Parents help son to pay off $10k debt -- but he borrows from 5 more loan sharks and goes MIA

The New Paper
Jun 26, 2023

The 33-year-old man's parents protected him from loan sharks by helping him clear thousands of dollars in debt. In return, he went back to loan sharks and borrowed more money before disappearing.

The couple, 57-year-old Madam Huang and 68-year-old Mr Su, had earlier helped him to pay off $10,000 after finding out about his $11,000 debt.

Then, just two days later, their son borrowed money again from five different loan sharks.

His parents have decided to sever ties with him as they are no longer working and do not have a steady source of income to support him.

According to Shin Min Daily News, Madam Huang, who is from Malaysia, raised her son and two daughters on her own after her first husband passed away 22 years ago.

She later met Mr Su and came to Singapore to live with him.

Mr Xiao worked illegally in New Zealand for a while. But when the pandemic struck, he was unable to make a living.

He then turned up in Singapore last June and started working as a server in a private club. He did not live with his parents.

Madam Huang was shocked to learn in March this year that her son had incurred a debt of $11,000 as he had borrowed from loan sharks.

She and Mr Su decided pay off $10,000 to help him clear most of his debt.

They took over his bank account, telling him that he would have to go through them for money.

According to Shin Min Daily News, Mr Xiao agreed to this arrangement.

But he managed to make a new card by claiming to the bank that he had lost his old one. He then withdrew thousands of dollars.

He also went to five different loan sharks and borrowed $1,000 from each of them just days after his parents helped clear his debt.

The last time they spoke to him was on June 13. He has been uncontactable since then.

Shin Min Daily News reported that his parents and colleagues have been receiving threatening messages and calls from the loan sharks.

They even managed to contact his cousin in China and his sister in England.

Mr Xiao’s employers said that if he remained uncontactable, they would have to revoke his work permit.

Madam Huang suspects that her son might have a gambling addiction, which is why he has been borrowing money from loan sharks since he was 18 years old.

But according to the Chinese daily, he has never told them the actual reason.