MCA Youth to raise awareness on scams with short film competition

PETALING JAYA: To raise awareness about scams, MCA Youth will be organising a short film competition with cash prizes to be won.

MCA Youth chief Datuk Nicole Wong (pic) said that since the "Reject Syndicate" campaign was held on March 31, there have been many calls daily from across the nation asking for help.

She said they had received over 100 cases from the public, mostly about their relatives falling prey to human trafficking syndicates.

"On April 12, through the combined efforts of MCA Youth, the police and Wisma Putra, 12 Malaysians were successfully rescued from syndicates and returned to Malaysia.

"Four more who were tested positive for Covid-19 will also be returning after completing quarantine," she said in a statement on Thursday (April 14).

Wong added that in some cases, victims were forced to persuade other friends at home to join them and unsuspectingly fall into the trap.

"It is hoped that the short films produced will raise awareness amongst Malaysian youths to be more careful and not be enticed by sweet promises of attractive pay and benefits," she said.

MCA Youth secretary-general Daniel Wa said the competition is only open to Malaysians.

"Scams in Malaysia should be the main theme – including employment scam, online shopping scams, romance scam and loan scam, among others.

He said each film should be three minutes long and the deadline for submissions is on May 9.

"There are 13 prizes in total with RM2,000 for first place, RM1,500 for the first runner up, RM1,000 for third place and 10 special prizes of RM500 each," he said.

To take part, participants must follow the MCA National Youth Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/mcanationalyouth.

Entries received will be posted on the MCA National Youth Facebook page for public voting from May 10 to 27.

The first, second, and third prize winners will be selected by the panel of judges, while the top 10 entries with the highest number of "likes" will receive a special prize each.

The result will be announced through the MCA National Youth Facebook page on May 30 and winners will be contacted through email.

For any enquiries, please contact MCA Youth at 03-2716 5935.

Present at the launching ceremony were MCA Youth Civil Society Movement Coordination Bureau chief Heng Zhi Li, Melaka MCA Youth chief Denis Lee Han Lim, and MCA Youth Central committee members Tan Jie Sen and Ong Yu Pey.