Son’s RM1,200 debt gets dad and family in trouble
KUCHING: Loan sharks will lend money to just about anyone but are brutal with their collection terms.
This is exactly what an elderly man and his family found out a tad too late.
The family members are living in fear as they are constantly harassed by the illegal moneylenders. The nightmare started more than two months ago when the man’s son, who borrowed RM1,200 from loan sharks, was asked to pay RM4,000.
The man, surnamed Lai, said his son passed his cellphone number to the loan sharks, and that’s when the ordeal started.
His son was asked to pay RM2,000 for the loan but defaulted in his payment.
Lai said he sold off his old car for RM3,000 and gave RM1,000 to the loan sharks.
A few days later, the loan sharks asked for money again.
Lai then paid RM300 and subsequently, RM200. He said the loan sharks called him often and he told them not to disturb him as he was not a banker or a businessman.
“But there was no stopping them. After paying off RM1,500, the loan sharks told me that I still owe them RM4,000. That was when I told myself, enough is enough,” he said.
He then lodged police reports but still the harassment continued. His house would be splashed with red paint and his gates locked with chains.
Lai said every time he repainted the house, the loan sharks would come to his house to deface it. This happened six to seven times.
Lai also said he had requested the loan sharks to meet him face to face to talk about the loan but they refused to meet him.
He said when they came to deface the house, his family were in but were too frightened to do anything.
Every time there would be three to four people. One would come to spray while the others waited in the car.
Lai was forced to seek help from the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Public Complaints Bureau chief Wilfred Yap.
Yap gave a stern warning to the public not to borrow money from loan sharks. He said prevention is better than cure.
“Loan sharks are illegal moneylenders who usually target the desperate and the poor. ‘Ah long’ (illegal moneylenders) are experts in tempting the desperate and poor into a sense of security by being friendly and helpful at first, offering monetary assistance when the financially desperate cannot get help from banks due to poor credit or lack of collateral,” Yap said.
He said the money borrowed from ‘ah long’ came at a very high price.
“Borrowers may think that it won’t be so bad if only a small sum is borrowed and that they should be able to make repayments, but it does not work that way due to the exorbitant and ridiculously high interest rates and numerous hidden costs.”
Yap added that the borrower would then say he cannot pay, these ‘ah long’ would pressure the borrower into taking another loan from another loan shark to repay the first loan.
“However, don’t be fooled as that is exactly how the ‘ah long’ lure the borrower into getting entangled in a larger debt, with even higher interest.
“When the borrower is unable to pay his debt, it is not uncommon for them to resort to threats and harassment. What is worse, the ‘ah long’ won’t think twice about involving the borrower’s family members to force the borrower or their family members to make payments,” Yap added.
He advised those who have debt servicing problems with financial institutions to go to Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK) for assistance as it is free of charge, legal and staffed with experienced officers.
AKPK was set up under Bank Negara to help people in debt or facing financial problems. The office of AKPK in Kuching is situated in Bangunan Bank Negara Malaysia, Jalan Satok, and the telephone number is 082-414910.
