Sunday, Oct 14, 2012
AMPANG, Kuala Lumpur - His gambling debts were mounting.
The 45-year-old lorry driver from Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, who wanted to be known only as Phuah, had already lost RM30,000 (S$12,000) in July gambling online.
He covered those losses by using RM15,000 of his savings and asking for the rest from friends and family.
But the temptations to gamble proved too much. He went online to gamble again and lost more money. Left with no option and getting increasingly desperate, he walked into the office of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) with a bizarre request, The Star reported.
He had debts of RM5,000 and wanted to sell his kidney for RM50,000. He said he wanted to pay off the debts and use the rest to start a business.
But MCA Public Services and Complaints Department chief Michael Chong told him it was illegal to do so and that no doctor would do the surgery for him.
Said Mr Chong: "No doctor in Malaysia will perform this surgery for him. If he tries to go overseas to do it, the surgeon might end up taking two kidneys or other organs."
He said he couldn't believe that Mr Phuah had the audacity to come up with this request.
At a press conference at Mr Chong's office, MrPhuah said: "What choice do I have?"
His gambling addiction not only ruined him financially, his family life was also in tatters as his wife and his children, aged 15 and 18, left him.
His friends abandoned him while his boss, fearing that his addiction and debts would jeopardise his business, fired him on Monday.
Mr Chong said this case is symptomatic of the larger malaise affecting gamblers.
For the first nine months of this year, Malaysians have borrowed a whopping RM30 million from illegal moneylenders - mostly used for illegal online gaming activities, Malay Mail reported.
The MCA has handled 444 cases of people owing money to loan sharks this year alone, while there were 480 cases for the whole of last year.
Mr Chong said he has come across four people, including Mr Phuah, who had tried to sell their organs to settle their debts.
He said: "They said they lost most of the money they borrowed on illegal online gaming. The figures are growing and I expect they would easily reach 600 people owing more than RM50 million by year-end."
He said the government should formulate a law which would also penalise the borrowers.
"These gamblers are loan defaulters and by not paying the loan, they place their family members in danger. Their wives, children and parents are actually the ones who become victims of the loan sharks. These loan defaulters should not call themselves victims."
