In recent years, the Malaysian government has taken various initiatives to revamp insolvency laws with the goal of assisting the public to cope with financial difficulties arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the amendment to the Insolvency Act in 2020, the bankruptcy threshold in Malaysia is currently set at RM100,000, which was raised from the original RM50,000. This was the second increase of the bankruptcy threshold within the span of a few years, with the previous increase from RM30,000 to RM50,000 in 2017.

Whether it’s the kids’ day-care, the family holiday, or that gym membership we eagerly signed up for on the first of January, paying for goods and services before receiving them is the normal practice in many business sectors. It’s also the usual way to buy things off the internet. It’s become so common that we rarely ask what would happen if the business fails to deliver. Fortunately, in Hong Kong this is a question that does not have to be asked often, but as the economic environment gets tougher it may be one that deserves greater attention.