KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese New Year is typically a joyous occasion with the giving out of ang pows and good cheer, but four families have instead had their homes defaced by red paint.
MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Seri Michael Chong today said Ah Longs either spread or threw red paint at these houses because their occupants’ family members owed money.
“The family members are innocent but the Ah Longs continue to target them,” Chong said today. “They have come here today to disown their family members.”
“Lee, a widow, has disowned her youngest son who has disappeared, while Soon doesn’t want to have anything to do with his younger brother. Chan, 62, and Yew, a teacher, have divorced their husbands. Both the women have not been back to their homes because they are afraid.”
Chong said for the month of January he has dealt with 47 cases, 40 from the Chinese community, five Indian and two Malay.
In giving a further breakdown he said of the 40 cases involving the Chinese community, 31 were males and nine females, with the majority of them being involved in illegal gambling while those from the Indian and Malay community took money for business purposes.
Chong said this was the second time Lee was involved in a press conference highlighting the ways Ah Longs continue to harass family members. She had already helped her younger son settle more than RM450,000 of loans that he had taken from Ah Longs.
He said in the case of Soon, the family had helped his jobless brother settle Ah Long loans amounting to more than RM700,000 over the past 10 years.
“The brother has disappeared but they claim that the brother had told them the house he lives in belongs to him therefore it too would be targeted.
“The Ah Longs told the family that they would not have a peaceful New Year as they would cause trouble if the loan is not repaid,“ he said.
He said Yew had helped her former husband, who is addicted to gambling, pay off loans of RM100,000. Ah Longs had gained entrance to her condominium and painted the words cheater at her front door making her fearful to go back home for the last five months.
Chong said the Ah Longs had also taken to Facebook to defame her by calling her a conman.
He added that her husband had used a copy of her identity card that was used in the Sales and Purchase agreement of the condominium to borrow money.
In the case of Chan, she decided she had enough of her husband’s addiction to borrowing money from Ah Longs and decided to divorce him.
He said she had paid of her former husband’s loans of about RM900,000 since 2014, but he continues to borrow money and Ah Longs keep harassing her to pay off the loans.
Three times this month Ah Longs have thrown red paint at her house and she is afraid to go home, adding that paint companies may soon run out of red paint due to the amount being used by the Ah Longs.
