Singaporean mother, 31, terminated days after suicide attempt due to unjust loan shark harassment reflects on relationship with work

At 3:00am on 8 July 2024, Ryna (not her real name), sent a goodbye note to her colleagues and friends. She was at her wit’s end due to endless, and baseless, harassment from loan sharks.

Ryna, 31, is the sole breadwinner of her family and a mother of a 5-year-old child.

The harassment from loan sharks was baseless as Ryna had already paid off what she borrowed in full. However, as she was such a “good payee“, the loan sharks continued to badger her to take further loans.

When she refused to take further loans, the harassment escalated.

Before her suicide attempt, she dropped her colleagues and friends a goodbye message. Wake Up Singapore had sight of the “goodbye message” which was at the tail-end of several bullet points of work-related updates.

In her intended parting note, she also apologised if her death would result in her colleagues “drowning in work“.

Attempted Suicide on 8 July 2024

One of Ryna’s friends who happened to be awake immediately alerted the authorities. Ryna was then admitted in the Institute of Mental Health (“IMH“) for one night.

She was given hospitalisation leave from 8 July 2024 to 14 July 2024.

On 11 July 2024, she decided to go back to her office to inform her employers about what was happening. That very evening, through her LinkedIn and public profiles, the loan sharks started harassing her company.

Informed of Company’s intention to terminate on 12 July 2024

On 12 July 2024, when she went to her office to inform her employer about the situation, she was informed that the Company intended to terminate her. This less than 24 hours after the loan sharks first reached out to Ryna’s employers.

She tried explaining that the harassment from loan sharks was baseless as there was no outstanding debt. The issue was, as explained above, that she refused to take any further loans.

As Ryna was sobbing and distressed after she was informed that the company intended to terminate her, her employer also asked Ryna to send them her mother’s and brother’s number as they were worried that she would do something else to hurt herself.

After all, this was a mere four days after her suicide attempt.

On 12 July 2024 itself, her employer applied email forwarding to her emails to facilitate the handover process.

She was also promptly removed from work-related Whatsapp groups.

Prior to her termination, she worked for the company for more than two years.

Paid loan sharks off to stop harassment

On 13 July 2024, Ryna’s employer informed her that the loan sharks reached out via Facebook to harass them further.

Her employer asked Ryna to get the loansharks to stop.

In a state of extreme distress, Ryna transferred SGD 400.00 to the loansharks just to get them to stop harassing.

In my panic, I actually offered to pay the loan sharks and my boss just thought “oh ok that should get them to stop for now”, now that I look back at this, I shouldn’t have made contact with the loansharks and I shouldn’t have paid them any money, but because my boss told me to make them stop, I panicked and felt the need to.

Ryna is unsure if her employer did eventually file a police report against the errant loan sharks.

According to her, her employer did not ask her for any evidence or investigate the matter further.

If there was a real threat to the company, I believe they should’ve at least have done an investigation

The bottom-line was that Ryna simply did not owe any money.

At the material time, Ryna was strongly medicated and stressed. Looking back, she wished that her former employer would have handled the situation better.

Termination Letter dated 15 July 2024

On 15 July 2024, by way of a letter that Wake Up Singapore had sight of, Ryna was informed that her employment would be terminated with effect from 17 July 2024.

Amongst other things, she was given two month’s salary in lieu of notice.

While Ryna is entirely aware that what her employer did was legal, she was disappointed with the lack of empathy.

I know it was legal for my company to fire me, and they had followed the law.

But to just dump an employee who was there for 2.5 years in a time of need, is beyond me. I support my elderly mum, I have a 5 year old daughter and I have always gone above and beyond for my colleagues. I was already living paycheck to paycheck, now with the horrible job market, I have to stress so much more. I wasn’t even given a farewell, not even a ‘note’, I think it just goes to show that companies will discard you, even when you’re going through a mental health crisis.

Where is the empathy?

This experience made her reflect on ‘hard truths’ about her relationship with work. In her own words:-

This experience has shifted my view on work. I used to think that we’ve evolved as a society, to one that understands that employees are ultimately human beings, and they have human problems.

One hard truth: colleagues aren’t your friends. When push comes to shove, you’ll be let go without a second thought. Draw that line and protect yourself. No job is worth sacrificing your health for, and employers should recognise that supporting employees in tough times, should be practised not just preached.

People make difficult decisions under pressure, and instead of judging, we should try to offer support.

She also encouraged others who are facing mental heath struggles or financial pressures to keep seeking help—whether through friends, family, or professional support.

Further loan shark harassment on 17 July 2024

The loan sharks hounding Ryna to take further loans also sent Grab deliveries to her place with a request for “cash payment only”. This happened so often that Ryna placed poster outside her place to inform delivery riders (unknowingly) sent by the loan sharks that they were not accepting orders.

On 17 July 2024, after she was formally terminated, the harassment reached harrowing heights.

The loan sharks sent a letter to other residents of the HDB flat Ryna resided in which had Ryna’s face and NRIC number. The letter stated that this would be the “Final Warning” before the loan sharks “come up and burn you and your neighbour fucking house!!!“.

The letter was accompanied by hell notes, and asked Ryna to “Call Lincoln“.

Ryna filed a police report after she had sight of the letters. A copy of the police report was extended to Wake Up Singapore. She also installed a ring camera on her door.

For context, in May 2024, Ryna filled up a form for a loan request for what she thought was a licensed moneylender. After she submitted the form online, one Lincoln contacted her. The loan was disbursed and settled within 4 weeks.

The issue was that, as explained at the outset, that a good payee like Ryna refused to take further loans.

Ryna did not wish to name her employer as she wanted to share her story to reflect on the relationships we have with work, and not to blame anyone in particular.

When push comes to shove, you’ll be let go without a second thought. Draw that line and protect yourself. No job is worth sacrificing your health for, and employers should recognise that supporting employees in tough times, should be practised not just preached.