SINGAPORE: A man took to social media asking for advice on how to collect the S$60,000 his friend borrowed.

In an anonymous post to popular confessions page SGWhispers, the man wrote: “A close friend borrowed $60k from me back in June 2020 and he has been returning me in small payments like $500 every one two months”. He added that he was running out of patience because his friend recently even blocked him on WhatsApp messenger. “That’s the last straw and so I want to engage a professional to collect the debt back”, he wrote.

The man asked others if a legal debt collector would be a cheaper option as he added that getting a lawyer would cost him around S$15,000. “Getting a lawyer will cost me up to $15k as this would be considered a civil case so I want to check if going to a legal debit collector is cheaper? Any good recommendations or experiences which anyone can share with me would be deeply appreciated?” the man wrote.

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Netizens who commented on the post felt that the man’s friend was still paying and urged the man to have some patience. One said: “Well he’s still repaying you no matter how small the amount is. But I think your persistence have driven him up the wall. I understand you feel frustrated and want your money back quickly. But if he could return you quickly,why would he have borrowed in the first place? …Think bout it. Have some patience. I’m sure his intention is not to run away”.

Another netizen also added: “$500 every 1-2months continually is actually quite decent tbh. Understand that you want your money back asap but have you asked him how was his financial situation like? I wouldn’t push a friend who is already in financial hardship that hard, and drive him or her up the wall. No wonder he’s blocked you”.

Earlier this year, a foreign domestic helper who borrowed $3,000 from an external moneylender decided she did not want to pay the 10% administrative fee and hurled vulgarities at them.

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In an anonymous post to a Facebook group for foreign domestic workers, the woman’s employer wrote in, adding that the loan agency harassed her for the amount. The employer wrote: “Hi, we have just found out today that our helper took a loan of 3k from an external money lender and refused to pay the 10% admin fee. Not only that, my helper hurled vulgarities at loan agency and the person at the agency called me to chase for that amount”.

She added that she only found out her helper took a loan when the agency messaged her. “I’m in shock and upset that my helper never mentioned to me about such loan”, the woman wrote, saying that there was a possibility her maid might have also borrowed money from more than one source.

Maid borrows $3K from unlicensed moneylender and scolds them vulgarities; employer pestered by agency to pay back amount