A HUGE poster of Superman, soaring proud, fist striking through the stratosphere, adorns his bedroom wall.

It is a taunting reminder of what John, once an aircraft engineer, can never be.

The 31-year-old can't walk. He can't work. He needs a maid to help him perform even the simplest tasks.

A motorcyle accident robbed him of his bodily functions three years ago, leaving him paralysed from the chest down.

Now, the banking crisis threatens his savings and his $200,000 insurance payout from the accident.

John, who asked that we not use his real name, said the insurance money and his savings were meant to see him through the next few decades of his life.

Now, he fears for his future if the money is lost in the current financial turmoil.

He had sunk $50,000 in the Lehman Brothers Minibonds - and is worried he won't get any of it back.

He had also put almost all of what he received from the insurance payout in two other financial products - the Jubilee Series Note 3 and Jubilee Series Note 8.

He is worried he may lose that, too.

He called the bank where he bought his Jubilee Series Note 8. Their reply made him even more depressed.

He has been told that if he pulls the plug on this investment now, he is unlikely to get back his full principal sum.

John, who shares a four-room Yishun flat with his elderly parents, his young nephew and niece, and a maid, told The New Paper yesterday: 'A friend who works as an agent in an independent financial advisory had introduced the Lehman Minibonds product to me.

'She said it was low risk.'

The e-mail which she sent to him in February 2007 said: 'As it is low risk, you may consider for yourself as part of your low risk diversification and maybe for your retired friends or relatives.'

He said she did not give him the worst-case scenario - that he could lose all his money. She assured him that the six banks - which were the reference entities - were unlikely to collapse.

But in another e-mail in April 2007, when she was selling John the Jubilee Series Note 3, she explained that if a 'credit event' of the five reference entities (including OCBC Bank, UOB, Lehman Brothers and Morgan Stanley) happened, then payment of coupons and principal are stopped immediately.

She also put in the various Moody's 'A' credit ratings for those banks.

Did he fully understand what he was getting into? Did he know what a credit swap is?

The engineering diploma-holder replied: 'I don't know what that is and how it works. Even now.

'I thought the products were very safe and I would get my principal back with interest after five years.'

But all that changed last month when Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy.

He called his financial advisor friend and she told him not to worry. But a day later, she sent him an e-mail to say his Minibonds investment was 'affected'.

A few days later she came back with more bad news: His $50,000 Jubilee Series 3 investment would also be affected.

Late last week, she told him to be prepared to lose all his money and that she was sorry, but she could not do anything about it.

John said: 'I really didn't expect that I would get zero out of my investments.'

The agent could not be reached for comment by The New Paper.

When contacted, the chief executive of the financial advisory company where John's friend works said: 'As we have commenced our investigation with the complainant, we are not in the position to disclose details of the complaint or information surrounding the complaint.

'However, we will treat every complaint we receive seriously and will do what we can to co-operate with the respective financial adviser concerned and help with the client as best as we can.'

John said: 'I'm really sad and lost.'

He needs the help of his maid to go out. 'It's very troublesome,' he said.

His eighth-floor flat does not have direct lift access. With his maid's help, he hooks up his wheelchair to a device which takes him up and down the stairs.

Apart from going to church on Sundays and going for his swim therapy once a week, he is home-bound.

Next to his adjustable hospital-style bed is a swing table which carries his computer. His touchscreen phone rests on his lap.

With awkward movements of his thumb and his arms, he is able to e-mail, check his mailbox, and make calls.

It was via e-mail that the financial advisor and the bank relationship manager sent him information about the financial products.

He bought the Jubilee Series Note 8 from a foreign bank about four months ago.

He invested $200,000 in this.

How long did he take to decide whether to invest in that product?

'I made the decision quite fast. About one hour,' he said.

'It's because I was told that my principal would be protected.'

He said the money was initially in a fixed deposit account.

But he was persuaded into withdrawing it even before maturity, to invest in the Jubilee Series Note 8.

Now, he just wants his $200,000 back.

But he claims that the bank's relationship manager has not given him any guarantees.

Lost trust in banks

John said: 'I wanted to take my money out but was told that if I withdrew it at this point, I wouldn't get the full amount.

'I hope I'll be able to get all my money back from the bank.

'I've lost my trust in the banks. I won't put my money in investment products any more because you never know where the loopholes are.'

When contacted, the foreign bank spokesman said about the Jubilee Series Note 8: 'As long as he keeps the product till maturity - which is 21/2 years from the time he bought it - the minimum he would get back is his entire principal amount which, for him, is $200,000.

'This product is a low risk product that's meant for customers with a lower risk profile like him.

'The branch director has explained it to him and will get in touch with him again.'

On the money he has lost in Lehman Minibonds, John said: 'Everyone is responsible. I know I'm the decision-maker and may not get the full amount back.

'But what I dislike about that is that I wasn't given the full scenario about the product. Only the good things were conveyed to me.

'I was led to believe that it was a very safe and low-risk product and that was why I had invested in it.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on October 25, 2008.