Paying a heavy price
Gambling takes a heavy toll on beautiful and popular lifestyle influencer.
PETALING JAYA: Beneath the good looks and popularity on YouTube as a lifestyle influencer, the story of Yang Bao Bei is a cautionary tale for all.
Yang, 27, has caused a stir on social media ever since she made a public confession about losing all her money in gambling.
She spoke about gambling to fund her lifestyle which eventually got her into huge debts with loan sharks.
“The first time I gambled, I won RM30,000 with RM300. Because of this, I thought that gambling was a way out.
“But there was one time I lost big and eventually lost all my money. I panicked. All I wanted to do was to look for a way to win my money back.
“So I got the idea of borrowing from ah long (loan sharks),” said Yang in a YouTube video that racked up 1.8 million views since it was uploaded five days ago.
Despite her occasional wins, she said the money was not enough to settle her loans, which came with exorbitantly high daily interest and often added up with extra late charges.
She spoke of being devastated and “could not see a way out”.
“There was no turning back. To buy time, I took up more loans from other loan sharks,” she said, adding that the loan sharks, after failing to get money from her, harassed her family members.
She also resorted to selling her valuable possessions such as luxury bags online to earn some cash.
“The response turned out quite good that I got blinded and decided to sell the same luxury bags to different buyers so that I could collect the deposits,” she said, adding that the scam was soon exposed by netizens.
Yang, who is better known as YBB, has about half a million subscribers on her popular YouTube channel.
Her personal life came under social media spotlight when she was rescued by firefighters from the ledge of a building in Puchong, Selangor, on April 17.
The confession video was her first appearance since the drama last month.
She began the video with a deep bow, saying: “I want to apologise to my family and friends. I know I made a huge mistake.
“I promise to be responsible for my actions and will pay back the victims who have paid to buy bags and channels from me,” she said, referring to the luxury bags and YouTube channels that she put up for sale to get money.
After being rescued by firemen, Yang said she came to her senses when she was in police custody.
“During the time I spent in detention, I realised that my actions were very selfish. Hence I am standing here to face the consequences.
“I regret my mistakes and I have hurt those who love me,” she said.
She ended the video with another bow, saying that she would turn over a new leaf and return all the money to those who had tried to buy items from her.
Yang advised the public not to follow her path or get addicted to gambling, as it is a dead-end road.
“Communicate with your family when problems arise. Do not try to escape from any problem or cover it up,” she added.
On Monday, Yang posted another video to update about her efforts to refund 61 buyers.
Among those who have been supportive of her was deejay Leng Yein, who said Yang had been processing the refunds in the past few days.
“Let the action speak for itself,” Leng posted on Facebook.