Update Feb. 9, 2014, 12.00am: Crowdfunding donation target smashed in 7 hours: More than S$11,700 raised for elderly man conned of life savings
The New Paper on Feb. 8, 2015, broke a story of mind-numbingly wicked proportions about how a 70-year-old man was cheated out of everything and into handing over his $2,000 monthly pay check from working two jobs to two con women in the last 15 years.
The ruse? The two women told him he had owed the government money and he had to repay it.
This resulted in the elderly man, Tan Soy Klang, having to borrow money from his neighbours and 73-year-old sister to feed himself, despite working non-stop.
The cheating was only uncovered in 2013, when his 39-year-old niece returned from Australia and found out what was going on.
She then went to the police.
A 65-year-old woman has been arrested for cheating, while the other 69-year-old woman is assisting the police with investigations.
Singaporeans are quick to act
The story has struck a raw nerve, as within a few hours of the news breaking, one Singaporean, Dan Chen has turned to crowdfunding site Indiegogo to raise money for Mr Tan.
If there is one thing Singaporeans can do well, it is being moved to give money when they sense injustice has occurred.
Previously, a crowdfunding campaign to raise S$1,250 to buy an iPhone 6 for a Vietnamese tourist who was scammed at Sim Lim Square and seen begging on his knees for his money back, raised some S$15,542 (US$12,431) in total.
The funding target was, in fact, breached in 54 minutes, when S$1,600 was raised within an hour’s time.
Source: http://mothership.sg
