KUALA LUMPUR – Julau MP Datuk Larry Sng said he believes the recent run-in with a gang of troublemakers might be the result of a personal grudge against him for winning the Julau seat.
Sng claims these gangsters were not upset about the meagre RM5 angpao he handed out but rather the large amounts of money they lost when he clinched victory.
On Facebook, Sng recounted the events that led to the arrest of four individuals, insisting it was not a dispute over pocket change.
Sng claimed these gangsters had a bone to pick because they backed the wrong candidate in the last election and suffered heavy losses in a gambling spree when Sng emerged victorious.
He also mentioned an alleged attack on his vehicle bonnet by four individuals on May 13, 2023, and that the car was stolen two days after the incident.
However, he said he did not lodge a police report then because he was not present at the function.
Sng explained that during a Chinese New Year house visit in Julau on February 11, he had packed RM5 angpao for children for good fortune and to preserve the Chinese custom of handing out angpao.
However, around 12.30pm, he was approached by a group of gangsters asking for the money packets.
“I told them that it was small money but since they insisted, I gave it to them for luck. After 20 minutes, the head of the gang returned with an angpao with RM20 in it.
“At 5pm, as I was leaving the Pakan district officer’s house, four gangsters including their head surrounded me and said the amount was too small and expressed. I agreed and told them that next year I will prepare more.
“They then asked for RM500 which I agreed to bank in to someone they know. But as I entered the car, they refused to disperse and had started arguing with my supporters to the point of pushing Tuai Rumah (head of long house) Empi to the ground,” Sng said.
He said his entourage was informed by the gang leader during the event that the gangsters had readied weapons in their car and were planning to attack Sng.
Sng lodged a police report immediately after the incident, which led to the arrests of four individuals aged between 32 and 53 in Pagan for suspected gangsterism.
The case is being investigated under Section 506 of the Penal Code for criminal intimidation, which provides up to two years in prison, a fine, or both upon conviction.
Yesterday, Sng claimed in a Facebook post that “untouchable” gangsters have turned Julau from a once peaceful rural town into something from the “Wild West”.
The MP claimed that the gangsters have forced local coffee shop proprietors to buy their contraband in Pakan and Julau and have squeezed the profit margins of the shopkeepers.
He also claimed that the gangsters had sold methamphetamine in public in the Julau township several months ago to demonstrate that they were “untouchable” while offering loans with exorbitant interest rates to locals and threatening violence if they failed to repay. – February 16, 2024
