A worrying case has come to light in Singapore, where a 20-year-old Malaysian secretary has been sent to prison for four months. Her crime? Systematically defrauded her employer of over SGD38,000 (RM126,041) to tip TikTok influencers, highlighting the growing financial risks associated with online "parasocial" relationships—where people feel a strong, one-sided connection to online personalities.
How the Money Was Taken
Zhou Yu’en (transliteration) admitted to a charge of criminal breach of trust. She worked as a secretary at New Lixing Hardware and Environmental Pte Ltd, a recycling company, earning SGD2,300 (RM7,630) per month. Her job involved handling cash payments to customers for recyclable materials.
The company's payment system was straightforward: customers would bring in materials, get a receipt from the warehouse staff, and then go to the office to get paid. Zhou's job was to prepare payment slips, get customer signatures, and pay them cash from a cash box. When the cash in the box got low, she would tell her boss to put more money in.
The illegal activities began on 2nd December 2024, when Zhou’s boss went overseas, leaving her alone with access to the cash box. Over just five weeks, until 9th January 2025, Zhou embezzled company funds over 42 separate times. Individual amounts ranged from as little as SGD65 (RM215) to over SGD2,000 (RM6,607), adding up to a huge total of SGD38,315.30 (RM126,041).
To hide what she was doing, Zhou carefully faked payment slips and forged signatures, trying to create false records that matched the money she had embezzled. All the stolen money went towards "da shang" (打赏), a popular practice on social media where users give virtual gifts to content creators that can then be turned into real money by the influencers, acting like tips or donations.
A Stark Warning for Financial Health
This case serves as a clear warning about how social media culture can lead individuals into serious financial trouble and even criminal behaviour. Zhou, earning SGD2,300 (RM7,630) monthly, stole over 16 months' worth of her own salary in just over a month. This substantial amount was then wasted on fleeting online interactions with people who likely didn't even know she existed.
While the prosecution noted Zhou’s cooperation and lack of prior criminal record, along with her young age, she was ultimately sentenced to four months in prison due to the significant sum involved. This incident underscores the worrying disconnect that can arise from deep "parasocial relationships" in the digital world and highlights the critical need for strong money controls within companies and greater awareness of the psychological and financial pressures certain online behaviours can create.
(Source: The Rakyat Post)
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