Why are licenced Ah Longs protected?

I have been told of a case in Johor where a man died after he was allegedly forced to drink weed killer by an Ah Long’s debt collectors.

COMMENT

By Chua Jui Meng

Malaysia is not a Third World country but our crooks and the lack of action of government enforcement agencies is surely turning it into one.

You read many cases of the criminal and evil deeds of illegal moneylenders or loan sharks, popularly known to Malaysians as Ah Longs.

Now you also read about licenced moneylenders behaving the same – resorting to cheating, violence and dismembering of limbs to recover their loans.

Yes. Those who turn to Ah Longs for loans are unthinking desperados in need of fast cash but that is another story. The failure of such desperados to settle their dues is also another matter in such illegal deals.

But, such inhumane blood-suckers must not remain unpunished after committing such violence and cruelty. Their growing criminality cannot be condoned any further by Malaysians.

I personally have yet to come across a newspaper report of an Ah Long being charged and convicted.

Are the police and other enforcement agencies protecting the Ah Longs? We need a clear answer from the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

Ah Longs have pasted and distributed tens of thousands of notices nationwide to make public their contact numbers to solicit borrowers who actually become victims.

Are our authorities blind?

The police and other enforcement agencies don’t know who they are? Who are the officers protecting them?

Why are the Home Ministry and its minister Hishammuddin Hussein maintaining such an elegance silence?

Who are under the protection of the Home Ministry and Hishammuddin? Doesn’t Hishammuddin know families are being tormented, living in misery and fear?

There have also been cases of Ah Long-related deaths.

I have been told of a case in Johor where a man died after he was allegedly forced to drink weed killer by an Ah Long’s debt collectors.

Who are the murderers? Have they been arrested and charged? Who are the police protecting?

Now that licenced moneylenders are also behaving like thugs, I do hope former MCA president Ong Ka Ting can sleep well with this type of violence being perpetrated. After all, it was Ong the housing and local government minister who licenced the cruel crooks.

Chua Jui Meng is PKR vice-president and Johor PKR chief. He is also a former MCA vice-president and an ex-Cabinet member