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Veteran getai singer and livestream host Wang Lei is offering a sum of money to anyone who helps to locate a missing 22-year-old Malaysian woman.
Pleads for her safe return
In a livestream video on Apr. 9, Wang gave an impassioned plea to his followers and members of the public to help find the woman who has been missing since Apr. 5.
The woman, whose name is Chia Min Yong, was an insurance agent.
He initially offered a reward of RM10,000 (S$3,223) to anyone who manages to find her, but later increased the amount to RM50,000 (S$16,213) when he learnt that her father's boss had offered RM100,000 (S$32,286), Oriental Daily reported.
Asked her to come home
He also spoke directly to Chia, asking her to come home if she sees the video as her parents are worried sick about her.
Wang, who said he could understand her parents' anxiety as he has a daughter too, said they had been "crying every day" since she went missing, adding that the missing woman's mother hadn't been eating for days.
Her father had stopped his work in Singapore as well to go back to Malaysia and try to find her.
Wang also offered her a job as his assistant in Singapore if she has money problems, such as any debt that she has to pay.
But if she doesn't want to work in Singapore, he said he can offer her a customer service position in his company that's based in Penang as well.
Asked her captors to release her if she had been kidnapped
In addition, he pleaded with Chia's supposed captors, if she had been kidnapped, to let her go, adding that her family suspects the last text message she supposedly sent wasn't sent by her, but by someone else.
He also asked her alleged captors not to harass her parents, and said it's okay for them to threaten him if it helps with Chia's safe return.
Lengthy message sent on day she went missing
In the lengthy message supposedly sent by Chia to her mum at around 7pm on Apr. 5, she admitted that she was doing badly at work, and that she has been having financial difficulties. In addition, she said she hasn't had money for food for the past three months.
She also apologised for running away from home to work elsewhere, and asked her parents not to worry as she is looking for a high-paying job even though it's rather far.
She assured her mum that she will take good care of herself too.
Image via MySelangor/Facebook
"I've really grown up, please let go of me like father did, and give me freedom," the message read.
The message ended with the following:
"Don't call me, I've made up my mind. The luggage and passport have been prepared already. You'll just scold me if you call.
I'll switch off my phone first and contact you again in a few days to let you know I'm safe, I love you Mummy."
Luggage, clothes and other belongings are still at home
Chia's family and boyfriend had been unable to contact her since Apr. 5 as her phone has been switched off, China Press reported.
According to her sister-in-law, Luo Xin Yi, Chia's passport, which has always been kept by her mother, was also nowhere to be found.
Given that her passport was still valid, as well as the recent spate of reports on foreign job scams, her family therefore suspects that she has become one of the victims of such scams.
Luo added that on the day they last saw her on Apr. 5, she had left their home to see a client like she usually does, and that nothing appeared amiss.
Furthermore, Chia had not taken any of her clothes or luggage with her.
"She hadn't quit her current job at her insurance company as well, and her personal belongings that she uses regularly are still at home, so we don't believe that she has run away," Luo added.
Luo also told China Press that Chia would always let her family know if she was going out to see a client.
The car Chia had been driving, which belongs to her mum, had also been found at Setapak, Luo said.
No record of her leaving the country
Chia's boyfriend, who has taken to Instagram to put out a missing person's notice, said that Chia wouldn't be out for more than two hours if she went to see a client.
He added that according to the police, there has been no record of Chia having left the country.
He also said Chia had been under much stress from work lately, and that she hadn't received her salary for the past two months.
Therefore, he is not ruling out the possibility that under such financial stress, she might have lost control of her emotions.
"Her phone's geolocation had indicated she was at the same place from around 7pm of the day she went missing, till 12am when I finished work, that's when I thought something was wrong," he added.
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Top image via China Press and Wang Lei/Facebook