JOHOR BAHRU – A pair of Johor lion dance troupes say they were duped into performing at homes on the pretext of delivering birthday surprises, only to discover they had been manipulated by loan sharks to harass debtors.
Kulai Hua Yi Lion and Dragon Dance Association head Lai En Liang said he received a booking to surprise a man in Taman Johor Jaya for his birthday on April 6.
The caller had also requested that the performance be recorded in order to receive the payment from someone at the location, he said.
“We often receive bookings for such surprise performances, so we accepted his request for a RM1,388 (S$420) package.
“We travelled 39km from Kulai to the house for the supposed surprise performance, and did our lion dance routine and shouted well wishes as instructed.
“Then a woman came out of the house looking shocked. She said no such person was staying there,” he said in a press conference organised by Johor Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) Youth public services and complaints bureau chief Henry Mok on April 9.
“When I contacted the caller for payment, the man refused and even asked if we were interested in future ‘jobs’ to ‘entertain’ other debtors for a fee of RM1,000,” Mr Lai added.
Meanwhile, Hok Quan Lion Dance Johor Bahru team leader Ng How Ching shared a similar experience involving a last-minute booking on April 4 to surprise a woman for her birthday in Taman Pelangi.
“Since it was a last-minute booking, I requested a RM300 deposit, which the caller paid online. He told us that the rest of the payment would be made by someone else at the location.
“We reached the ‘birthday’ woman’s house with a team of 10 lion dancers and performed a 10-minute routine and shouted auspicious greetings despite the rain, but nobody came out,” he said.
Mr Ng added that an Indonesian woman later came out and claimed that no such person was living there.
She also called the police and a patrol car showed up soon after, he said, adding that they left the scene after explaining the situation to the authorities.
“Later, we returned to the house hoping to receive the remaining payment as most of our performers were school students expecting their allowance for performing.
“That’s when I noticed a funeral wreath at the front door with the woman’s name on it. I felt that we have been manipulated and duped into unsavoury activities,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Mok said he would assist both groups in lodging police reports regarding the incidents to alert the authorities about the new tactic.
“Aside from these two troupes, another lion dance group was also duped using a similar method to harass debtors,” he said.
“Johor MCA Youth strongly condemns this tactic. It is unacceptable to misuse a cultural art form that symbolises joy, celebration, and goodwill,” he said.
Mr Mok urged other lion dance troupes that may have experienced similar scams to come forward and report them to raise public awareness. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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