Singaporean Man Brutally Attacked An Uber Driver Who Cancelled The Trip

We have all done something we regret when we are drunk but this Singaporean man has taken drunken stupidity to the next level.

The accused

He was caught on camera throwing repeated punches at an Uber driver who did not want to pick him up and cancelled the trip. According to StompSg, the incident took place at Block 31 Toa Payoh, Singapore on Apr 28, at 10.50pm.

Apparently, the passenger was drunk and he became aggressive and scolded vulgarities to the Uber driver.

To protect his own safety, the driver decided to cancel the trip, but the man refused to go out of the car and even prevented the car from moving. The moment when the driver  tried to remove the man’s hand, he suddenly kicked and brutally punched the Uber driver.

The victim; Uber driver

In the video below, the driver can be seen telling the passenger that he was being very “rude” and “I don’t want to take you” because “you jeopardise my life”.

The man then exited the vehicle, but refused to leave despite multiple requests from the driver to “please go”. Suddenly, he threw a punch at the driver and started attacking him.

A little girl, who was at the scene as seen in the clips and presumably the passenger’s daughter, can be heard calling, “Daddy” repeatedly.

In response to media queries, a police spokesperson told StompSg that they were alerted to a case of voluntarily causing hurt at about 12.55am.

Both parties were advised on their legal recourse. In response to StompSg’s query on the issue, Uber has also issued a formal response:

“This behaviour is unacceptable as per Uber community guidelines.

“We’re engaging with the driver partner involved and have taken appropriate action.

Here’s the shocking video showing the violent altercation:

Singaporean Girl Shocked After Finding Out That Her Mother Actually Bought Fake Salted Eggs!!

ou have probably heard of fake rice, fake meat and even fake eggs. Since last year, there were reports of “fake eggs” from China being sold at the market. The reports claimed that the eggs seemed lumpy and unlike the normal eggs we usually have.

Guess what? Looks like now there is one more thing to worry about, it is FAKE  SALTED EGGS! That’s right. 


According to The World Of Buzz, recently a Facebook user, Valerie Ng from Singapore posted a video and photos of her mother’s encounter with fake salted eggs which quickly spread like wildfire online. Valerie writes,

“I thought only fake eggs were available, I didn’t know that salted eggs could be fake too. My mother bought six eggs and all six of them are the same.”




In the video, Valerie’s mother is seen peeling the shells off the boiled salted eggs and examining them. At first, it is not apparent that the eggs are fake as the egg whites look perfectly normal.

But when the egg is broken apart and the yolk is exposed, you can see that it isn’t like a normal egg yolk.



When Valerie’s mother presses down the egg yolk, it still doesn’t break! And when it can finally be broken, it is chunky instead of falling apart easily.  The horrifying part is when the egg yolk is thrown on the counter and it actually bounces!

In the video, both Valerie and her mum is seen tasting the eggs and they describe the texture by saying, “It tastes quite jelly like and chewy.”.  Ewww! 



A netizen commented on Valerie’s post saying that, “I’ve seen this happen before when a salted egg is frozen for more than a week. The yolk gets bouncy once you’ve cooked it.”

However, Valerie replied and said, “I didn’t freeze the salted eggs at all. It was freshly bought and cooked on the same day.”

Here’s the video:

A SHORT HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN MALAYSIA

1.1. Introduction

Although Christianity in Malaysia is often thought of as the religion of peoples whose ancestors were migrants of greater or lesser antiquity, whether Portuguese, Dutch or British, or Chinese or Indian; in East Malaysia especially it is also the faith of large numbers of tribespeople. As Malaysia further develops, the question of relating Christianity to national culture becomes an important issue. Christianity has helped preserve the cultural identity of some migrant groups; now as a faith represented among most races, it can also be a force for national unity.

In the story of the coming of Christianity and its development, a matter of interest is the intentions of the governments under whose protection the missionaries came. The Portuguese were interested in trade and in conversions further afield and did not make the efforts here they did elsewhere. While some individuals had the desire to spread their faith more widely, the actions of the Dutch and the British did not extend past providing for the religious needs of their own people. The Dutch were interested in trade and in eliminating the Portuguese. For the British it was in their interests to act in some ways as protectors of Islam.

Positively this meant that Christianity was not the religious arm of imperialism. Although there were undoubtedly benefits and some connections, those with a missionary commitment were more often aware of government restrictions on the scope of their activity. Many of the early Protestant missionaries who came under the cover of the British presence really wanted to be in China and when that was possible, especially after 1842, they moved there. In the mid-nineteenth century this greatly weakened Christian influence, but when in the 1950s missionaries who were forced to leave China came to help in the New Villages created during the Malayan emergency, their presence contributed significantly to the development of the Church.

Although sporadic efforts were made in Singapore and Penang to bring Malays into the faith, success was usually temporary. However Christian schools contributed to cordial relations with a number of Malay rulers, and provided some compensation for other aspects of imperialism. Now that virtually all Malaysians are educated in the national language, the earlier efforts of a handful of missionaries to study the national religion and language seriously are beginning to be better appreciated. It is at this point that issues of commitment to the country, contextualisation in a multi-cultural situation, and the realization of the potential Christian contribution to national unity come into focus.

1.2. Before the Portuguese.

Earliest Christian contacts go back possibly as far as the 7th century when Nestorian Christians from Persia were found in China, India, Ceylon and across the straits of Melaka in North Sumatra. There is unconfirmed literary evidence that there were numbers of Christians among a trading community on the Malay Peninsular either in Kedah or Southern Thailand at this time. Later in the middle ages Catholic diplomats, travellers and priests travelled through the Straits en route to and from China. Among the traders resident in Melaka during the Melaka Sultanate of the 15th century there were Nestorians and also Armenian Christians from what is today Eastern Turkey. The guns of the Portuguese may have been unfortunate in terms of what Christianity was all about, but theirs was not the first or the only arrival of the Christian faith in this region.

1.3. Roman Catholicism in Melaka, 1511 to 1641.

On 24 July 1511 Alfonso d'Albuquerque conquered Melaka. His fleet was accompanied by Franciscan and Dominican Friars most of whom moved on to the Moluccas a short time later. Although the coming of the Portuguese involved a mixture of economic and religious motives and was in both respects a race with Islam, the economic interest dominated. Since Muslim traders now took their business elsewhere, the Catholic invasion had the unintentional effect of aiding the spread of Islam.

As far as the Malay Peninsular was concerned, the Portuguese religious mission was limited to ministering to the Catholic community established within Melaka itself. Chinese and Indians converted in small numbers and Malays by intermarriage. No essential distinction was made between becoming a Christian and becoming Portuguese.

The security of the settlement was always precarious with raids from Johore and Acheh and after 1600 from the Dutch. There were few bright spots. The visits of Francis Xavier from 1545 to 1552, the baptism of Japanese converts, and the first mass of a young priest conducted in full European splendour. More generally life was marked by warfare and sickness. While the reputation of being the greatest sink of iniquity in the East may not have been undeserved at times, we should perhaps be more impressed by how much people's faith helped them survive the suffering of the long and difficult years which did not end with Melaka's fall to the Dutch in 1641.

In terms of Christian impact on the Malay Peninsular the Portuguese had neither the vision nor the moral and spiritual energy to contemplate evangelism. Inevitably, Christianity was perceived as the religion of invading foreigners whose presence was unwelcome.

1.4. Catholicism under the Dutch : 1641 to 1786.

The taking of Melaka by the Dutch marked the end of Portuguese political influence and the beginning of new difficulties for what was left of the Catholic community in the defeated town. For sixty years the Dutch outlawed Catholic worship. Despite this Catholicism survived, sustained by secret visits of priests who conducted services upriver and by strong lay leadership from the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary.

Although in the 18th century Melaka became a sleepy hollow, and in its poverty not much of a threat to anyone, its faith, as well as the colourful ceremonies of its Portuguese community, became permanent features of religion in Malaya.

Underlining the primacy of the economic interests of the Dutch (they focused on Batavia in Java not on Melaka), and setting a significant precedent for the future, was the fact that when the Dutch had sought the aid of Johore for the conquest of 1639-41 it was laid down that neither party would interfere in the religion of the other.

1.5. The Straits Settlements : 1786 to 1842.

In 1786 Francis Light managed to obtain Penang from the Sultan of Kedah on the understanding that the British would aid him against Siam as required - an undertaking which they failed to honour. Although Penang never developed quite as Light had hoped, it became a significant component of British presence and therefore of missionary activity in the region.

Soon after his arrival Light encouraged the settlement of French Catholic priests who had been at Kuala Kedah after being expelled from Siam. Parish work was developed on the island and in due course the College General was transferred from Thailand. From 1809 to 1983 this was the major centre of training for Catholic seminarians in the region and provided an important base for the training of local leadership. However the increased activity of French Catholics resulted in a crisis of jurisdiction which was not resolved until 1888. Portugal claimed the exclusive right of patronage for the church long past the time when it was capable of exercising it in a meaningful way.

By 1805 Penang had attracted the notice of the London Missionary Society (LMS) as a possible base in the East `beyond the Ganges.' However the `Ultra Ganges Mission' was in fact first established in Melaka in 1815 by William Milne who was sent to assist Robert Morrison, the pioneer Protestant missionary to China. Melaka had passed into British control in 1795 when Napoleon took over Holland and appeared promising to the LMS primarily because of its Chinese population.

Milne and Morrison had felt called to China, and their Anglo-Chinese College in Melaka was intended as a training base and school while it remained impossible to gain access to China itself. Nevertheless Malay work was also pursued seriously. Milne himself developed a good relationship with Munshi Abdullah and came to appreciate Malay sensitivities to aspects of Christian theology, although this was not always true of his colleagues.

From the early 1820s the LMS also had missionaries in Singapore as well as in Penang, but they found it difficult to establish their work satisfactorily. Their printing presses were perhaps more successful than their schools or their evangelism and it was constantly disheartening that often colleagues died after very brief service and before their language proficiency could be established. The loss of Milne in 1822 was a serious blow. Other societies came to Singapore for short periods, particularly the Americans, but all the missionaries except Benjamin Keaseberry left as soon as the Opium Wars with China and the subsequent `unequal treaties' gave them access to China in the 1840s.

By 1842 Protestant missionary results were minimal although some progress had been made in providing for ministry among the increasing number of Europeans in the Straits Settlements. For members of the Church of England, St George's Penang had been built in 1818 and St Andrews in Singapore in 1838. Presbyterians and Catholics were not far behind. With the exception of the Catholics, these churches had only a limited missionary commitment to non-Europeans, but their presence laid a foundation for churches which would eventually be more Malaysian.

1.6. The Straits Settlements and Sarawak : 1842 to 1874.

After 1842 the development of chaplaincy churches for the expatriate population continued at an unspectacular rate. Beyond the Straits Settlements the Peninsular suffered from unrest and general instability. Chinese migrants were developing the tin resources of Perak and the time was approaching when pressure from Singapore business interests would succeed in obtaining greater British involvement.

Meantime churches and schools carried on together with limited missionary activity. In theory more should have been done. Support for East India Company chaplains in Malaya by the Anglican Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG), required that they undertake missionary work, but until 1865 their appointments were short term, their base was India, and the demands of the European population were more than enough to keep them occupied. In was in the 1860s that the first significant local outreach from the Singapore Anglican and Presbyterian churches began.

In Sarawak the situation was very different. In 1841 the Sultan of Brunei granted James Brooke (1803-1868) the governorship of part of what is now the First Division of Sarawak in return for his help in putting down a rebellion. Thus began the unlikely dynasty of `white rajahs' whose `mild despotism' ruled Sarawak for just over a century.

Brooke was not especially religious but wanted a missionary presence to provide education and to aid the suppression of head hunting by Dyaks. In 1847 the Borneo Church Mission was founded and its first missionary Francis Thomas (later Bishop) McDougall (1817-1886), proved ideally suited to the task. From the beginning the Anglicans came in a missionary role and for some time had the field to themselves. Initial openness among Malays soon changed - the mission found itself stimulating an Islamic revival by its very presence - but progress among tribespeople and in due course among Chinese was soon significant.

In 1855 McDougall was consecrated bishop, but his successor in 1869, Walter Chambers, was also responsible for the Straits Settlements and had less time to spend in Borneo as a result.

1.7. From the Treaty of Pangkor to the Japanese invasion : 1874 - 1941.

The Treaty of Pangkor on 20 January 1874 marked a new stage of British involvement in the region. It led fairly quickly to the appointment of British advisers in Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang followed by the creation of the Federated Malay States in 1896 with a Resident-General in Kuala Lumpur. `Religion and custom' were specifically excluded from the British sphere of advice. With these matters being very much the prerogative of Sultans who had lost other powers in return for their security, the treaty effectively placed Malays outside the scope of Christian missionary activity.

Nevertheless during this period the Christian Churches expanded steadily and successfully, building churches and schools throughout the country, particularly in the Straits Settlements, in Perak and in Selangor. There was also some medical work. Although expatriate chaplaincy often lead the way for Anglicans and Presbyterians, for Roman Catholics, Methodists and others, it was the churches amongst the Chinese and Indians which had greatest strength.

The effects of the increasing British presence on these developments were indirect but far-reaching. Migrant Indians brought in to man estates included significant numbers of Christians - Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, and Mar Thoma. Chinese came in large numbers and sometimes Christians migrated as communities - Basel Mission Hakka to Sabah, Methodist Foochow to Sibu and Sitiawan. They and others were motivated by troubles in China and attracted by the economic prospects and political stability of British Malaya. Those who accepted a commitment to remain rather than just save for their eventual return created a demand for English education which the Churches, especially Methodist and Catholic and to a lesser extent, Anglican, were now in a better position to provide.

The British themselves built churches with new Anglican congregations being started in Taiping and Kuala Lumpur in 1887 and Seremban in 1893. Alongside these developed Tamil and Chinese missions. The Open Brethren had been present in Singapore and Penang from the 1860s and from the 1880s developed a successful mission in Taiping. Methodism arrived with William Oldham in 1885 and made rapid advance helped by its resources of American manpower and finance and benefiting from its experience as a missionary church in India as well as from the increasing interest in English education. Its timing was impeccable. In people like Horley, Shellabear and Blasdell the Methodists had some outstanding missionary leadership. Presbyterians in Penang had co-operated with the SPG in a mission in Province Wellesley through the 1880s but apart from there and Singapore where J A B Cook gave leadership to the Chinese Presbyterian congregations at Bukit Timah and Prinsep Street, its energies were fully absorbed by the expatriate Scottish communities.

In Borneo the situation developed with the expansion of Sarawak territory under Brooke rule and the take over of what is now Sabah by the British North Borneo Company in 1881. This coincided with the arrival of the Mill Hill Fathers as Roman Catholic missionaries. The Anglican mission suffered from the bishop's being partially resident in Singapore until Borneo again obtained its own bishop in 1909. Able and dedicated priests such as W H Elton of Sandakan were insufficient on their own to cope with the demands and the opportunities confronting the mission. It was a perpetual disappointment that sufficient ordained manpower was consistently lacking and that steps to train and ordain local priests were painfully slow.

1.8. `Japanese Time': 1942-1945.

 The Japanese invasion in December 1941 was a shock for which the British were ill prepared. The fortunes of different churches varied. St Mary's Kuala Lumpur only missed services for one Sunday for the whole of the war. St George's Penang was looted, St Andrews Singapore was not. Some Chinese were harassed while many Chinese pastors were able to continue their ministry. On the whole Indians were less troubled but it was not an easy time for anybody. The Catholic Bishop of Melaka and those of his clergy not associated with the Allied powers were allowed relative freedom, though in some cases it was very relative indeed. Some made acquaintance with individual Japanese Christians when the army brought in administrators to consolidate their victory but cruelty and summary `justice' were never far away.

Of great significance was the removal of expatriate leadership so that the churches were entirely in Asian hands for the first time. Chinese Methodists took the opportunity to declare their independence from American Methodism. In Borneo local Anglican priests, an Indonesian Methodist pastor and some Austrian Mill Hill Fathers were able to continue until near the end of the war at which time there was great devastation of property.

Expatriate churchmen interned in Changi prison now saw very clearly that after the war they and their churches would have to change. They had been insular in their relations with one another and too aloof in their relations with Chinese and Indian Christians.

1.9. The return of British rule.

With the end of the war it seemed inevitable that independence would come sooner or later although there was debate over the nature of the political settlement, particularly with regard to citizenship provisions for non-Malays. The churches moved quickly to repair their buildings and re-establish their work. However it was not a matter of simply carrying on from where they had left off, although the services marking the restoration of St George's Penang might have made one wonder about British intentions.

Of more significance than celebrations of British return was the fact that the resolutions of Changi were not forgotten. In 1948 the Council of Churches of Malaya and Singapore came into being and the same year Trinity College was founded to train local ministers for the region. The return of peace brought to light many stories of bravery, resourcefulness, courage and suffering among Christians and the full story of these days still needs to be told.

1.10. Emergency, Merdeka and beyond.

In 1948 communist attacks resulted in a declaration of a state of emergency in Malaya which was to last until 1960. Part of the government response to the serious security situation was the creation of `New Villages' for rural Chinese squatters whose residence on the edges of the Malayan jungle made them a base for recruitment and support for the communists.

Over 400 New Villages came into being as a result. To help win the `hearts and minds' of those resettled into barbed wire villages the British went to considerable lengths to encourage churches and missionary societies to send missionaries and welfare workers to help humanize what were little more than concentration camps.

This call for assistance came at the same time as missionaries were being forced out of communist China. Although most church bodies refused to have anything to do with government sponsorship, Chinese-speaking workers were soon coming into the country independently. New denominations and missions were among the arrivals, including American Lutherans and Southern Baptists and the Church Missionary Society (CMS) and China Inland Mission (CIM, then in the process of changing its name to Overseas Missionary Fellowship, OMF). Altogether it was the largest influx of missionary personnel that Malaya was ever to experience.

The New Villages were a responsive mission field though the modest results were disappointing to some who felt that missionaries might have been more effective in urban situations. Nevertheless a good number of churches trace their origins to this period.

While for some it may have been the first time that they experienced missionaries who really lived among the people at their own level, it was notable that among existing Malaysian churches support for New Village work was not as strong as might have been hoped. The fact that almost entirely the villages were populated by just one ethnic community meant that both government and church were involved in perpetuating problems of communalism even if by so doing other issues were eventually solved.

At the same time as the Malayan Christian Council was involved in coordinating the New Village work it was also seeking to promote the cause of church union. In this it was far less successful. Problems of language tended to restrict those seriously involved to expatriate church leaders who were also more familiar with the historic differences between denominations in their home countries, particularly over episcopacy.

Local Christian leaders felt themselves on the margin of these ecumenical discussions. It seemed that they were being asked to agree to a foreign solution to a foreign problem and neither the problem nor the proposed solution seemed relevant to their own priorities. Many, especially Chinese-speaking, were swayed by accusations that those involved were betraying the Gospel.

The success of the Church of South India scheme in 1947 appeared to be an encouragement to similar efforts in Malaysia but that had involved only one ethnic group, had taken nearly 30 years, and became a source of serious division within the Anglican communion world-wide. Despite good will and good intentions discussions eventually collapsed. The majority of Malaysian Christians may not have even been aware that they had taken place.

Despite this failure these years marked the high point of ecumenical co-operation for some time. Although those involved were very alive to the need to increase local participation, this was not easily achieved outside those who were quite Western in their outlook. The real integration of ecumenism into the life of Malaysian churches had to wait until there were Malaysian issues which proved beyond doubt the value of this sort of co-operation. When Malaya achieved independence in 1957 the churches began to show more signs of moving from expatriate to local leadership, but despite the flow of students from Trinity, progress was slow and patchy.

Although accused of not being Evangelical, the Malayan Christian Council was in fact enterprising and industrious in its outreach activities and unlike its critics looked very seriously at the old question of the scope of the Christian mission in Malaya and Singapore. Careful attention was given to questions of religious freedom for all groups in society and submissions made to the Reid Constitutional Commission as Independence (Merdeka) approached.

The bringing of Sabah and Sarawak into the Federation of Malaysia followed by the expulsion of Singapore in 1965, had the effect that the churches in West Malaysia now had to face thinking of themselves as relating to East Malaysia and not to Singapore. This was not altogether easy and came at a time when they were still coming to terms with their independence from the funding and personnel of overseas churches. There was a loss of leadership to Singapore, if not to further afield, and the time, effort, and cost of creating an infrastructure of church administration and theological education within Malaysia itself was considerable. It is not surprising that church growth faltered during these years.

In Sabah and Sarawak the post-war years saw a steady stream of converts from tribespeople in what amounted to a mass-conversion movement. Consolidation in the faith for long-houses that declared themselves Christian was not always easy and the pastoral and social needs are still enormous. The Borneo Evangelical Mission founded by a number of Australians in 1928 and today associated with the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, successfully nurtured the Sidang Injil Borneo with a mission policy which concentrated on leadership development and economic independence.

The Methodist Iban Annual Conference is the result of long standing work by American Methodists aided by missionaries from around Asia. The Conference is still struggling in some ways. The American Methodists declared Sarawak a `land of opportunity' resulting in a formidable influx of about 100 missionaries in the mid-60s. This was followed by a sudden withdrawal in the mid-70s. Despite careful planning, useful agricultural and medical work and the provision of considerable resources for theological education, somehow what worked in other places did not produce the strong church that was hoped for. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that missionary overkill was one of the factors responsible. The suddenness and scale of both the arrival and the departure were too much for the church to cope with.

In the case of Chinese Methodists however, less assistance was given, and the strength of the Foochow Christian community was such that it was not threatened by it. It helped that it had been an indigenous Christian church from its beginning and in a situation where church and community had long been strongly identified.

Anglicans and Catholics are both well established in East Malaysia. In Sabah in 1970 the state government acted to remove all expatriate missionaries. This could have led to collapse, but instead people rose to the occasion and the local leadership which remained was prepared to insist that only high calibre students would be trained to replace the priests who were forced to leave. Catholics were also aided by the new emphases flowing from the Second Vatican Council which stressed the responsibilities of the laity in the total life of the church.

In both East and West Malaysia Church schools did much to help provide indigenous leadership for the denominations concerned as well as making a worthwhile contribution to society at large. In more recent years a certain loss of faith in schools as places of significant Christian witness is only partially explained by their steady transition to government institutions with minimal church control. It is also an attitude of mind which tends too easily towards being self-fulfilling.

The languages used by different congregations continue to have considerable influence on the shape of church life. Early on, for those who came as migrants, church fellowship in one's own dialect was a means of preserving cultural identity. However while it facilitated evangelism within that sub-culture, it also reinforced a mentality which was distrustful of the wider church and contributed to a deep-seated traditionalism which finds it difficult to distinguish between matters of faith and matters of culture.

The situation is often complicated by relationships between generations in the same church. It is not uncommon among Chinese Christians for the primary language of grandparents to be Chinese, that of the parents to be English and for their children, a greater acceptance of Bahasa Malaysia. Different languages also represent different styles of leadership, relationship and decision-making which are not always readily compatible.

This is of course not unique to Malaysia and can also be seen in English expatriate congregations. While enriching in many ways, diversity of language and culture plays havoc with church administration. To some extent the growth of Mandarin has simplified matters among Chinese speaking congregations and English still functions as a common language among many Christians in a way that may eventually come to be true for Bahasa Malaysia.

The growth of English speaking congregations led to greater mixing between Chinese and Indian Christians but also highlighted differences with those whose education was been in other language mediums. As a generalization it seems that English educated Chinese find some identity in their denominational label, whereas dialect and Mandarin speakers tend to find their identity in their ethnicity of which the church is but one manifestation.

The 1980s has seen the growth of theological education within Malaysia as among a number of other institutions Malaysian Bible Seminary and Seminari Theoloji Malaysia have become more firmly established. The charismatic movement has made its contribution and most churches have found ways of accommodating its insights even if there is still a tendency to react superficially to both its strengths and its weaknesses. More Protestants have woken up to the changes in Catholicism since Vatican II. Interfaith dialogue no longer makes headlines. The need for a unified voice in dealing with the government has encouraged Evangelicals (through the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship) and Catholics to combine with churches traditionally represented in the Malaysian Council of Churches to form a representative Christian Federation of Malaysia. The ability of national leaders to work together in this way is remarkable and needs to find more parallels at a local level. Para-Church groups such as Malaysian Care, Campus Crusade, Scripture Union, Graduates Christian Fellowship and others add their contribution to the total church life of the nation as do other groups which arise in response to particular needs.

Social changes, the problems of living in a multiracial and multireligious society in which Islam is the official religion, the difficulties of responding in appropriate ways to the movements and ideas of the worldwide Christian community as well as the need for each generation to rediscover God's purpose for them in this place, all make large demands from which there is no escape. But in Church History such challenges to people of faith are nothing new.

John Roxborogh, A Short Introduction to Malaysian Church History : A Guide to the Story of Christianity in Malaysia and How to Go About Discovering the History of Your Church. 2nd rev. ed, Malaysian Church History Series ; No. 1. Kuala Lumpur: Seminari Theoloji Malaysia : Catholic Research Centre, 1989, 3-15.

48.8% of Malaysian Chinese Surveyed Wants To Emigrate!!

A study by Oxford University found that while the Chinese have the highest desire to emigrate due to perceived unfairness in the country compared to the Malays and Indians. Titled Attitudes and Ethnoreligious Integration: Meeting the Challenge and Maximizing the Promise of Multicultural Malaysia, it was done by Dr. Ananthi Ramiah, Professor Mile Hewstone, and Dr. Ralf Wölfer.

The Indians were the most inclined to work collectively to resolve issues affecting them between the three races. 15.5% of Malays, 48.8% of Chinese, and 37.3% of Indians reported a stronger than average desire to emigrate from Malaysia.

The study funded by CIMB Foundation carried out in Peninsular Malaysia in September-October last year involved 503 Malays, 500 Chinese and 501 Indians. Those who express a strong desire to emigrate had at least completed their secondary education: 17.3% of Malays, 52.6% of Chinese, and 42% of Indians.



Chinese are the largest taxpayers among the three ethnic groups in Malaysia. Only 10 percent of the total workforce pay any income tax. Out of these 10 percent, Chinese make up 80 to 90% of the taxpayers.

Malays and Indians expressed a greater willingness for collective action than a desire to emigrate, while the Chinese expressed a greater desire to emigrate than engaging in collective action when being asked if they would be willing to undertake collective action to improve the economic standing of their group, by, for example, participating in a protest or demonstration.

The report noted, “That so many Indians shows a willingness to participate in collective action is an indication of their discontent with the status quo.” Among the Chinese, those who were more educated were more willing to participate in collective actions than those who were less educated.


Why do Malaysian Chinese continue to live in Malaysia despite the discrimination they face? And is there anything they can do about it?


My ancestors risked their lives, cramped into small boat, and sailed from China to Malaysia.  They will be mad and may haunt me from their graves if I were to leave Malaysia.  How's that for an answer?

Now, here is my answer to your question.  The only reason why I choose to continue to live in this country is because this is my home.  It's that simple.  I have a job, and life goes on as usual.  Here's the thing - people often talk about discrimination in other countries, but in Malaysia, the Chinese and Indians do not see it as discrimination.  We see it as preferential or special privilege given by the government to the majority Malays.  This affirmative actions on behalf of the majority Malays are limited to official and government institutions.  Beyond that jurisdictions, life is the same as in other countries.  Hence, Chinese and Indians are rarely found in those institutions.

In order for Malaysia to progress to become a fairer society, the one way and only place to begin this endeavor is through education.  What this means is politicians from different races must come to an agreement that Malaysian children must grow up and schooled together under the same roof.  These children will become our future generation, who will then lead Malaysia to become a fairer country.  Unfortunately, what we have in Malaysia today are schools that are designed to cater for different races.  We have Chinese school.  We have Indian school.  We have Islamic religious school.  These schools admit student from their race, say 99% are all the same color.  Kids attending Chinese school never have to worry about eating BBQ pork in their canteen.  The Malay kids attending Islamic religious school may have different experience all together.  During fasting months, everyone fast and not a single soul can be seen eating or drinking in canteen.  They may even witness the 'sacrifice' of cows during festive seasons.  Then, of course, Indian kids will never ever see any 'sacrifice' of cows in their own Indian school, since cow is sacred to Indians.  Imagine how will these kids grow up after their high school?  

Majority of the Malays kids will go to UiTm, which is, a special universities for the Malays.  We have plenty of UiTM in Malaysia.  Chinese and Indian kids will, if they are very clever and matured, go to the limited public universities.  Upon graduating from tertiary education, these kids will enter into the working society.  Now remember, 'special privilege' is very real in government or official institutions.  Graduates from UiTM will be channeled to become civil servants - teachers, police, inspectors, judge and officers in national institutions.  Graduates from public universities will most likely be absorbed by private sectors.  All grown up now.  Suddenly, these newly grown up adults, whom never experienced life shared other races before, are suddenly put together.  In my opinion, this is the true formula for disaster.  What they will naturally find is culture shock in their own country.  Of course, we do not recognize it as culture shock in Malaysia.  We simply call all the wrong happenings as 'insensitive' or 'rude'.  Those Chinese continues to eat BBQ pork, some may do so right in front of a Malays colleagues.  Malays teachers, perhaps from these special schools, forces non-Muslim students to eat lunch in toilet or sacrificing cows in front of Indian students.  To these religious Malay teachers, eating in fasting months is a sin, and they have never had to deal with non-Muslim in all their life before.  Many of them also see cow sacrifice as a norm.  Indians, not knowing any better, also do something that offends others.  

Many of my friends expressed anger when the above mentioned happened or when they read them in newspaper.  However, I am of the opinion that these happened because each race had live their life in their own community for too long, and our education system had completely failed to educate all of us a shared life concept with different races.  Everyone ended up having culture shocks when we start to work.  I don't expect one who never had a shared life with other races to be able to understand and empathize other races so easily.  

Hence, I do not believe anything will change in the next 10 years.  Our politicians really need to stop demanding more Chinese, Indians or Islamic religious schools.  All these can be done inside the same school building by splitting up the kids few hours a week to study their own mother tongue or religion.  We really do not need to split up the kids into different schools.  Instead, we must put them under the same roof.  That is the only way I know how to do it....  I know it's politically unpopular, but it will work.


There are various reasons to stay.

1. Malaysia is home. We are Malaysians first, Chinese second.

2. Social ties. Some have relatives who don't want to move parents, sibling etc. Some return to Malaysia because of ageing parents, and/or want to be close to extended family.

3. Lack of skills to migrate.

4. Uprooting the family to a new country is not an easy choice nor easy to adapt to new culture in another country.

5. Choosing to stay back to make a difference.

6. Its a global economy. Many are working elsewhere due to work opportunities but still call Malaysia home.

7. The amazing food.

8. The amazing people here barring a minority group that seeks to divide

9. It a country with much potential. There are still opportunities.


10. Combination of the above

M’sian masseur jailed in S’pore for underage sex with boys

SINGAPORE, May 8: A 42-year-old masseur was jailed six years and eight months and fined S$2,000 on Monday (May 8) for paying four boys to have sex with him and for organising an orgy involving a 14-year-old boy.

Hiew Chung Wai, a Malaysian, pleaded guilty to 11 of 31 charges, including:

– Six counts for having sex with four boys under 16,

– Two counts for aiding and abetting an accomplice to sexually penetrate a 14-year-old boy during the orgy,

– One count of sex trafficking involving the 14-year-old boy,

– One count of receiving payment in connection with the sexual exploitation of the trafficked victim; and

– One count for the possession of 151 obscene films, which depict men having sex with adolescent boys or all-male orgies, the court heard.

In sentencing Hiew, District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan said the offences were all the more egregious because Hiew had “gone beyond predatory behavior … in the pursuit of his own sexual gratification … (he went) one step further”, the judge said. “He also involved them in sexual orgies with other adults.”

MET ON FACEBOOK, OFFERED CASH FOR SEX

Hiew met his first two victims on Facebook.

He befriended the first victim, then 14, on Facebook in 2011 and sent the boy obscene photos. He also offered him S$30 to S$50 to perform a sex act on him.

The boy ended up meeting Hiew at his flat and was paid S$20 for oral sex.

Hiew got to know his second victim the same year. He offered the 14-year-old S$50 to meet him for lunch and to “have fun” with him afterwards.

The boy said yes, partly due to the money and partly because he found Hiew’s Facebook photo “attractive”, the court heard.

However the photo used by Hiew was not of himself. When he met the boy at his flat, Hiew lied that the person in the photo was his friend and said that the man was not at home that day.

Still, the boy let Hiew perform a sex act on him and was paid S$60. He had a second encounter with Hiew two years later, in May 2013. Though Hiew promised him S$80, he never paid.

VICTIM INTRODUCED HIEW TO FRIENDS

The boy introduced two friends – the third and fourth victims – to Hiew in 2013. The boys, in need of money, were told by the second victim that Hiew was willing to pay boys to have sex with him.

The third victim, then 14, contacted Hiew to discuss what “services” he was willing to provide and how much Hiew was willing to pay.

Hiew suggested they meet at the second victim’s flat for an orgy, which took place in 2013. It involved Hiew, the second and third victims, and a 19-year-old man.

The third victim performed a sexual act on Hiew during the orgy, for which Hiew paid him S$50.

The third victim had a second encounter with Hiew in February 2014 in a handicapped toilet at Woodlands Civic Centre, for which he was paid another S$50.


HIEW ADVERTISED 14-YEAR-OLD BOY, PLANNED ORGY

The fourth victim was introduced to Hiew by his friend, the second victim.

He told Hiew he would be charging for his sexual services. They met sometime in late 2015 at the boy’s flat, where they had sex. Hiew paid the boy S$30.

Hiew trafficked this victim, then 15, advertising the boy on Grindr, an app popular in the gay community.

He also organised an orgy, charging three men S$30 to participate in an orgy with the boy in December 2015 at Santa Grand Hotel Lai Chun Yen.

During the orgy, which lasted nearly 11 hours, the boy performed sex acts on the men and Hiew took photos. The boy was paid S$50.

Hiew was arrested two weeks later. Investigators found 151 obscene films on Hiew’s Samsung, including videos of unsuspecting boys in public toilets.

A HEBEPHILIAC WITH HIGH RISK OF REOFFENDING

Deputy Public Prosecutor Winston Man urged the court to sentence Hiew to seven years’ jail. He pointed out Hiew deliberately sought out young boys and was “fully aware that his victims were underage”.

DPP Man also pointed out Hiew, who has hebephilia – or sexual interest in adolescents – has a high risk of reoffending, according to an Institute of Mental Health assessment.

Hiew’s lawyer, Ms Cheryl Ng, argued that five years’ jail would be “sufficient”. She said Hiew was not violent towards the victims, and pointed out two of the victims had sought Hiew out, not the other way around.

They understood what they were contacting Hiew for, so “cannot be viewed as being completely naïve and vulnerable”, Ms Ng said.

She defended Hiew under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.

For sex with a minor under 16, Hiew could have been sentenced to up to 10 years’ jail and fined.

For sex trafficking, he could have been fined up to S$100,000 and jailed up to 10 years and caned. –CNA

Traffic cops shocked to find school MPV crammed with 36 kids

Hong Kong – Traffic police in China recently pulled over a seven-seat multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) van that was found to be carrying 36 school children, a teacher and a driver, the state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The driver, surnamed Bai, runs a local kindergarten in Nanyang, Henan province and is responsible for taking the children to school and back home every school day.

Most of the passengers were kindergarten pupils with a few from primary school carrying their schoolbags, the CCTV footage showed.


The school van was not registered, nor did Bai have a driving licence.

“It’s just the tip of the iceberg. Rural kindergartens are usually like this. It’s quite normal to drive 20-30 school kids in such a minibus,” one internet user commented.

“Who will take responsibility if something happens?” wrote another.

The police impounded the van, while Bai is being held in criminal detention for dangerous driving. – South China Morning Post

Dr Mahathir repeats call for Pekan voters to remove Najib

FMT Reporters | May 6, 2017

Calling for them to 'save the nation', the former PM says Prime Minister Najib Razak’s hometown is among the most important constituencies in GE14.

PETALING JAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad has once again made an appeal to the people of Pekan to vote out Prime Minister Najib Razak in the next general election (GE14).
He called for voters in the Pahang town where Najib has served as an MP for nine consecutive terms, to “save the nation” by helping to remove the prime minister from office.
This would not be the first time that the former prime minister has made such an appeal.
In October 2015, while still in Umno, Mahathir told a high-tea event organised by an Umno branch in Kuala Lumpur that he wanted voters in Pekan to give priority to national issues and vote wisely, rejecting the cash inducements that Najib was likely to give them to obtain their votes.

Pekan District

Town in Malaysia

The Pekan District, located on the banks of the Pahang River 50 km south of Kuantan and 280 km from Kuala Lumpur, is the Royal Town of the Malaysian state of Pahang Darul Makmur. Its name comes from a flower, the Bunga Pekan. Wikipedia

Area: 1,469 mi²

Hotels: 3-star averaging $22. View hotels

Getting there: 40 min flight, from $76. View flights

Weather: 79°F (26°C), Wind W at 3 mph (5 km/h), 92% Humidity

Local time: Monday 11:14 PM

University: Universiti Malaysia Pahang

In the undated video sighted by FMT, Mahathir, 91, was seen telling the people of Pekan that they represented the “struggle” of the nation and the Malay race to bring down Najib, who has led Malaysia since March 2009.

“I am of the opinion that Pekan is one of the most important constituencies in GE14.
“The residents and voters of Pekan have the opportunity to save the nation by causing the defeat of Datuk Seri Najib,” he said.

“When the time comes, do not at all support Datuk Seri Najib or vote for him in the general election to come.”

He called on the voters to instead give their backing for parties opposed to Najib and which were engaged in the cause to end his rule.

Mahathir said Najib, who is also the finance minister, was accused of undertaking policies that would bring harm to the country.
He said Najib’s father, Abdul Razak Hussein, who served as the second prime minister from 1970 to 1976, was his icon.

Razak had supported Mahathir, bringing the suspended Umno member back into the fold, and eventually paved the way for the Kedahan to become the fourth prime minister from 1981 to 2003.

“With that I also supported Datuk Seri Najib so that he could also become prime minister,” Mahathir said.

“But after he became the prime minister his conduct and actions have been very different from those of his father.”

He said Najib had lost “billions” of Malaysia’s money that cannot be traced now.
“We have found that RM2.6 billion was placed in his personal account and it has since been removed,” he added.

He said he was saddened by such actions.

“I tried to advise him but he did not listen to the advice,” Mahathir said, adding that Najib behaved as though he could buy anything with money, including support for himself in the elections.

In a speech in Balik Pulau, Penang last February, Mahathir offered an “apology to everyone” for being responsible for Najib’s rise to power.

Najib has held Pekan since winning a by-election there at the age of 23 in 1976, with the exception of a term between the general elections of 1982 and 1986 when he became the Pahang menteri besar after winning the Bandar Pekan state seat.

The Pekan parliamentary seat was previously held by Razak from 1959 till his death in 1976.
It is widely understood that Mahathir, who was brought into the Cabinet by Razak in 1974, was instrumental in the selection of Najib to run for the Pekan seat and later to become a deputy minister at the age of 25 in 1978 and Pahang’s menteri besar in 1982.

Arul Kanda will accept Bandar Malaysia, TRX boards’ decision

Nawar Firdaws | May 8, 2017
But the 1MDB CEO says he has not received any notification of his removal as a board member of both companies.

arul-kanda-trx-1

PETALING JAYA: 1MDB’s CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy said he has not received any official notification of his dismissal from the Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd and Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) company boards.
However, he said decisions regarding board directors of both firms were up to the finance ministry (MOF).

“It is public information that my appointment as a board member of TRX City and Bandar Malaysia was due to 1MDB being the shareholder of both firms,” Arul said in a text message to FMT.

“As those companies have been transferred by 1MDB to MOF Inc with effect from March 31, 2017, it is only reasonable to expect that MOF Inc will seek to appoint new directors, per its discretion.”

A news report this evening cited sources as saying that the dismissal came as there may be “potential conflicts of interest” in the fallout from the failed Bandar Malaysia deal with the consortium of Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd ( IWH) and China Railway Engineering Corp (CREC).

Asked about this, Arul said as a professional manager, “I serve as required by the shareholder.

“I will always be guided by and will accordingly accept any decisions made by the shareholder.”
On May 3, TRX City said the share sale agreement (SSA) with IWH and CREC regarding the sale of 60% of the issued and paid-up capital of Bandar Malaysia had lapsed.

It said this was due to the failure of the purchasing parties to fulfil payment obligations.
In a statement, TRX City said despite repeated extensions being granted, IWH-CREC failed to meet the payment obligations outlined in the conditions under the SSA, which was signed on Dec 31, 2015.

Following that, it said given a significant appreciation in the value of the Bandar Malaysia land, TRX City’s sole shareholder, the finance ministry, would now be retaining 100% ownership of the site to ensure the Malaysian people benefited from its development in its entirety.
Arul was made 1MDB CEO in January 2015 and retains the post despite this latest development.

Selangor PAS to remain with state govt

FMT Reporters | May 8, 2017

Exco member Iskandar Abdul Samad says it will support the existing leadership to ensure the people of Selangor continue to enjoy stability.

iskandar

PETALING JAYA: Selangor PAS today quashed rumours that it wanted to quit from the PKR-led Selangor government following the recent bickering between the two parties.
It wanted to uphold the mandate it received in the last general election.
In a statement, Iskandar Abdul Samad, who was recently dropped as the Selangor PAS commissioner, said he wanted to stay on to ensure all state government programmes and people-friendly initiatives were successfully implemented.
Iskandar is the housing, building management and urban settlement executive councillor.

He, along with Zaidy Abdul Talib (state infrastructure exco) and Yunus Hairi (Islamic Affairs exco) are the three PAS representatives in Menteri Besar Azmin Ali’s administration.
“We will continue to play an active role in the government in line with the commitments made since March 2008,” he said, alluding to the time when the opposition wrested Selangor from BN.
Iskandar added that Selangor PAS would continue to cooperate with the current leadership.
His declaration today comes after the Islamist party voted unanimously, at the muktamar last month, to terminate the “tahaluf siyasi” (political cooperation) with PKR after accusing the party of working with PAS splinter party, Amanah.
They took exception to PKR showing visible support for Amanah during the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections in June last year when both PAS and Amanah lost to BN.
Iskandar’s statement also comes days after Selangor PAS reps were seen at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to welcome Azmin upon his return from Dubai. This contradicted speculation that they had gone against him.

Graduating college student electrocuted to death

Poor girl died because of another person or person’s greed the contract to build the building must have change hands much time with each one taking his or her cut and then comes to the builder who has no choice with whatever left of the contract to build a cheap building with cheap electrical fittings. I bet the electrical fittings not even SRIM approved

The culprits are

The Official who awarded the contract and took his cut

The owner of the contract – a political crony who took his or her cut

The Builder who build the building and to maximize profits building a cheap building with inferior electrical and pipe fittings

The Building engineer who approved the inspection and certified the completed building

The 19-year-old was said to have been plugging an extension line into a wall socket at the time.
Siti-Nor-Manisya_dead_600

BUTTERWORTH: A student at a college in Tasek Gelugor here was believed to have been electrocuted to death last night, just two days before the end of her matriculation studies.
Siti Nor Manisya Muhammad Azmi Prem Kumar, 19, was discovered by her roommate at about 8.30pm.
She was a Science elective student at the Kolej Matrikulasi Pulau Pinang in Pongsu Seribu, Tasek Gelugor.

Police investigators said her friend found the dead teen with signs of burns on her left thumb, which paramedics said were likely due to electrocution.
Investigators added that Manisya was trying to plug an extension cord into a wall socket at the time of the incident.
Manisya’s mother, Norsiah Shaari, 52, told reporters that she had met her daughter only two hours before the incident that took her daughter’s life.
North Seberang Prai police chief ACP Azmi Adam said the case has been classified as sudden death. Manisya’s body was sent to the Kepala Batas Hospital for a post-mortem.

Malaysia to open embassy in Vatican

MALAYSIA will be opening an embassy in the Vatican during Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Aman's visit there, Bernama reported today.

Wisma Putra said in a statement the visit, starting today until Wednesday, is to improve bilateral relations.

"The opening of the embassy marks an important milestone and will elevate relations between Malaysia and the Holy See to greater heights," the statement said.

Anifah is also scheduled to meet his counterpart, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.


Both sides are keen to promote inter-religious dialogue and understanding, and are also expected to discuss regional and global issues of common concern. – May 8, 2017.

Pope Francis has received in audience the first Resident Ambassador of Malaysia to the Holy See, Tan Sri Bernard Giluk Dompok.

Address: Ambasciatori Palace Hotel

Suite 114, 115 and 116

Via Veneto, 62

00187

Rome, Italy   Host Country:

new window HOLY SEE

   

Telephone: +39 06 42012893

Fax: +39 06 42012893 

Email: mwholysee.kln@1govuc.gov.my  

   

GMT: - 6 hrs KL (Apr. - Oct. ), - 7 hrs KL (Nov. - March)  

   

Work days: Monday – Friday (09.00 AM - 04.30 PM)

Public Holidays: Saturday and Sunday

  WHAT'S NEW

COURTESY CALL ON MOST REVEREND MONSIGNOR PAOLO BORGIA, ASSESSOR FOR GENERAL AFFAIRS, SECRETARIAT OF STATE ON 07 JUNE 2016

  COURTESY CALL ON MOST REVEREND MONSIGNOR ANTOINE CAMILLERI, UNDER-SECRETARY FOR RELATIONS WITH STATE, SECRETARY OF STATE ON 16 JUNE 2016

His Excellency Bernard Giluk Dompok, Ambassador of Malaysia to The Holy See met Most Reverend Monsignor Antoine Camilleri, Under-Secretary for Relations with States, Secretary of States on 16 June 2016.  Monsignor Camilleri was appointed by His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on 22 February 2013 as Under-Secretary for Relations with States, effectively the Deputy Foreign Minister of The Holy See.

Both sides exchanged views on issues related to education, inter-religious dialogue and various current international issues.

Low pay, poor financial literacy drive civil servants into debt - This happens when you keep on voting BN

At the end of the month, many civil servants are left with almost nothing after making repayments on several types of loans. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, May 8, 2017.

HALIM Abas knew he would struggle to pay back RM70,000 in personal loans but he took them anyway because he felt he did not have a choice.

The 29-year-old civil servant and father of two took out two personal bank loans because he could not sufficiently provide for his family.

He later took a third loan, this time from the government to buy a house.

Today, Halim is one of the nearly 100,000 civil servants that Cuepacs, the umbrella body of public sector unions, estimates are at risk of bankruptcy.


Statistics from the Insolvency Department show that 3,276 civil servants were declared bankrupt from 2013 to 2016, and the number is rising every year.

Cuepacs president Azih Muda said low- and mid-ranking government employees took out personal loans, thinking it could help them meet rising daily expenses.

He said in many cases, these debtors also did not know how to manage their finances, spent beyond their means and borrowed beyond their ability to repay .

“Many of them have small salaries to begin with, but they spend more than they earn."

He said Cuepacs’ estimate of 100,000 civil servants currently near bankruptcy is "something that is really happening". 

"The number is to highlight the problems they face. It's a reminder to the public of the issue and a reminder to others civil servants.”

Necessary loans

Halim took his first personal loan in 2010 when he first started work. The RM50,000 was to be repaid over 20 years and he spent it on his wedding, a motorcycle, a used car and furniture.

The second loan of RM20,000 in 2013 was so that his wife could open a small sundry shop.

The repayments for the two loans total RM600 a month.

The third loan of RM198,000 was from the government for a house in 2015. The monthly repayment is RM985 for 30 years.

In total, the repayments for the loans take up more than 60% of his RM2,100 monthly salary. He is left with RM500  each month for his two kids.

“My wife helps me out with the money she makes from the store. I had to take out these loans because my salary was not enough to meet the rising cost of living and the high cost of housing.”

The government has set a limit on the amount that can be  automatically deducted from the civil servants’ salaries for loan repayment.

Since banks can tell whether a civil servant had too many loans just by looking at their salary slips, this helps curb runaway debt among civil servants.

Currently, civil servants are allowed to have a maximum 60% of their salary deducted for loan repayments, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said.

But the limit somehow did not stop the government from approving Halim’s housing loan.

Saving nothing because that’s all that’s left 

A Bank Negara Malaysia survey shows that three out of four Malaysians would have trouble raising RM1,000 in an emergency. This indicates they are not saving their money, for a rainy day or for retirement.

Malissa Salehuddin, 32, is another government employee who is struggling to repay a personal loan. Like Halim, she said she needed the money.

She took out a RM20,000 personal loan six years ago when she and her husband were transferred to Kuala Lumpur from Perak. The couple needed furniture and appliances when they moved into government quarters.

When they divorced, Malissa sent her three children to live with her mother in the kampung in Perak, where expenses are a little lower.

Each month she pays RM700 for a car loan and RM350 for the personal loan. After deducting RM300 for rent, RM600 for her mother and RM700 for food, there is nothing left of Malissa’s RM2,400
salary.

She tries to supplement her monthly income by selling fruits online.

“I got worried after reading the Cuepacs statement. I don’t want to be one of those people who have to take out another personal loan just to make ends meet,” Malissa told The Malaysian Insight.

“I do regret taking that personal loan because now I am burdened with the repayment. But I needed the money at the time, my pay was too low to buy what we needed for the house.”

Malissa is now planning to get a transfer back to Perak so that she can live in the kampung with her kids.

“I can’t continue to live in the city where everything is so expensive. I am worried that I might need to take out another personal loan.”

In response to Cuepacs' statement, Credit Management and Counseling Agency general manager Nor Fazleen Zakaria urged civil servants with debt problems to seek help from the agency.

Of the 554,011 clients the agency has had from 2006 to March, 178,845 have managed to get their finances under control through its credit management programme.

About half of this group admitted to having problems managing their finances. – May 8, 2017.