Within two years of inheriting his family's 30-year-old import-export business after his father died in 2003, business graduate Hussein (not his real name) ran it aground.
The rookie businessman reneged on an agreement to buy rice from Indonesian exporters and was sued for $10,000.
In desperation, the graduate from Monash University approached banks for loans - or a job. But to no avail.
The banks would not give him a loan as he had no job. And he could not get a permanent job as his Indonesian creditors had sued him for non-payment, making him fail all credit checks.
'It was hopeless. I was really stuck as the banks were quite unforgiving,' recalls Mr Hussein, 30.
Penniless and deep in debt, he began working in a contract job hawking credit cards on the streets.
The turnaround came when a friend told him about TCC, a credit co-operative that gives out loans to low-income borrowers whom commercial banks won't touch.
He became a member and told the staff his luckless story.
'They were friendly and understanding,' he recalls. 'The loan was approved within three days.'
As is its practice, the co-operative issued cheques to clear Mr Hussein's debts in full. In addition to the business debt, he also owed a car finance company $6,000.
Within a month, he found a permanent job as a sales manager in a foreign bank. He was promoted within a year and paid back TCC's loans within three years plus interest - two years ahead of schedule.
TCC, which started 80 years ago as a thrift and loan society for telecom workers, is now open to all Singaporeans and permanent residents. Its membership has grown from about 6,000 in 1997 to more than 36,000 now, making it one of the fastest-growing co-operatives here outside the NTUC stable.
'We are not allowed to advertise, so the growth is purely by word of mouth,' says TCC chairman R. Theyvendran.
The co-operative, he says, functions as a 'poor man's bank', extending small loans to mainly low-income Singaporeans.
More than eight in 10 of its members earn less than $2,500 a month. It now has assets of nearly $70 million, including reserves of more than $19 million.
Members can also park money with TCC, earning higher returns on their savings than those offered by commercial banks. But being a non-profit entity, the interest it charges on loans is lower.
Those with credit card debts, for instance, usually pay around 12 per cent interest - half of what most banks charge.
To ensure that members pay up, guarantors are required. Default rates stand at around 2 per cent to 3per cent. But rather than send a lawyer's letter immediately, the co-operative usually tries to get defaulters to redraw payment schedules. About half eventually pay up.
Out of a cramped office at its Killiney Road premises, TCC processes about 300 loan applications every month, says general manager Shoba Gunasekaran.
Mr Prehalath Cleetus, 39, and MrSudave Ramachandran, 40, recently borrowed $150,000 to expand their Singapore-based training business to India.
'We are Singaporean businessmen with a company based in Singapore, yet banks here were reluctant to loan us money simply because we wanted to expand overseas,' says MrPrehalath, whose clients here include companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Maybank and several ministries.
This is their second loan. They paid off the first one - taken in 2005 - within three years.
Other member benefits include grants for hospitalisation and funerals. Their children are also given scholarships and bursaries.
'They treat you like family,' says housewife Mahaboobi Kader, who took out a $3,000 education loan.'And so we keep coming back for the benefits.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times on 29 June 2008.
