KUALA LUMPUR: The experience of being declared bankrupt for nearly seven years has greatly matured this television personality, teaching her not to easily place her trust, even in family members or close friends.
For Irin Putri Azmi, 41, although she is now free from that ‘prison’, the painful ordeal of navigating through life’s challenges, due to the actions of someone she trusted deeply, remains etched in her memory to this day.
“Back then, I was young and naïve. I allowed someone I trusted to use my name for a bank loan for their business, in which I had no involvement.
“I’m also unsure if the loan documents I signed were as the main borrower or guarantor. My intention was simply to help and I didn’t bother to check the details of the documents I signed,” the TV3 executive producer and presenter told Bernama.
She only found out that the business owner was unable to repay the loan when she received a lawyer’s letter with an attached bankruptcy notice in her name, offering services to assist her.
Frustrated and disheartened by the situation, Irin Putri’s ordeal finally came to an end when, in a recent Instagram video, she shared her gratitude upon receiving a letter from the Selangor Insolvency Department last month, confirming she was now ‘free’ from the shackles of bankruptcy that had bound her since 2017.
In her post, she also expressed relief that the amendment to the Insolvency Act 1967 (Act 360), which was enforced on Oct 6 last year, gave her new hope to emerge from that dark chapter of her life.
“As a bankrupt, it was my responsibility to make monthly instalment payments to the Malaysian Department of Insolvency (MdI) to settle the debt. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t have wanted to pay it since it wasn’t my debt.
“However, knowing that one of the criteria for bankruptcy discharge is consistent instalment payments, I never missed making those payments and adhered to all instructions.
“After nearly seven years of bankruptcy, I received an automatic discharge letter from MdI last month for meeting the required criteria. This also came after the government passed the insolvency act amendments,” she said.
Throughout her time as a bankrupt, she said MdI was very helpful in allowing her to live her life as usual, including being able to work, reopen a bank account for salary deposits, and travel abroad for work purposes after submitting an application.
From this experience, Irin Putri, who is also a content creator, doesn’t want the same thing to happen to others, especially young people, as the impact is not only financial but also emotional.
This is because once someone is declared bankrupt by the court, their life will never be the same as before, with bank accounts being frozen, cars repossessed, and travel abroad prohibited, she said.
For this reason, she reminded young people, especially women, to be more aware of financial matters and their rights, and not to easily become guarantors or sign any documents, even for family members or their partners.
“Sometimes young people, especially women, take financial matters lightly because they rely on their partners to take care of everything. Some are even willing to do anything to help their partners or family members without thinking about the risks involved.
“Don’t be too helpless, women need to be aware of the ‘help’ they are offering, especially when it involves large sums of money in loans,” she said, also reminding the public to live within their means and not chase trends.
