Money

Summary – Tips to avoid being “pau”ed

Have you ever experienced this? you were walking in KL (That’s Kuala Lumpur) when suddenly a stranger walked alongside with you and started to talk to you. After a quick talk he persuasively asked for money giving excuses and all.

Well, it happened to me quite often. I guess I had that look of a non-KL’ian. This is a story of one of them

It was about 6-7 years ago, I was actually walking to the KTM station to buy a ticket for the commuter. Suddenly a man with a bag came to me and said hi. According to him, he was supposed to go back to Klang, and he didn’t have enough money. Looking at him, somehow I felt like helping, so I asked him how much did he need? and surprisingly, he asked for a two way ticket.

I started to be suspicious with him. A man who is desperate will not ask for more money than he needed. Why would he need a two way ticket?

I however, said fine.. but I will buy him the ticket. Guess what? he said that there’s no need, just give him the money and he will buy it himself.

I then walked away…

/end story

Now that was a few years back, I wonder what scam they are doing right now. I unfortunately had quite a number of experience being “kena pau” (I believe that is the term used for the activity). One by a person claimed to be just released from prison with no money and wanting to go to Taiping. Another needed some money to go to clinic (He actually screamed at me cursing when I walked away) and the funniest is a man asking for money to watch a movie.

Tips that may help to avoid being “pau”

  • Always travel in groups or in pairs
  • Try to blend in with the crowd confidently
  • These people actually target those with huge bags
  • Be paranoid in anything that involve in you surrendering your money, what ever the cause.
  • When somebody approach you suspiciously, start walking to the police or security guard, and ask him to help the person.
  • There will be however a person that will really need our help, If a person ask me for money to buy bus ticket, and agreed if I can buy him the ticket.. I will definitely help him.

—- I wonder —-
Have you had any experience being “pau”ed? If yes, what do you do? If not, What will you do? 🙂

———- Personal Experience ————-
Life sure is interesting 🙂 Alhamdulillah… hm by the way, does anyone know the English word for this activity (pau)? It’s not mugged since you can choose not to give him any money..

Don't want to miss a single tip? Get updates via RSS (Full) or Email

Appreciated action :

This post has 11 comments.


Pictures & Avatar next to all comments are courtesy of Gravatar
  1. 04 Dec 07 12:52 am

    Hohohoho..So far kat KL lom pernah kena “PAU”..but in KK masa i masih blajar..pernah…tapi ni dah tahap peminta sedekah…pakai pakaian comot..mmg kotor la..and it’s children..Ade yg cacat lagi…

    Ni lak dia tak aim org yg berjalan..tapi org yg ngah duduk mkn..dia pergi from 1 meja 2 another..pernah nampak bebudak itew mrh klo tak bg dia duit..

    Mejoriti of them are “pilak’s”..klo org Sabah biasa paham la perkataan pilak’s ni..Refer 2 filipino yg dtg tanpa izin…Mak bapak dia la yg dtg tanpa izin..Anak2 mejoriti lahir di Sabah..

    Hohohoho..i biasa klo diaorg dtg kat meja i…i buat derk je..bkn tak nak tlg tapi tau la hidup student,bkn mewah..kena lak blajar kat kolej swasta..Kadang cian tgk bebudak 2..Mak pak dia tul2 tak bertanggungjwb..patut masa 2 mereka blajar kat sekolah..hurmm..

    Hurmmm..klo i kena “PAU” kat KL…sure i larikkkk nye..I never trust anybody in KL except la org yg kita kenal..Yg pasti klo kena pau..jgn la p tempat sunyi mcm lam tv selalu…dah tau kena kejar p lagi tempat sunyi.. Lawak…Hohohoho…

  2. 04 Dec 07 2:37 am

    i went from Univ. Malaya to Pudu with only 24 ringgit in my dompet… the trip itself cost 2 ringgit… when i reached pudu to buy the bus ticket to Kedah… the counter lady said that it cost 24 ringgit… how?
    i pau’ed… asked a man with big bag…
    ‘abang abang… nama saya pocket…saya nak balik kedah… saya tak cukup duit lagi dua inggit… buleh dak abang tulung saya?’ with a face so sincere… anyone would take me as their ‘in laws’.
    after a bit of interrogation… the abang agreed to buy me the ticket… under one condition… he wants to see the whole purchasing process…
    well…works fine for me 😀

    basically helping people is not such a bad thing.
    we just need to have some kind of ‘Standard Operation Procedure’ to ensure no handtwisting occurs.

    Banji…
    Remember SitiDirgahayu or whatever her name was?
    hummmmm…..

  3. filantera
    04 Dec 07 9:00 am

    huuuuuu

    byk kes kena pau, but one case i remember…

    my friend and i are just finished performing solat at masjid
    then came a man, healthy looking. middle of 40’s. he give salam, and start talking. i have forseen it already that ‘pau’ is on its way.

    then, he start his story. he came from somewhere doing somewhat the something happen. asking us to borrow some RM.

    i am very hesitated with this man and his story, because of the story line and timeline is very unclear.

    but,

    my friend just take out some money ang give it to the man…..after he left, i asked, why do u give him the money? from the story, this point doesnt correlate with this point and bla bla

    he just said, when we give the money, regardless whether he is a big liar or what, the sedekah will still count. the rest, let him handle it with The Almighty….

    tp kalau minta duit nak tgk wayang tu melampau laa…..:D

    another way (newest in Pau)
    “errr banji, my account num ada lagi kan? mmmmmm nak kena gi kL laaaa:D”

  4. 04 Dec 07 10:43 am

    hmm… kalau dah nama duduk dkt kl ni, tak sah kalau tak kena pau.
    saye pernah sekali, tp dgn budak lelaki yg rasanya lebih muda dari saya. dia mintak RM1.
    and then I asked him nak buat ape? Dia kata takde ape-ape, pastu tersengih mcm kerang busuk.
    oleh kerana saya seorang kakak yg baik (cheewah!!) saya pon bagila. kesian, lapar kot.
    tp tu ok lagi. saya pon pernah kena kacau dkt CM. masa tu jln sorang2 nak balik rumah.
    adala mamat yg tak berapa hensem dtg tegur, tp saya tak layan.
    dia tak mintak duit pon, tp dia adala ganggu saya, kata nak temankan balik rumah ke?? poyo betol.
    tp oleh kerana saya seorang yg menyombong (according to my dad), saya bolayan and just walked straight. sikit pon tak rasa takut.

    so I think in the end you have to be brave to not to let yourself kena pau or just give the money, if you feel pity for the person or if you feel you’re in danger 🙂
    a good topic, bang banji!!

  5. 04 Dec 07 11:45 am

    sumtimes it’s make me laughed bila tringat cerita kena pau ni.. i had before wif rm2 sumwhere around KL. Then, one of my fren oso kena wif the same ‘tukang pau’ rm2 ni..

    one day, while we hanging around, we accidently meet the ‘tukang pau’ at petaling street, u noe wat bro, we ‘pau’ the ‘tukang pau’ balik ok!! coz we noe dat person trying cheating ppl within the area wif rm2.. sooo malu dat ‘tukang pau’ yg ‘KENA PAU’ itu.. muahahhaa..

    *pssst.. we pau her wif rm5.. hihi extra rm1

  6. banji
    04 Dec 07 12:31 pm

    aRa – so skrg dah belajar dua perkataan sabah, palis dan pilak 🙂

    selalunya kalau budak2 mcm tu minta sedekah, mmg sindiket tu. org minta sedekah ni kdg2 lagi kaya dari kita kan? ada pernah baca dulu, siap balik naik teksi lagi, yg kita ni naik bas je

    tapi seingat sy kat kl ni, kebanyakkan yg pau tu, mmg diorg tak marah kalau tak bagi, just bagitau mmg takde duit. then diorg tak kacau lagi. somehow mcm code diorg kut. tapi kalau kita marah2 diorg, mesti kena marah balik.. 🙂 so takyah lari2, just bagitau takde duit

  7. banji
    04 Dec 07 12:35 pm

    DaPocket – I sure hope you will be using that “anyone-would-take-me-as-their-in-law” face this engagement discussion. eh wait a minute, you’re not allowed to be present at the discussion. Teach me then heheh

    Luckily that man helped you ya.. and I bet some shed of tears may appear when he helped heheh

    Siti Norgahayu.. hmm of course I remember, but I fail to see any connection with the topic pau.. she pau’ed you before is it? or she pau’ed me?

  8. banji
    04 Dec 07 12:40 pm

    filantera – I guess you can look at it that way, it’s a sedekah and how he’s using the money is his matter with The Almighty.

    but, I truly believe that if we know for a fact that that someone is a scam, we should never encourage him by giving in. if not… Muslim all over will stop working and start begging. For once, I think avoiding that sedekah is better in the long run.

    but of course like DaPocket said, we will need a standard operating procedure. Not everyone is a con, and we need to establish which is which

    About that newest method in pau’ing… This is how I would do, “Hm… what?” heheh

  9. 04 Dec 07 12:43 pm

    aku bkn setakat kt kL..kne wat tips pasal pau ni…takat ni aku lari je kalo ade org nk pau aku..xpn ckp xde duit..kalo die threat aku..aku mintak la tolong..peduli ape aku xmacho ke ape..yg penting selamat..huhu

  10. banji
    04 Dec 07 12:43 pm

    azuwachan – kena kacau tanpa minta duit, tu bukan kena pau le wawa, tu kena ngorat heheh. tak dapek nak tolong 🙂

    tapi betul la, kita kena nilaikan sendiri, kalau rasa keadaan merbahaya, contohnya kita sorg2, elok la kita bagi apa yg diminta utk elakkan provok dia. selalunya org yg pau ni dia anggap duit tu sebagai halal sebab dia minta dan bukan curi. sikit sebanyak moral dia tu ada, cuma who knows.. dlm banyak2 tu ada yg perangai jahat.

  11. banji
    04 Dec 07 12:47 pm

    chezzy cheese – oo it’s a “her”.. ingat kut berani pau lelaki. hehe sekali pandang rasa mcm business lak, siap amik untung tu 🙂 untung 25% tu

    soul krasty – yup setuju, macho hensem tolak tepi. heheh time tu kita kena pastikan selamat. ada satu kes kat cm siap guna jarum suntikan lagi, konon2nya dia pengidap HIV. erk kalau dah jarum letak kat belakang, tak kisah le dia tipu ke tak, baik mengalah je. tak berbaloi

    welcome to the blog! 🙂

banji Read LessonInLife.com In Your Email

Please enter your email address
    Unconventional Guides
    Advertise here
    Handbook for Life
RECENT READERS