Give bankrupts a chance

I READ with great hope and optimism the letter “Bankruptcy law outdated” (The Star, June 25).

I am in my mid-60s. Due to some corporate politicking, I lost my last job as CEO of a public-listed company. I was forced to resign when I was in my early 50s. At that then so-called “old age”, I could not secure a job even though I was prepared to take anything no matter how low in the job hierarchy just to support my family.

The compensation that I received lasted less than two years. Since my exit was unplanned and with inadequate savings, I defaulted on my bills and loans. The banks started coming after me. My only house was auctioned off and my cars were repossessed. The sky came falling down. Apart from my skills and my family, I lost my job, my friends – everything.

I was declared a bankrupt in 2001. After this, all doors to employment were closed to me.

To support my family and ensure that my children completed their university education, I took up all sorts of jobs with business entities where the salary is either paid in cash or through cash cheques because I wasn’t allowed to operate a bank account.

With no formal offer letter for employment, I was exploited many times. The least paying job that I once took was as a lorry attendant with a monthly salary of RM600 which was paid not in a lump sum but staggered over a period of one month. At another point in my life, I worked as a waiter. Putting food on the table was a daily struggle but I survived.

One of my childhood friends was not so lucky. He passed away last year, a broken man financially and emotionally. Prior to the forced mergers of banks during the late ‘90s, he was the chief operations officer of a bank. Having taken the mandatory separation scheme (MSS) coupled with not being able to secure a job with a reasonable salary, and fearing that his money would run out as he was only in his late 40s, he ventured into business. Unfortunately, instead of stretching his ringgit, he lost all his money. Not long after that, he was declared a bankrupt.

He was a good man and whatever happened to him was not of his own doing. He could not find a job. His wife left him. I knew he died broken hearted.

With his skills, knowledge and capabilities, people like him and me should be given a second chance to start afresh and rebuild our lives. After all, with the longer life expectancy of Malaysians now, senior citizens like us should be given the chance to earn and be less dependent on our children.

The country can also gain by tapping on our vast experience.

In the era of Malaysia Baru, where reform is the order of the day, please reform the existing archaic bankruptcy laws and move in tandem with other developed countries. Those countries that have taken the bankruptcy laws to a new level cannot be wrong. As the writer of the letter wrote, “even criminal offenders are released after they have served their sentences.” Bankrupts are not criminals. My friend and I were just plain unlucky.

In the era of Malaysia Baru, where being given a second chance is happening – the rakyat gave our PM a second chance to rebuild Malaysia; a second chance for Tun Daim Zainuddin to right what is wrong in the country’s economy; a second chance to Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia; a second chance to Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and etc. – please give bankrupts the same chance.

In the era of Malaysia Baru where the true meaning of “old is gold” is being validated, with our PM epitomising it all, giving a citizen in his mid-60s who is yearning to live a decent life for the next 30 years, God willing, and to continue to contribute to this beautiful country of ours a second chance is not asking for too much.

HOPEFUL & OPTIMISTIC Kuala Lumpur