Experimento Plabu

Your task is to ask your friends to lend you some money for an emergency case. Make up something or just say that it’s too personal to tell. The amount? Up to you, let say around 300 to 500. You could use the best channel, and that is your handphone through SMS which is cheaper than a call. Or you could use your messenger. Or if you could manage, see them face to face. I still think SMS is the best method though.

Now let see what responses you will get. But here are some that you would receive and in no particular order :

No reply (if u’re using SMS or messenger). There are some possibilities that led to this such as your friend is too busy to answer, no credit to answer back, don’t care to reply, got no money to lend and embarrassed to reply with a no, don’t wanna help (could be you got bad debts with ‘em or maybe they just hate you!), wrong number, number no in used anymore, the message was not received (communication provider’s err) etc.

Reply with questions, probing on why the need of your so called emergency loan. The interrogations could take hours but ended up saying how she or he is sorry to hear your problem (in actual fact, he/she is not and quite happy to hear your misery) but yes, after outgoing and ingoing SMSes in between, the answer is NO, “No, I can’t lend you the money because I already used my budget to get my car repaired, to pay my insurance, to get my hair done, oh you’re just a day late,bla, bla, bla.. And you said to yourself, “Why didn’t you said that earlier so I wouldn’t waste my time and phone credit with you?”

Reply with a No and sincerely telling you why he/she unable to help although he/she wanted to and expressing how embarrassed that he/she unable to help and saying sorry.

Reply with a yes but can’t lend you the full amount.

Reply with a yes, asking “When you want it? No other question asked, except maybe , “When will you pay up?”, casually. Or in some cases, “Don’t worry, pay me when you have it”

Now, what would this experiment achieved or led you to? Hmm..well, why don’t you try it and see it for yourself. But be ready, as you might get your reputation damaged within your circle of friends or just from a personal perspective. But it really depends on your friends attitude themselves.

Some people as you would know got the uncontrolled urge to tell around. But some don’t. So I guessed there are some risks at stake in this experiment, but there are also results that could give you useful informations. And yes, you too would developed a new perspective about your friends according to their responses. Just remember to not get carried away by your emotions and put yourself inside their shoes. Anyway your instincts will tell you something.

I know for a fact that borrowing money is not good (but not evil), but there is a time or some point in our life that we don’t know we would get into a slump or so “koyak” that borrowing money from relatives or friends is a way out, right? Well I have. And there is a Malay saying “Tangan yang memberi adalah lebih baik daripada tangan yang menerima”, in English could be something like this, “The hands that gives is better than the hands that receives”. Well I think sometimes the hands that gives are not that good as the owners do it for the wrong reasons or intentions. Like publicity or tax deductions. Alah yang penting ikhlas. Be sincere!

Robert Kiyosaki will tell you that there is a good debt and there is a bad debt. A good debt will bring in profits while the bad debt will not, anyway that’s why it’s called bad, duh! Like a loan to start a business or investments that would bring in profits is a good debt. Well get his book if you wanna know more.

Now back to the experiment. Let say you sent the request to 200 chosen friends and relatives. And 50% replied with a positive response (that’s no. 4 & 5, regardless of what they will think of you or you think about them). Let say that the average loan is around 350 and multiply it with 100 (50%), will give you about 35,000! Hmm..a friend in need is a friend INDEED! or IN DEBT TO, whicheveryou like it.

Now what can you do with the money? Well, a lot. But remember, it’s a fucking loan, you have to be responsible and return it! And remember Kiyosaki? Be smart and make it into a good debt. Let say you put it into a fixed deposit account with a 10% yearly interest for a year. You will get 3,500 (before tax, if there is and if my math is correct) by the end of 12 months. How about throwing a fabulous party for your friends, your IN NEED friends? What would they say about you now? Fancy throwing a great party and get the word around, good words and the repo you will get around your friends. Or just send thank you cards and also their money back respectively and treat yourself to a nice vacation and send them more postcards telling them how thankful you are to have them as your friends and how you wish they were there with you!