Malaysian father disowns gambling-addicted, debt-ridden son after loan sharks hound family
- The illegal lenders doubled down on threats against the family despite Wong Yock Sang emptying his life savings to settle the man’s debt
A 67-year-old Malaysian man had to disown his son due to his gambling addiction and debt.
Retiree Wong Yock Sang said his 35-year-old son is a chronic gambler who borrowed from loan sharks to fund his lifestyle.
“I exhausted my life savings to settle his 240,000 ringgit (US$51,129) debt in 2019 because he promised to change.
“I even had to find work as an e-hailing driver as my savings are gone,” he told a press conference organised by the Malaysian Chinese Association’s public services and complaints department head Michael Chong in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
Wong said that shortly after the debts were paid, his son went to a rehabilitation centre for gamblers and appeared to turn over a new leaf.
“However, on June 2, I discovered that someone had posted a photo of me and my wife on Facebook, with the caption ‘wanted’,” he said.
“I also received a call from my other son, telling me that an ah long (illegal moneylender) had contacted him, saying his brother had a 12,000 ringgit debt with them. The ah long threatened to hire a gang to come after us if the debt is not settled,” Wong said.