This story is an anonymous submission by a M’sian man who shared about his sister who is trapped in a cycle of debt due to an MLM’s shady selling tactics.
It started normally enough. About two years ago, Siew Jin (anonymised), my sister, announced at a family dinner that she had joined PURWAY (anonymised), a company that sells health products.
She was beaming as she shared her newfound mission to help people live healthier lives and achieve financial independence.
I remember shrugging it off. “If it makes her happy, that’s her choice,” I thought. At the time, I didn’t know how much that decision would change my life and strain our relationship.
Siew Jin insisted it wasn’t an MLM. “It’s not about just selling products,” she would say. “It’s about building a community that can help you achieve financial freedom.”
Still, something felt off. I couldn’t shake the gut feeling that it was one of those schemes designed to trap people in an endless loop of recruitment and sales targets.
But I let her be. She was my sister, after all. I figured it was her life to live, and I did want her to succeed.
Shifting Social Media
A few weeks later, I noticed a gradual shift in her social media postings. All her holiday pictures, reels, and random IG threads on what was going on in her life were replaced with not-so-subtle PURWAY product promotion posts.
It wasn’t long before her socials were a marketing platform for health supplements, various teas and detox regimens, complete with happy customer testimonials.
Soon after, it became all about celebrating the successes of her “team:” Sales numbers and profits and people that she had “helped.”
Tagging people was about potential new recruits. I switched my socials settings to filter out “#PURWAY” and “#FinancialFreedom” and stopped seeing my sister’s posts in feeds.
Everything’s a Pitch
Family gatherings, makan-time, and even the mamak were no longer social. They were sales events and recruitment events aimed at cousins, aunts, a few uncles even.
Her company was the centerpiece of every conversation, at every event. Her team grew as the family was sucked into the MLM scheme. This had replaced her personality and become her life.
One time, Siew Jin invited me to a gala dinner her company was hosting. “It’s a celebration of our achievements,” she said, her voice full of pride.
I couldn’t bring myself to go. I knew it wasn’t about celebrating real accomplishments; it was about inflating egos and keeping members motivated. It was another tactic to keep people hooked, dangling recognition as a reward for endless recruitment and sales.
Online or offline, I ignored it as best I could. I nodded along politely, and I ignored her posts if they got past the filters. But she wanted active engagement from me in her business.
“Why don’t you join, too?” she asked repeatedly. “We’d make an amazing team. I’m helping so many people, and I could help you too.”
I declined every time. It wasn’t my thing, and I didn’t believe in the products. But Siew Jin didn’t take it well. Each time, we’d fight and argue until one of us would cut the line, too angry to continue.
I found out she had been digging into her EPF savings
One day, I received a call from her husband. Over the phone, he shared how he was worried about her and asked if I could talk some sense into her.
It was then that I found out from him that she had sunk almost RM150,000 of her own life savings into the venture.
When I heard that, I was extremely concerned. Spending a few thousand ringgit is one thing, but that was her own hard earned money, meant for her retirement. What if she didn’t have any more left?
I asked him if he had tried to reason with her, but he told me she would just keep repeating the same mantra: “Don’t worry, prevention is better than cure. Money can be earned back. What is RM150,000 when I can be happy and healthy, avoiding doctor’s visits and terminal illnesses?”
Recently, her stubbornness became aggressive.
“If you really cared about me, you’d support what I’m doing,” she snapped during a phone call.
Her tone made my stomach twist. When I tried to explain that I didn’t agree with the company’s practices, she interrupted me saying not to trust any negative reviews I saw on the internet.
That was the moment I lost my temper. “Siew Jin, this company is a cult,” I shot back.
“They have brainwashed you into thinking you’re making a difference. But all you’re doing is making the people at the top richer. You’ve spent more than 150k on this, and I can’t guarantee I’ll be there for you when you have no more savings for your retirement.”
She screamed at me. “How dare you? You have no idea how hard I’ve worked for this. You’ve never cared about me or what I’m passionate about,” she accused. “If you’re not going to support me, then I don’t need you in my life.”
She hung up, and I sat there, stunned. I felt like I was losing my beloved sister to a corporation pretending to be her family.
MLMs really do tear families apart.
She hasn’t spoken to me since. I blocked every relative recruited into PURWAY. I didn’t like doing it, but I was sick of their relentless recruitment attempts.
My socials looked like a marketing platform with all of their product posts, success stories, testimonials and promotional shorties.
I needed space from the constant pressure. Sad how I was once close to these people, but now I’m made to feel like I was an outsider… from my own family!
Was I too judgmental? Too harsh? Should I have paid lip service to keep the peace? Replaying every conversation in my head leads me back to the same conclusion: This isn’t normal.
A job shouldn’t drive such a wedge between family members.
I don’t regret standing my ground, but I miss my sister. I miss the old version of her, the lively and bubbly woman who wasn’t a brainwashed corporate drone, bleating a recording of empowerment.
Part of me wants to reach out to her but I’m not sure what to say. I’ve tried reasoning with her, but it always ends in a fight.
How do you argue with someone who’s so deeply convinced they’re in the right? Blocking the others has brought me peace, but at the cost of isolation and loneliness.
Am I the bad guy for drawing boundaries? Or am I protecting myself from a toxic situation? All I know is that I want my sister back. Not the MLM version of her, but the one who cared about more than just sales and recruitment.
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