The Securities Investors Association (Singapore) boasts 52,000 members and expects to almost double next year. "We're organizing workshops to make investors realize what they should be doing" to protect themselves, says Gerald, who quit his job as a criminal defense lawyer to run SIAS. The group has won shareholder battles against well-known Singapore companies, including soft-drink maker Fraser & Neave and United Overseas Bank.

Gerald's struggle against Mahathir, however, remains his highest-stakes victory. Some retirees had put their life savings in Malaysian stocks, and they faced ruin when the country declared offshore trading in its shares illegal. Mahathir's government said it would buy back the shares - but at a 50 percent discount. Gerald threatened to sue Kuala Lumpur and the stock exchange. Two weeks later stockholders got their money back, at a 1.5 percent discount.

As markets grow more transparent, investors can't rely on governments to vet investment products, says Gerald. All in all, though, battling for shareholder rights seems to be less stressful than fighting crime. "I used to fight murderers and rapists and gangs, and that really calls for steel nerves," he says.