Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Men collect donation under false pretences

Duped: Yong showing the certificate and receipt he was given after making a RM200 donation to the uniformclad men.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/metro (By JAYAGANDI JAYARAJ, 13/7/2010)
A restaurant operator in Taman Sejahtera, Segambut, Kuala Lumpur, became suspicious when three uniform-clad men came to conduct checks at his restaurant on July 9 before asking for a RM3,000 donation. “They were in uniform, complete with name tags but they told us that they were not from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL). “We were alarmed and afraid because they acted like enforcement officers, checking the shop and advising us on restaurant cleanliness and hiring of foreign workers,” said Kwok Weng restaurant owner Yong Chiew Seng, 56. Yong became even more suspicious when the men asked for a RM3,000 donation supposedly for their association gathering.

After negotiating, they settled for RM200, Yong told a press conference organised by Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng recently. He wrote them a cheque for the amount and was presented with a certificate for “Kempen Utamakan Keselamatan dan Kebajikan Pekerja” endorsed by a “Pertubuhan Pembangunan Peniaga and Usahawan”. It was signed by the association’s secretary-general Mukhtar Harun and president Aznan Mat Akit. After the incident, Yong quickly alerted Lim and cancelled the cheque upon his advice.

Meanwhile, Lim urged the public not to be intimidated by people who came into their premises to ask for donations. “The public are not obliged to give donations and they cannot force people into donating. If a person does not want to donate, he can ask the party asking for donations to leave,” said Lim

A call by StarMetro to a landline number printed on the certificate went unanswered. The number was registered to a place in Perak.

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