The job market in Singapore is volatile as ever, even for ah longs (loan sharks). 

In fact, they faced a manpower crunch bad enough that they had to turn to Telegram to recruit runners, and urged their new “employees” to start work immediately.

It seems, however, that language proficiency isn’t necessary to get hired—in an incident on Monday, one of these ah longs menacingly splashed red paint on two HDB units, and even left a badly-misspelt note in an attempt to convey his sentiments to his victims.

Left Behind Note With Spelling Errors

On 23 April, a man who identified himself in his note as “Zack” splashed red paint at the entrance of two HDB units, located along Jurong West Street 93 and Tah Ching Road.

He used a generous heaping of paint in his efforts, too—no doubt irrevocably staining the area. 

The bright red splatters make the surroundings resemble a gory true crime scene, with red paint coating the walls and cabinets, and ruining a few pairs of shoes. 

On top of that, he left debtor’s notes at the scene:

In his note, he obviously is trying to say, “This time, I give you a dessert”, which in itself sounds more awkward than threatening.

Apart from questionable word choice, structure, grammar, and language use, the note is chock-full of spelling errors. Unfortunately, “Zack” mangles his threat further by misspelling three out of ten words in the short message, seemingly forgetting at times that vowels exist.

Either that, or he’s trying to write in short form to save time—in this economy, maybe even loan sharks are on the grind. He does have two units to splash paint on and more people to harass, after all. 

Arrested For Suspected Involvement In Loan Shark Activities

The police arrested the 26-year-old perpetrator for his misdeeds on 24 April.

In a statement by the Singapore Police Force, it was revealed that officers from Jurong Police Division had managed to identify the culprit using images from Police cameras in the area and ground enquiries.

According to preliminary investigations, the man is also suspected to be involved in another similar case along Woodlands Street 31. 

The man is set to be charged in court on 25 April, under the Moneylenders Act 2008.

For his crimes, he could be fined $5,000 to $50,000, and sentenced to up to five years’ imprisonment and caning of up to six strokes. 

In their statement, the police expressed “zero tolerance for loan shark harassment activities”, citing that individuals who vandalise properties on purpose or cause disruptions and annoyances to public safety will be “dealt with severely”. 

They advised the public to avoid loan sharks and loan shark activity in any form. 

If you suspect anyone of being involved in loan shark activity, you can call the police at 999 or dial the X-Ah Long hotline at 1800-924-5664.

Though the job market is tough right now, it would be unwise to resort to being a loan shark.

So, if you receive a recruiting message on Telegram, it’s better to ignore it, even if the lack of language qualifications required and the remuneration promised sounds appealing.