BEWARE..

of bogus/fake monk!

Sad to say, i'm one of the victims who kena conned by the fake monk, yesterday *roll eyes*

It was totally unexpected!

My kids and i were on the way to the carpark from our house, going for my gynae appointment when i saw this monk walking as though he was going somewhere, with a destination in mind. So when he stopped me and curtsy a little, i thought he was just gonna ask for direction and i stopped too but instead, he handed me a small charm in a paper form and said it was for 'ping an'. As it was totally unexpected, i actually took it and he walked away.

However, in less than 1 second, he turned and called to me, as though he has forgotten to ask me to write down my name for taking the charm. He was indeed pretty smart. He actually showed me the paper with the names on it but covered the amount donated part. I didn't feel comfortable writting my real name in Chinese words as others did in that piece of paper so, i wrote my English name instead.

But just as i was gonna finish writting, i uncovered the covered section and saw the amount donated and asked if he was asking for money. He then took out a photo of a temple saying they need money to build the temple bla bla bla, then only i realised that he is one of the bogus monks which i've read in the paper last week!

By then, it was too late. I wanted to cancel my name off but he refused to let me and actually turned pretty aggressive saying once i wrote my name on the paper, i cannot simply cancel it off. It's for my 'ping an' etc in a irritating manner.

I was getting pretty pissed at that point but because of my situtation, pregnant and with 2 young children around plus, it was a very quiet morning in the neighbourhood (i didn't see a single soul at that moment), i decided to just give him what he wants..

$2.

That too, i was too pissed to pass it to him myself. Instead, i asked my son to do it and walked away with him still talking.

It's not the matter of $2 that got me pissed off. It was the way they deal with the whole situation. So cunning and aggressive! Plus, they really ruin the good name of Buddhism. Real monks don't ask for money. Gggrrr...

If not because i was with the kids and pregnant, i would have just ignored him, shoved the so called charm back to him and ran away!

So, word of advice : When u see these monks, do walk towards another direction. They really do not appear as though they'll ask u for donation for they don't carry any donation box or bowl or anything at all. Do be wary of them!

The bogus monk. UGH!

If only the Straits Times article were to publish yesterday instead of today. The monk in the picture looked the same as monk who conned me! Ok ok.. not sure if it was the same person but they definitely dressed in the same clothings, same colour as well and bald :P