Lion dance troupes in Johor say loansharks duped them into harassing debtors

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