Sabah is being swamped by Ah Longs (loan sharks) and debt collectors from Kuala Lumpur and Peninsular Malaysia, according to a growing chorus of complaints.

The Sabah Opposition thinks that the loan sharks, masquerading as money lenders, have had a licence to kill ever since the Money Lenders Act was extended to the state "under the guise of fighting the loan sharks".

"In fact, the extension of the Act to Sabah last year, on Jan 1, has nothing to do with fighting loan sharks," said Sapp (Sabah Peoples Progressive Party) President Yong Teck Lee.

"Every official and the Minister at the Finance and Home Affairs Ministries knows that the loan shark menace in Peninsular Malaysia is more entrenched, more vicious, more blatant, and more organised than that in Sabah and Sarawak."

Yong was commenting on the on-going war in KL against loan sharks amidst fears that it will drive these racketeers to Sabah.

sabah wants to send ah longs back to kl story 250609 "Name cards, leaflets, placards and banners at public places now openly offer quick loans with guaranteed secrecy. This practice is a blatant defiance against the law," pointed out Yong.

"As proven, after eighteen months of the Money Lenders Act which replaced the Sabah Money Lenders Ordinance, loan shark activities have escalated in Sabah. News reports of criminal charges in court against imported Ah Longs from other states are a case in point. The Ah Longs have literally followed the Money Lenders Act to Sabah."

Yong wants the Money lenders Act withdrawn and instead the former Sabah Money Lenders Ordinance, a Charted North Borneo Company piece of "legislation", brought back.

His argument is that the Ordinance has worked very well for over a century, even before the British came after World War 11, "and cannot be brushed aside just like that". He warned that the haste in replacing the Ordinance has caused delays, abuses and commercial losses among legitimate lenders and borrowers alike.

"As usual, Sabah is left to bear the consequences of such negligence by the Federal Government," said Yong. "No mechanism was put in place to administer the new law."

Yong cites the Money Lenders Act as one of the many pieces of legislation that has seriously undermined the autonomy of Sabah over the last 46 years since the formation of Malaysia.

Constitution compromised

Such legislation, he added, compromises the spirit of the 1963 Malaysian Constitution based on the Malaysia Agreement.

The Money Lenders Act was one of the 14 issues raised by Sapp leaders in their meeting with then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on April 7 last year.

Sapp pulled out from the ruling BN (Barisan Nasional) on Sept 17 last year expressing no confidence in the Federal leadership and citing the unresolved local grievances.

Yong's stand on the menace posed by loan sharks has been unanimously endorsed by the Pakatan Rakyat in the state.

abdullah hukum apartment 240508 longkang "The problem of Ah Longs is getting worse in Sabah, as in Peninsular Malaysia," charges DAP activists Edward Ewol Mujie and John Lee Kim Seng.

"Victims are not only harassed and threatened but also kidnapped and tortured. We see a need to take pre-emptive measures to safeguard our society."

Mujie handles the DAP's Local Government and Housing Bureau. Lee looks after the party's Infrastructure Bureau.

The duo recently inspected various housing estates in Kolombong, Putatan, Luyang and Penampang - all in greater Kota Kinabalu - and found many places plastered with various Ah Long advertisements.

It was difficult for them to weed out the genuine money lenders from the dubious ones "because mostly, the advertisements only indicated a mobile number without any company name and address".

"According to the law, a legal moneylender should obtain a proper advertising permit, be governed by the law and be answerable to it," both Mujie and Lee said.

"This is not what is happening. Peaceful neighbourhoods are being turned into areas for Pesta Ah Long."

The PR has also raised the matter of the so-called "licensed debt collectors" who operate on the fringes of the loan shark menace. Apparently, many debt collectors also operate as loan sharks.

A law unto themselves

"Until today there is no law or Act governing debts collection," said Kota Kinabalu MP Hiew King Cheu.

"Any debts collection involving the use of force and harassment can be viewed as a criminal offence since it usually involves bodily harm, property dmage, causing disturbance and behaving in a threatening manner."

"Any matters arising from debts or money disputes are best settled in court, not by employing gangsters, debt collectors and loan sharks."

Hiew described the police as uninterested bystanders in matters pertaining to debt collection involving loan sharks and money lenders.

He cited the case of a businessman who approached him for help recently after lodging eight police reports against a group claiming that a company in which he had a 1 percent stake, owed them some monies six years ago.

the antidote article sarawak native people 270509 05 They asked the businessman to pay up and he, his family and staff have been subjected to constant harassment and verbal abuse.

Consumer activists and NGOs allege that the loan sharks are linked with various politicians and political parties and even the police.

It was noted that the promise by Home Affairs Minister Hishamuddin Hussein of an "all out war" against loan sharks was only in response to media reports on the violence perpetuated by the racketeers.

Some say that the war will lead to some high profile raids for public relations purposes.

But, licensed money lenders are an alternative channel for providing short-term or emergency cash for individuals who need it.

However, the extremely high interest rates and the unethical debt collection methods employed by illegal moneylenders soon becomes a nightmare for many borrowers.

Eventually, as the interest compounds and the debt spirals, the borrower reaches a ‘dead' end with the Ah Long.