In need of a helping loan

In need of a helping loan

By MEERA VIJAYAN
meera@thestar.com.my

Cha: Had to use up his life savings.

BUSINESSMAN Cha Kwan Jin’s young face was furrowed with worry as he flipped through a stack of letters in his office in Kota Tinggi. 

He pointed to one, a letter from the Small and Medium Industry Development Corporation (SMIDEC) that was offering him a grant of RM100,000. 

But, said Cha, 30, the offer to him was as good as rubbish. 

The reason? He was not able to raise the balance he needed to buy machines to replace those that were damaged beyond repair when floodwaters swept through his factory four months ago. 

The banks, he said, had refused to loan him the remaining RM154,000 even though he had a clean financial record. 

“The government tries to help us, but the banks only want to help the rich. They don’t care about poor people like us,” he said matter-of-factly. 

Unable to get the loan, Cha, who manufactures metal gates and grills, was forced to use his life savings and borrow from relatives and friends to restart his business. 

On top of that, he also had to roll money from another business to make ends meet after he threw out thousands of ringgit worth of rusty metal machines and equipment destroyed by the flood. 

“Sekarang semua sudah korek bersih (Everything has been scraped clean),” he said, referring to his empty bank balance. 

Several times through the interview, Cha rubbed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair in apparent frustration. 

On his feet: Rahmat, one of the lucky ones, now owns four tyre shops after he was forced to close the one destroyed by floods.

Fortunately for him, he has an understanding supplier who offered to let him hutang or buy on credit for about five months. 

Even so, he said, if the floods return at the end of the year, he will seriously consider closing down his business and changing industries. 

“Sekarang pun business sudah separuh mati (Even now the business is partially dead). If you look around, you will see many abandoned business premises in Kota Tinggi that are now home to birds,” he said. 

There is a nagging fear among the residents in Kota Tinggi that the floods could strike again and destroy everything they have struggled to rebuild — their homes, businesses and livelihoods — after the last one. 

Goat breeder N. Shatia, 41, is just starting to restock his farm again after 39 of his 60 goats were washed away and another 12 died from exposure to the cold once the waters had subsided. 

It has been a difficult time for him because he was not able to secure a bank loan to buy new livestock, as the banks had previously blacklisted him. 

During the flood, Shatia and his family were forced to live in the raised part of the goat pen for three days because his house in Kampung Ulu Sungai Johor in Ulu Tiram was submerged. 

Shatia, who now has 20 goats, said he was only given about RM1,500 in compensation, at the rate of RM150 per goat. 

“That money wouldn’t even buy me a ram since one costs about RM2,000,” he despaired, adding that 30 of his pregnant nanny-goats were killed in the floods. 

Unable to afford adult goats for breeding, Shatia was forced to buy goat kids, as the younger animals were cheaper. 

This, however, meant that he would not be able to make any money from them until they were mature enough for breeding. 

Shatia also tries to put aside some money whenever possible so he can keep on buying one or two goat kids a month to build up his farm again. 

“My wife who works in Singapore will just have to continue supporting our family for at least another year,” he sighed. 

Over at Bukit Kepong in Muar, poultry farmer Tan Jeck Hong, 41, is also unhappy with the fact that he could not secure a bank loan to rebuild his business, which, he said, had shrunk by half after the floods killed some 100,000 of his livestock. 

Times are so bad that his supplier, who previously allowed him to buy things on credit for up to three months, now wants the payments to be settled immediately, he said. 

“The most he will allow now is a 10-day delay,” he said, adding that he preferred not to speak about his financial problems. 

One person who has found his footing again is tyre shop owner Rahmat Sidik, 48, who now owns four shops in Kota Tinggi after he was forced to close one that was destroyed by the floods. 

He said his business was improving and he had not encountered any problem securing bank loans and grants. 

“The banks were really friendly and some even approached me directly to offer their loans,” said Rahmat, who applied for RM50,000 and was loaned the full amount. In addition, he said, Mara gave him another RM50,000 loan and he is still waiting for a RM60,000 grant from SMIDEC. 

The entrepreneur said that although his business had recovered well after the floods, he believed that the situation of businesses in Kota Tinggi would continue to decline slightly over the next two years. 

“The upward trend would only be visible in the third year once businesses had stabilised,” he said.