FIGHT
Debt is defined by Merriam - Webster as a state of owing. In modern society where material goods are a sign of status and achievement, debts are increasing. Society is bought over by the glitzy advertisement, falling into the trap of buying a product htoping to achieve a false sense of fulfillment.
Unknowingly, this creates a vicious cycle in which products are procured excessively only to be realized when the debt has reached an insurmountable amount. Borrowing a quote from Dave Ramsey, “We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like”. This “pandemic” needs to stop! we need to FIGHT against it before it engulfs us.
Money lenders, or more commonly known as "Ah Long" in Singapore is a colloquial term for illegal loan sharks. They lend money to people who are unable to obtain loans from banks or other legal sources, mostly targeting habitual gamblers. Often, they discreetly advertise by sticking notices, mostly on lamp posts and utility boxes around a neighbourhood, thus vandalising public property, as authorities have to then remove such advertisements. They charge very high interest rates (generally about 40% per month/fortnight) and frequently threaten violence (and administer it) towards those who fail to pay in time.
When a person fails to pay in time, the Ah Long will spray paint, splash, or write threats in paint or markers on the walls of the house or property of that person as a threat of violence and to scare, and perhaps even shame, the borrower into repaying the loan. A common use of painting includes the characters "O$P$" meaning "owe money, pay money", as well as the debtors' unit number. According to local police authorities, there have been cases where borrowers and even their family members were beaten or had their property damaged or destroyed, and some victims have committed suicide. In other cases, flowerpots placed outside the debtors' units were smashed, debtors' house gates have been tied up with cable ties and at the extreme, debtors' property such as their house door/gate or their cars have been burnt.
When a person fails to pay in time, the Ah Long will spray paint, splash, or write threats in paint or markers on the walls of the house or property of that person as a threat of violence and to scare, and perhaps even shame, the borrower into repaying the loan. A common use of painting includes the characters "O$P$" meaning "owe money, pay money", as well as the debtors' unit number. According to local police authorities, there have been cases where borrowers and even their family members were beaten or had their property damaged or destroyed, and some victims have committed suicide. In other cases, flowerpots placed outside the debtors' units were smashed, debtors' house gates have been tied up with cable ties and at the extreme, debtors' property such as their house door/gate or their cars have been burnt.
