JOHOR BARU: A tyre shop owner has disowned her son after Ah Long harassed her over his RM60,000 (S$25,872) gambling debt.

Bong Swee Yin, 50, said although she could tolerate her son stealing from her to fuel his online gambling habit, the visit by the Ah Long was "unbearable."

"I can accept and even forgive him for stealing from me over the past eight months. However, leaving me to settle his RM60,000 debt is too much.

"I have decided to disown him," she told reporters at a press conference organised by Johor Baru MCA public complaints bureau deputy chief Michael Tay here.

She said she hoped the Ah Long would stop harassing her since she had severed family ties with her 25-year-old son who would often stay up until the wee hours of the morning gambling online on his computer.

"Whatever the Ah Long want to do to him, I don't care anymore. I am very disappointed with his behaviour," she said, adding that her son had been missing since Aug 25.

Bong also vowed that even if her son were to repent and beg for forgiveness, she would not help him pay his debts.

"If he comes home and explains his actions, I am still willing to take him back. I will not, however, help pay his debts. That will be his problem," she said.

"Before the Ah Long came to my shop last Wednesday, I had no idea that my son's gambling habit was so serious.

"He has always been rebellious and disobedient but I never imagined him getting into this kind of trouble," she said, adding that the Ah Long had threatened to seize goods from her shop if her son did not settle the debt soon.

Tay said almost 90% of the Ah Long cases the bureau received this year were linked to debts incurred through online gambling.

"Many people turn to Ah Long when they get into debts. I urge the public to never ask Ah Long for help no matter how deep the trouble they are in," he said.