Malaysian loansharks hire women
'When there's a shortage of supply, people will look at other avenues,' Nazir Razak, chief executive officer of Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd., Malaysia's second-biggest bank, told Bloomberg. -- PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
MALAYSIAN loan sharks have a new weapon in their growing struggle to get borrowers to repay debts: beautiful women.
'They go to your office or house and sit there' to shame you into paying, said Michael Chong, 60, who has worked for two decades as a mediator between the illegal lenders and their debtors. 'If it's your house, they will wait outside and make lots of noise, and you cannot wallop the girl.'
That's in addition to the traditional incentives such as putting debtors in a cage, splashing their houses in red paint or breaking their limbs, said Mr Chong, head of the Public Services and Complaints Department of the Malaysian Chinese Association, the second-biggest political party in the ruling coalition.
The shortage of bank credit is pushing more people to loan sharks and causing a growing number to default, said Chong, who negotiated a record RM56.6 million (S$23 million) of debts last year and expects this year's total to be higher. That's forcing the lenders to look for new ways to recover the debts, he said.
Bloomberg news reported that Malaysia's job losses jumped 67 per cent in the final quarter of last year to 24,033 as the global recession pushed bankruptcies to a three-year high. The government this month announced a RM60 billion stimulus plan, predicting that the economy may contract this year for the first time in a decade.
Loan approvals by banks slid for a fifth month in January.
'When there's a shortage of supply, people will look at other avenues,' Nazir Razak, chief executive officer of Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd., Malaysia's second-biggest bank, told Bloomberg.
Mr Chong said gamblers traditionally made up about 80 per cent of clients for loan sharks, known in Malaysia as Ah Long, from the Cantonese phrase 'daai ji lung,' meaning 'big earhole.' Now, the economic slump is driving more businesses, such as building subcontractors, to seek illegal loans, said Chong, whose arm was dislocated in 1990 by a loan shark that resented his interference.
More than 10,000 civil servants are 'trapped' by the loan sharks, state news agency Bernama reported last month, citing Ahmad Shah Mohd Zin, the secretary-general of the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services, a national trade union.
Mr Chong has built a career dealing with public complaints over trafficking, missing persons, land scams and loan-sharking. In 1987, the party created a department for him with five assistants to ease a backlog. He has dealt with 30,000 cases since then, he said.
In 2004, he had a 20-episode television series called 'Michael Chong's File' to warn the public of crimes.
Source : http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_355331.html
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