Move to blacklist loan defaulters gets full support
Sunday April 13, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: Those who have been diligently paying back their education loans support the firm action being proposed against defaulters.
Among them is radiologist Dr K. Kanagalingam, 43, who said it was unfair for government scholars not to pay back their loans as they would deprive others of the benefit.
“If I am paying back my loan monthly and promptly, why are they not? They also signed an agreement like me and should pay the Government back.”
Dr Kanagalingam’s parents financed his basic medical degree and he took a loan to do his masters in radiology for four years (1995 to 1999) in Universiti Malaya.
So far, he has paid back RM25,000 of the RM80,000 loan he took and intends to pay every sen back.
“They should be grateful the Government gave them loans. Many did not get such facilities.
“They are supposed to be professionals, yet they don’t pay. It is sad they do not have a conscience.
“They owe it society to pay back the loan,” he said.
It was reported yesterday that the Public Service Department (PSD) has come up with a last-gasp measure to recover loans by putting defaulters on the credit-rating blacklist to bar them from getting any more loans.
However, bank officer Faizal Alam, 35, hoped the Government would take into consideration borrowers who defaulted on their loan repayments because of financial problems.
Recounting his own case, he said he stopped his civil engineering programme in his second year when he found that it wasn’t what he wanted.
“I went straight to work and my starting pay wasn’t that high. PSD tracked me down but they were kind enough to understand that I could not afford to pay back the whole sum in one go, so after negotiating with them, they allowed me to pay in affordable instalments.”
He said he did not regret leaving his course as he has found a career that suited him better, but if he had spent all his first few years of work to pay back his “debt”, he would not have succeeded.
“At the same time, the graduates or students also need to be honest with the authorities.”
KUALA LUMPUR: Those who have been diligently paying back their education loans support the firm action being proposed against defaulters.
Among them is radiologist Dr K. Kanagalingam, 43, who said it was unfair for government scholars not to pay back their loans as they would deprive others of the benefit.
“If I am paying back my loan monthly and promptly, why are they not? They also signed an agreement like me and should pay the Government back.”
Dr Kanagalingam’s parents financed his basic medical degree and he took a loan to do his masters in radiology for four years (1995 to 1999) in Universiti Malaya.
So far, he has paid back RM25,000 of the RM80,000 loan he took and intends to pay every sen back.
“They should be grateful the Government gave them loans. Many did not get such facilities.
“They are supposed to be professionals, yet they don’t pay. It is sad they do not have a conscience.
“They owe it society to pay back the loan,” he said.
It was reported yesterday that the Public Service Department (PSD) has come up with a last-gasp measure to recover loans by putting defaulters on the credit-rating blacklist to bar them from getting any more loans.
However, bank officer Faizal Alam, 35, hoped the Government would take into consideration borrowers who defaulted on their loan repayments because of financial problems.
Recounting his own case, he said he stopped his civil engineering programme in his second year when he found that it wasn’t what he wanted.
“I went straight to work and my starting pay wasn’t that high. PSD tracked me down but they were kind enough to understand that I could not afford to pay back the whole sum in one go, so after negotiating with them, they allowed me to pay in affordable instalments.”
He said he did not regret leaving his course as he has found a career that suited him better, but if he had spent all his first few years of work to pay back his “debt”, he would not have succeeded.
“At the same time, the graduates or students also need to be honest with the authorities.”
posted by Toyers at
9:07 AM
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