Malaysians who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic can now withdraw up to RM10,000 from their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to help them ride the wave during these difficult times (before you withdraw the money, check out the pros and cons here).

For some, the money will be used to help them pay off mounting debts. For others, they are looking at using the money to start a small business so that they can earn more money in return.

Like this man from Kedah, for example.

Scared money don't make no money

The unnamed man found a way to double his earnings using the money he withdrew from i-Sinar, but he got into trouble because it's not even remotely legal.

According to a report by The Sun, the man used his i-Sinar funds to rent a lorry and used it to illegally transport ketum (Mitragyna speciosa) leaves.

His side hustle came to an end on Tuesday (19 January) when he was arrested by the police.

Yikes.


The police apparently pulled him over at Jalan Kampung Tong Prok, Padang Kerbau after he was spotted driving his three-tonne lorry in a suspicious manner.

Upon inspection, the police found 80 bags of ketum leaves weighing 1.5 tonnes, which is said to be worth RM22,000.

When questioned by the police, the man said that he had lost his job as an express bus driver in June, and he used his i-Sinar money to rent a lorry for RM2,500 a month so that he could earn some money by helping people transport items such as food and furniture.


He later confessed that he was paid RM2,000 per trip to transport the ketum leaves from Kuala Nerang, Kedah to Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

Pendang district police chief DSP Arriz Sham Hamezah told the news portal that the man is being remanded for four days and will be investigated under Section 30 (3) of the Poisons Act 1952.

DSP Arriz added that the man doesn’t have a prior criminal record, and police are now looking for the person who hired him.

A man and his speed bumps

The Kedah man was not the first to think of a creative use for their i-Sinar money.

Last week, 40-year-old Nor Muhamad Roslam Harun decided to install a whopping 11 speed bumps next to his house because he was disturbed by the noisy vehicles that were speeding everytime they pass by.

According to Bernama, Roslam spent RM1,080 of RM5,000 of his i-Sinar EPF fund to build the speed bumps at Kampung Padang Luas, Jertih, Besut.


However, his dream of having peace and serenity came to an end after policemen came to his house to remove the bumps.

Roslan then apologised and admitted his mistake of building so many speed bumps for a distance of less than 40 metres and creating an unnecessary hassle for other residents to get to the main road.