M'sian couple cut ties with son, 26, who works in S'pore, after he borrowed from 7 loan sharks

A couple from Muar, Johor, Malaysia, have publicly cut ties with their only son after spending more than RM100,000 (S$31,600) over eight years settling his gambling debts — only for him to rack up new ones while working in Singapore.

The parents, aged 52 and 49, held a press conference on Jun. 15 to announce their decision, saying they had exhausted their life savings paying off the final RM30,000 (S$9,500) of their son's latest debts.

Any future debts incurred by him, they said, would have no connection to the family, they added.

They have also lodged a police report to formally document their position.

Son started gambling at 18

The father, who runs a food stall, told reporters his son had first started gambling at the age of 18 or 19.

Over the years, the family repeatedly paid off his debts, hoping he would turn things around, but the cycle never stopped.

About three years ago, the son moved to Singapore for work, and for a while, the family believed he had left gambling behind, according to Says Malaysia. The relief did not last.

The father said:

"To our absolute shock, last week, my wife, my two daughters, and I successively received debt-collection calls from seven different loan shark syndicates. Only then did we realise he had fallen back into debt."

Life savings gone

The father told China Press that his food stall business had been struggling in recent years, leaving the family's income increasingly unstable.

Despite this, the couple used up the remainder of their savings to settle part of the latest debts.

The balance is being paid off in instalments following negotiations with the loan sharks.

He said the number of times and the total amount of debt accumulated over the years had become too many to count, per China Press.

"This is the last time"

According to China Press, the couple said this would be the final time they stepped in for their son.

They emphasised that going forward, whatever his debts and deeds outside the home would no longer be the family's responsibility.

Tan Thiam Soon, special assistant to Bakri MP Tan Hong Pin, used the press conference to call on young people to stay away from illegal gambling and loan sharks, warning that the consequences rarely fall on the individual alone.

He pointed out that when gambling debts spiral out of control, the financial and emotional weight almost always falls on the whole family.