SINGAPORE: A mother in Malaysia took the unusual step of announcing in a newspaper that she was disowning her son, to whom she had given more than S$28,700 to pay his debts.
Loansharks from whom her son had borrowed more money have been harassing her and her daughters.
The son of 62-year-old Madam Chia Hui Chiang, a retired teacher, used to work in the logistics industry in Singapore. His family has not heard from him since he ran away from home on May 21.
Mdm Chia announced that she was disowning her son at a May 24 press conference organized by Mr Henry Mok, the Johor MCA Youth public services and complaints bureau chief.
Johor Baru Selatan OCPD Asst Comm Raub Selamat said that he would investigate the matter, while Mr Mok reminded everyone not to use the services of loansharks since this would cause trouble for them and their loved ones later.
While the beleaguered mum has bailed her son out multiple times in the past, she and her two daughters have recently begun to be harassed by several loan sharks from whom her son has borrowed money.
This was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and Mdm Chia made the decision to cut ties with her son.
The Star quoted Mdm Chia saying, “He would beg me for help each time, and I always felt sorry for him. I even used up my retirement funds, and yet he is deep in his habits of gambling and drug abuse.
He packed his belongings and left home on May 21 and that was the last we heard from him.”
After her son, 36, left their home, the loan sharks began to harass his family members, saying they needed to pay the S$17,000 they claimed the son owed them, an amount that did not include interest.
In the announcement Mdm Chia placed in the newspaper, she said that the loan sharks should look for him to ask him to pay them back.
This was hardly the first time loansharks bothered Mdm Chia and her family. In the past, red paint and Molotov cocktails were thrown at her home and the home of her elder daughter, Mdm Chia’s daughter, 38-year-old Ms Saw Shi Ling, said.
“Cutting ties with my brother was not an easy decision for us to make, but we have had enough and are worried about our safety. After he ran away, loan sharks have been calling and sending us messages day and night.
Some of them also compiled photos of my family and relatives and posted them on social media claiming that we owed them money,” she said.
Ms Saw also said her brother worked in Singapore for four years but recently lost his job. This seemed to throw him into a tailspin, and in the last weeks he was home, he withdrew from the family.
“He stayed in his room all the time. When we confronted him, he told us he was in financial trouble. He also revealed that he borrowed money from at least 28 loansharks,” she added. /TISG
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