MCA TO HELP FIND JOBS FOR PUSHERS WHO TURN OVER NEW LEAF

IPOH: The MCA is prepared to assist repentant Ecstasy pushers get new
jobs, Perak Youth chief Ho Cheng Wang said yesterday.

The party had identified several Ecstasy pushers after receiving
tip-offs from the public, he said, adding that he had received three
tip-offs from grassroots members in two days and managed to trace two
pushers.

"I had a talk with them and one admitted he sold Ecstasy pills,'' he
said.

Ho said the man, in his 20s, said he started selling Ecstasy pills
after his friend introduced him to a supplier in Taiping early this
year.

The Ecstasy supplier sold him the pills for about RM50 each and he
made about RM20 profit from every pill he sold.

"The man said he could sell about 30 pills everyday especially on
weekends and public holidays but his business dropped recently when
the police intensified their raids,'' he said, adding that the man
could sell about eight pills a day now.

Ho, who is also the state Health, Science, Technology and Environment
committee chairman, said the man would operate his "business'' from
midnight to 2am.

His customers were mostly Chinese from all age groups.

"The man would usually sell the pills at nightspots but he has taken
his 'business' outside the nightspots so he can easily escape when
police raid the place,'' he said.

Ho said the man, who was also a user, regretted his action and
promised not sell the pills anymore.

"He told me of his difficulty in getting a job after he came back from
Singapore. The MCA is willing to help him find a job if he needs one.

"But people should not use that (difficulty in finding jobs) as an
excuse because the Ecstasy pill is a drug and could threaten people's
health,'' he said.

Ho said the party would report these pushers to the police if they
continued to turn a deaf ear to their advice.