When Vietnamese Nguyen Thi Hong Que married a Malaysian, she was looking forward
to a happy life; but her dreams were dashed when she was forced by her husband
to work as a guest relations officer at a karaoke lounge in Petaling Jaya.
Hong Que, 22, tied the knot with her husband, known as Choong, 30, last April.
According to Hong Que, her husband had asked her to work at the lounge in early
May.
"After four days, the anti-vice police raided the place and she escaped," said
one of her relatives, Wong Heng See, at the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)
Public Services and Complaint Department July 18.
"When we asked the husband to return his wife's passport, he refused," Wong
said. "Instead, he asked us to pay him RM6,000 (1,586 USD) if his wife wanted a
divorce."
The Vietnamese woman lodged a police report at Gombak police station last month
and with the help of the MCA, Immigration Department and Vietnamese Embassy,
Hong Que flew home on July 10.
Michael Chong Datuk, chief of MCA Public Services and Complaint Department,
said the predicament of Hong Que was common in Malaysia.
"Many men take advantage of their foreign wives to make money," he said.
