that most of the elders who knew them rejected.
The person in charge, Joey Tan's response also showed that he is an unscrupulous person. Don't he/she has any child or any parent ? If I am him, I would have helped the father to encourage the girl to give up the business. If a MLM Company's products are good and confident about, why afraid of losing one single agent ?
What's your opinion, Lawrence ? -
Huh? Oh me..urm ok okOriginally posted by Experienced:Whether the 16 year old girl have the right or not to choose not to study but do a business is totally beside the point here.
The FACT that this company DW recruit mostly youngsters PROVED the fact that this is NOT a good company. Simple, youngsters do not know much in MLM. This is the same culture AMWAY is practising all along. My research also showed that it is not the Company's preference to recruit mostly youngsters. Just that most of the elders who knew them rejected.
The person in charge, Joey Tan's response also showed that he is an unscrupulous person. Don't he/she has any child or any parent ? If I am him, I would have helped the father to encourage the girl to give up the business. If a MLM Company's products are good and confident about, why afraid of losing one single agent ?
What's your opinion, Lawrence ?
Dude, I agree with you totally for your first point. I had been pointing out all along about companies that have all the following features - young(less than five years), local start up that targets teenagers. I havent seen all of them, but those i seen so far are disappointing, coz of two reasons a) products and marketing plan not as fantastic as more established ones, but when i ask the people as to why they jumped in or what features of the company are good, none gave answers qualitatively. Quite disappointing as i see them telling me stuff which are actually nonsensical if one sit down to review them. Urm these people btw are teenagers.
Many older people i know seriously taught me a lot in choosing MLM, and gave me experience of MLM from decades back till now. Those who enter bad ones, realised fast enough to scoot out, instead of young ones who will pia like siao. More established companies tend to have people from late 20s onwards, and when i ask them how come, they said they had joined young companies that attract youngsters before, and didnt work out. What i feel is that only those companies that attract teenagers are not working out, we should also do more in depth research and soul searching before jumping in. In anyway, taking tour of the industry is also good....
Second point is MLM is only two to three years into the Sg market, so, unlike other countries, the market quite rough as many rushes into the country to have the share of the pie. So tendency is for many 'rubbish' companies to float around, till they are eliminated in the process...so its not worrying to have cases like the ntiparis, amh or even dw group cases flying around. They will be eliminated in the end, and people get wiser..or is it. New companies will be set up, and new suckers join in, so the vicious cycle dont really disappear.
urm, your second point abt unscrupulous people in dw group, seriously i have not read the article thoroughly and do not have contact with the company, so i do not know what dw is seriously about. For many reasons, i was worried when i see their ad on tv while in malaysia. Ad on tv will increase its sales and membership, and eliminate other companies?
Not really. I am more worried on what happening in the company that compel them to to have ad on tv. From what i know, they are direct marketing company, so the ad was puzzling.....
Basically this case is mainly on mlm that have impact on the youngsters...as eric cartman in south park used to say "I am sorry, the movie has warped my fragile little mind", many inexperienced youngster are likely to be targeted coz of they are more gullible and less sceptical than older people.
Cheers -
Urm, another article on DW Group from yesterday papers.
Big bucks and a BMW... for selling mattresses?
People get the hard sell from direct marketing firm
By Arlina Arshad
THE teenagers who attended a 'career opportunity' talk by a direct marketing company were told they could earn at least $2,000 a month and own a BMW if they helped sell biomagnetic mattress pads and comforters.
After watching a short videotape on biomagnetism, the youngsters toured DW Group's Apex Tower office in Anson Road, where certificates of top sales personnel lined the walls.
Later, they were taken to the carpark, where several BMW and Mercedes sedans were parked, and were told that these were owned by the directors.
A Sunday Times reader who once sold mattresses for the company said this was how it recruited people.
She was one of 10 people who called after The Sunday Times published a report last week about a man whose 15-year-old daughter told him she wanted to quit school to sell mattresses for the company.
Miss Tan Rui Lin, 17, a polytechnic student, who worked with DW for seven months last year, said: 'The company director would say, 'So-and-so didn't complete his studies but he's now a supervisor. Even if you were a graduate, you'd earn only $3,000 to $4,000'.'
She said she was asked to do a 'market listing' during a two-day training stint. She had to list of the names and telephone numbers of people she knew and specify if they were 'financially stable', 'generous' or 'supportive'.
Then she was told to make appointments with them, telling them she was doing a health survey. Follow-up action would be taken by her seniors.
She quit when she found she was spending more than she earned.
She said: 'I'd spend $200 on cab fare every month, going to meetings with customers. And I only got $180 in commissions in seven months. It was not worth it.'
Madam Claire Bang, 31, a health-care consultant, said her 15-year-old cousin had called her on the eve of her exams, pestering her to buy a mattress.
'She would call to say she was staying overnight at the office. Directors took her out to party at KTV pubs, telling her it was the way to entertain clients,' said Madam Bang.
She added: 'When I called the company to ask why staff were made to stay overnight, someone said clients sometimes called at 8am and they needed people to man the phone lines.'
Her cousin has since left the company.
When asked, DW Group said its management was willing to clarify any misunderstanding and concerned parties should call 6220-3827 to make an appointment.
It declined further comment.
In last Sunday's report, Mr Tan Pin Ho, 57, said his daughter, Yi Zhen, attended group gatherings and talks that ended at midnight or later, and woke up too late to go to school.
But the company does not just recruit youngsters.
Mr D.L. Loo, 26, an engineer, wrote to say that his 22-year-old wife quit her second-year polytechnic course last year to work full-time with the company.
She leaves home at 9am and may return at 7am the following day.
'I see her only once or twice a week, sometimes once a month as she spends all her time at work. I tell our two-year-old daughter that mummy is working,' he said.
Mrs S. Adam, 42, said her 21-year-old niece, had shelved plans to study overseas after being involved with the company.
The police said there had been no complaints so far, but they would look into the matter if a report was lodged.
Mr Benjamin Tan, chairman of the Direct Selling Association of Singapore, which DW Group does not belong to, said: 'Most of the youngsters are still in school and should be concentrating on their studies. There may be those who may not wish to study but we should not distract them. Even if they are ready and mature, they should get their parents' approval before signing up.' -