10 Facts About the Pokka vs Alain Ong Saga with Statement from Vivian Lai

Two years ago, Goody Feed didn’t force people to download their stupid app to read their full boring articles, people were still wondering if Chan Chun Sing or Heng Swee Keat would be our next Prime Minister and Pokka was well-known to be a drink that youngsters had in kopitiam.

Fast forward to today and everything has changed: Goody Feed hasn’t gone bankrupt yet, we know who’s most likely going to be our next PM and Pokka is now well-known as the brand that has controversies.

Because no one’s interested in Goody Feed and we’re too afraid to write about our next Prime Minister, we’ve decided to touch on a topic that everyone in the coffeeshop’s talking about:

The Pokka vs Alain Ong saga.

And we’re going to simplify it for you because there are just too many articles about it.

So, first of all…

What is Pokka, Asian Story Corporation and Kimly?

Before anything, you need to know these three brands.

Pokka is, well, Pokka. However, what you might not know is that it’s a brand under Sapporo Breweries Ltd., a Japanese beer brewing company.

Yes, we’re talking about that Sapporo beer.

The company was founded back in 1876 and is currently headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Pokka is a brand that does mainly coffee and tea. It also does the distribution for other brands. For example, Redbull, which isn’t part of the Pokka brand, is being distributed by Pokka.

Next, Asian Story Corporation.

Usually shortened to ASC, you might have seen them in the past. The company, incorporated in 2009, manufactured drinks and was owned solely by a certain Wang Chia Ye.

Back then, there was already something fishy between the relationship of ASC and Pokka: for a start, back then when their website was still working, the company’s contact details are to Pokka’s phone number and email. There were some weird dots that seem hard to connect: why would Pokka help ASC and have such close relationship with them since technically, ASC is their competitor?

Information about ASC Is very limited now, but read on and you’ll understand why.

And finally Kimly. Lest you find that familiar, it’s because you’d have been to one of their coffeeshops before.

In this case, Kimly’s role isn’t to sell Pokka or ASC drinks in their coffeeshop, but instead, back in July last year, they offered to buy ASC at a staggering amount of SGD$16 million…in cash.

However, they soon cancelled the deal after Pokka wanted to terminate its manufacturing agreement with ASC.

Needless to say, without support from Pokka, ASC would be nothing.

Now, let’s move on to the star of the saga.

Who is Alain Ong?

Alain Ong is Vivian Lai’s husband. Okay next.

Who is—

I kid you. I know you’re dying to know more about the 44-year-old Alain Ong.

Alain Ong is the former CEO of Pokka. The man is thrust into the media spotlight last year when he was suddenly suspended during an internal audit by Pokka.

As a CEO, he was not only in charge of the Singapore operations but also its international market. The man also dared to challenge the norms and managed to convince the management to set up its vending machine division.

But here’s the thing: he’s also allegedly responsible for the acquisition of ASC. Reread the previous point and you’d know why his face is now splashed in every newspaper.

Who is Vivian Lai?

The 42-year-old actress, who hailed from Taiwan, won Star Search Singapore 1999 and has since been a regular on local TV.

Prior to the ASC saga, she’s also a regular everywhere, holding a Pokka green tea with a killer smile.

Allegations about her pay of almost SGD$1 million in 2012 shocked Singaporeans as that’s considerably high compared to other celebrities, though MediaCorp claimed that the amount is “speculative” and said it “does not comment on speculation”.

But suddenly, the ambassadorship came to an end in October last year. On the surface, it looks like the deal ended on a good note as Rieko Shofu, acting CEO of POKKA International, said, “Pokka would like to thank Vivian Lai for her contribution to the company.”

Netizens were also drawn to home tour that Vivian gave to the media, which cost a whopping $8 million. There is even a sound-proof KTV room!

After all the hoo-ha back then, she merely gave a short statement, saying, “I thank POKKA for the opportunity to endorse the brand and wish the company every success,” without elaborating on the saga about her husband.

Internal Audit That Started Everything

So, what caused Alain’s sudden suspension and Vivian’s disappearance from buses?

In last September last year, Alain was suddenly suspended from Pokka after an internal audit. He, according to Pokka, was one of the several upper management changes.

And like a TVB drama, it was alleged that Alain was moving to Kimly.

See the connection now? No? Then let me repeat everything for you again: CEO worked in Pokka, CEO involved in the acquisition of ASC to Kimly that cost Kimly $16m, CEO moves to Kimly.

Geddit now?

And to make things more TVB-er, Alain also held Kimly shares.

It’s unknown whether Alain is really working in Kimly or not, but soon after, Kimly struck back.

Two Kimly Executives Arrested in Late 2018

Kimly is a listed company, so whatever they do, they’d have to answer to the public.

And so, they announced in late 2018 that two of their top executives, executive chairman Lim Hee Liat and executive director Chia Cher Khiang, had been arrested by the Commercial Affairs Department for “having been concerned (with), or reasonably suspected of being involved in, an offence under Section 199 of the Securities and Futures Act”.

ASC was also required to produce documents about its then-supposed acquisition.

I bet you have a burning question: is that a crime? Even if they anyhowly make the decision to buy a company?

Well, yes, if they give false or misleading statements to the management that led to a purchase. It’s just like that shady auntie in the wet market selling you a magic stone that can cure cancer for $10,000—isn’t that a crime, too?

Pokka’s Alleged Export of Products to North Korea

Lest you’re not aware, the Government would be happy that you sell stuff overseas. Sell more, they’d say, because we’ll have money flowing into our tiny island.

But not to one country: North Korea.

To put it in simple terms, many countries, including Singapore, are not allowed to export anything to North Korea. Just think of it as a “punishment” to the hermit country; if they decided to be good, then that might change.

Earlier this month, there were allegations that Pokka was seeking for resellers to sell their products in North Korea, and had even pressured a distributor into hiding its dealings in North Korea in August last year.

Pokka denied all allegations but the Singapore authorities are still investigating the case.

What has this got to do with the saga?

Latest News: Pokka Wants to Sue Alain Ong

If you’ve not fallen asleep from the wall of text, you’d have noticed that Pokka (and Kimly) might be the innocent party here, having to deal with a company (ASC) that provided no value whatsoever to its bottom line.

There’s more: the whole ASC thingy wasn’t just a waste of time. It was a waste of money.

And with that, Pokka is suing Alain for SGD$10 million, calling the entire saga a “conspiracy”. His involvement with ASC wasn’t fully disclosed and back then, Alain was already a non-executive and non-independent director of Kimly, which would mean a high conflict of interest.

Pokka claims that Alain had created a system to inflate ASC’s value before it got the acquisition offer from Kimly, and the entire idea was to use the Pokka brand to promote ASC.

Alain’s TVB-Style Defence

Initially, it was reported that Alain had made those decisions to help Pokka venture out of its core beverages, and the decision to work on ASC was to beat their competitor. In fact, he claimed that move was approved by the board and management.

However, Wanbao managed to retrieve Alain’s statement from court documents and I’m now convinced that they’re all just rehearsing for a new TVB drama set in Singapore.

In the statement, Alain alleged that the higher management in Pokka had bribed the Malaysian authorities in JB to obtain a business permit, and Alain had objected to the bribery.

Next, when Pokka wanted to sell their products to North Korea through a middleman, Alain objected, too.

He then accused that due to the two incidents, the management of Pokka went all out to shame him with the lawsuit, which affected his future job prospects.

True or not, you might have to wait for the next episode.

Vivian Lai Finally Broke Her Silence

According to the same Wanbao story, the couple was spotted in their $8 million house but refused to talk to the media.

Yesterday, Vivian broke her silence and, erm, explained her silence.

She said, “This is quite a big hurdle in my life. I feel anyone facing this kind of thing would feel extremely pressured, especially as I am a public figure. The pressure I feel is very great.”

“Maybe some people may not agree with this. But, to me, I really am under a lot of pressure.”

“This news happened more than a year ago. Back then, I did not speak about it because (I wanted) it to be handled through the proper channels. So it was not convenient for me to say too much.”

And the reason for her talking now?

“Now, a year later, reporters have appeared outside my home, wanting to chase the story. It has affected the life of my family.”

“I am not just by myself. I have my family… To (my kids), home should be a warm place where they should feel free… to them, they will feel scared coming home.”

“Now might be a difficult time for us. But no matter what, we will get through it… many things will slowly start to surface.”

Oh, maybe she was just speaking to the Wanbao reporters.

Where is Asian Story Corporation Now?

The entire existence of Asian Story Corporation seemed to have vanished completely, just like Anything and Whatever.

I, for one, can’t find their drinks in supermarkets and vending machines. Their social media accounts are gone, and their website leads to a login page for email instead.

And to think that a year ago, Kimly nearly spent SGD$16 million on this company.

Moral of the story?

This TVB drama has just begun.