Do Not Set Up A Small Business In Singapore – Singapore Company Register

This may be one of my last posts.

If they shut me down. So be it.

But I have to assert my point. Things here are not what they seem.

Being a first time business owner – it was not a personal decision when I had to sign up for certain data providers, I was new to all this several months ago.

Then I received a letter in my pile of mail, that I would be struck off the Singapore company register if I did not login to verify my details within a week. I did so, in haste, worried that I would be illegitimate if I did not.

Little did I know that less than 2 months of 2013 being listed in a little known directory was going to cost me just about SGD 500.

J*sus, I did not even log on once. And the nonchalant letter with no heading, except for Singapore Company Register, was in fact a private limited company (that did not supply me their co. registration number until the invoice came).

It is more than hideous but I have been advised by lawyers that it will not work in Singapore. So I am stuck with the bill and a terribly worded (in English), in reply to my email that my registration was in error, that I still owed them the 500 bucks.

So I will pay the monies because there is little chance of recourse here, perhaps because I am local, but I will not leave this matter in peace. I know, because for such English and I have been refunded by WordPress before for an accidental add-in, that there is no way in Hell they will let the 500 bucks go.

If anyone comes across such a letter, for a first time business owner, DO NOT RESPOND.

I have sent in a feedback to ACRA, that the information that I had received was misleading to start with (and I am not hopeful for a response). But I do not except any recourse and, trust me, I will not even bother to attempt the small claims, whatever they call that thing, tribunal or court ? I know, for sure, I won’t. Because my mother died and I have seen what happens, even if they call in doctors as witnesses who cannot speak English properly. And I am not sure if ACRA will reply, if at all, until weeks later after they have consulted their bosses.

The website is as follows – www. companyregister.sg

They could be affiliated to a government agency, or maybe they are not, because they are a private company with a registration number that they only publish on their invoice.

Good luck !

Letter appended with my address blanked out for security reasons – yes, I am scared after the riots.