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The
New Paper, 5 Apr 04
Miss, want to pawn your phone, your car,
your body?
Photojournalist JOYCE LIM describe her encounter with one
LIKE a vulture, the man stood in a corner outside the bustling casino,
waiting to pounce on those looking for more cash for the gaming tables.
Perhaps it was the lost and forlorn look on my face that caught his
attention. Whatever it was, he saw me as a potential customer - someone
who had just lost her battle with Lady Luck.
He edged towards me and asked, in Malaysian-accented Mandarin, if
I was looking for something. Out of curiosity, I replied: 'Money?'
And his face lit up. Then he popped the next question. 'Do you have
anything to pawn?' I told him I did not have any jewellery and asked
if he would accept anything else. 'Handphones, watches and cars will
do, too,' the plump and fair guy rattled off in reply. His sharp eyes
kept darting around the hotel lobby as he talked.
I handed him my handphone - a Panasonic GD88, a gift from my brother
who paid more than $300 for it, and asked what it was worth. After
making some calls on his new, stylish mobile phone, he offered me
RM500 ($220) for it. He told me that I could redeem my handphone within
three days, after which it would belong to him. The same deal applies
to cars. 'You can get double - that is RM1,000 to RM2,000 - to pawn
your car,' he said. 'You'll have to sign an agreement to say that
your car belongs to me after three days.'
Meanwhile, as I pretended to think about his offer, a woman who seemed
to be in her 50s, came out of the casino, escorted by two men. The
men appeared to be working as a group. One of them signalled to the
guy I was talking to and said the woman needed cash. He then waved
to another man standing at the other end of the hotel lobby. He escorted
the woman to a cafeteria nearby. 'Did she want to pawn her jewellery?'
I asked. But I got no reply. The man then made the offer for my handphone
again. 'But it's too little,' I lamented.
Then he gave me a sly look and asked if I would 'do it'. 'Do what?'
I asked. I was puzzled and did not know what he meant. 'Sleep with
men,' he replied. The offer jolted me out of my daze. It was 2am and
I had not had any sleep since I arrived after a long journey at noon
the previous day. 'Outside this place?' I asked, indicating the Genting
hotel. 'No. Inside,' he replied. To try and entice me into accepting
his deal, he said I could get between RM300 and RM500 for sleeping
with a man. He suggested that if the money was not enough, I could
sleep with two. His lewd offer set off alarm bells in my head. It
was time to end the conversation. Hiding my shock, I rejected his
offer and quickly made my way out of the hotel lobby to safer terrain:
My hotel room. |
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