Kuala Lumpur-born local actor Jaspers Lai has turned to social media to allege a media company in Malaysia owes him a production fee, reportedly a five-figure sum.
In a Facebook post on Sunday (Oct 9), the comedian claimed he had collaborated with the unnamed company a few months ago and filmed many episodes for a programme, but has not been paid for the job.
The 35-year-old – who has appeared in local movies like Lion Men (2014), Ah Boys To Men 3: Frogmen (2015), Ah Boys To Men 4 (2017) and Number 1 (2020) – wrote: “Company A said it would give (me) a deposit, but it did not (do so).“
After the show was filmed, edited and aired, the company allegedly became unresponsive, except to say it has run into funding problems, and requested Lai to wait for his remuneration.
He felt the company had gone overboard, and quoted a line from the 1980s Teresa Teng song What Do You Have To Say: “You don’t have me in your heart at all.”
In his post, Lai added: “It is okay to bully me, but our staff, director, editor are all innocent. They also have to eat and support their family.”
He said this led to him paying his collaborators from his own pocket, although he does not elaborate if these were full or partial payments.
In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, he shared that this is the first time he has been owed such a large production fee – reportedly five figures in Singapore dollars.
After his post, many netizens asked him to name the company to prevent other artistes from being similarly deceived.
But Lai said he does not wish to make such an extreme move, and wants to leave a way out for the company. He hopes the issue can be resolved without resorting to legal means.
However, this incident has not deterred him from working with other production companies in Malaysia.
“I still like Malaysia very much,” he said.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
