Prediction came true

Last September 9, I wrote the following letter to an online newspublisher but was unpublished:-

Dear Sir,

I expect Bank Negara will be inundated with fake Rm1 coins by December 7, 2005.

Coffee-shop talk in Perak alone had it that there were 2 cases of syndicates minting those coins in small industrial estates.

It seems they used a light industrial premises which outwardly appeared to be a genuine business. Behind closed doors, they were minting Rm1 coins with the help of immigrant labourers.

Some small traders were approached outright to exchange Rm600 for Rm1,000 fakes. One bright spark even used an ingenious way by offering the traders small change service but actually gave them Rm600 in 50-, 20- and 10-sen coins and Rm400 in fake Rm1 coins.

There was a case where a good Samaritan thought a factory was on fire and called the fire brigade. When the fire brigade came, the culprits fled. It must have been a crude way of melting metal by using primitive furnace which gave a huge glow which appeared like the building was on fire.

Anyway, it is not important whether the stories were true, but the fact was that fake coins have been in circulation for some years. The security features, if any, must have been useless if ordinary folks can produce them. Bank Negara should have nibbed the problem in the bud instead of waiting until now to recall the coins.

When it was first rumoured, then confirmed by press statements, that the coins will be taken out of circulation, traders and customers alike have been avoiding them like the plague. Then there were stories of different treatment by different banks. Some bank staff arbitrarily confirmed certain coins were fakes and confiscated them as part of official policy to take them out of circulation. Those affected could not help wondering if they were taken for a ride.

Since the complaints were highlighted, Bank Negara announced that all coins will be accepted until December 7. I believe there are people out there who will take this opportunity to print more fakes to take advantage of this policy. The dateline should be brought forward to prevent opportunists from doing so.

I, for one, will be interested to know how much of the coins collected by them are fakes. Bank Negara owes us a duty to inform us later.

Yours faithfully,

Layman