KOTA BARU (Bernama): A number of Form Five students were among the 280 people who lodged reports over the past month with the Kelantan Muslim Consumers Association (PPIK) after being threatened by Ah Long or illegal moneylenders for failing to repay loans.

       Its president Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Fared Abdul Ghani said this indicated that there were more people going to illegal moneylenders.

       He said the numbers of these illegal moneylenders were easily available and could be seen at bus stops and electric poles, providing a "short cut" for those desperate for cash.

       "On average, we receive almost 10 reports every day from borrowers, who came to us saying they cannot pay the moneylenders – and they include Form Five students," he said.

       He said some of the borrowers had been threatened and their houses splashed with red paint.

       Asked to elaborate on the students, he said one of them had borrowed money to pay a gambling debt.

       The loan was only RM1,000 but it spiralled to RM5,000, he said when met by reporters after handing over three tonnes of mineral water for frontliners in Kelantan to Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital (HPRZ II) director Datuk Dr Selasawati Ghazali here on Sunday (July 4).

       Meanwhile, Dr Selasawati thanked PPIK for the contribution which will be distributed to frontliners at HRPZ II and at the Covid-19 Low Risk Quarantine and Treatment Centres in the state. – Bernama