Love is blind...? now it is only partially blind with a visit to the medical centre & Bank Negara...

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I recently met four old friends whom regrettably went through a divorce or break-ups; two were married with children and the other two were engaged. Although infidelity was partly the trigger point, the break-up was also ignited by financial traumas and dramatic health deterioration.

The four friends were 2 guys and 2 ladies. Three divorced were sought by the women and only one divorced was filed by the husband but all four couples did not know both their spouse's physical and financial health... pre-marital. in short, they were married into or inherited once married, an ocean of debts and problems.

In a capitalist world of the new millenium, being geared is almost inevitable but being too highly geared may be irreversible and can affect the marriage.

Similarly, we always take for granted our health and accepted the spouse in whichever and whatever form the partner is, in the name of love... and became a widow later without any preparation when she discovered the spouse had cancer. One of the three friends that I recently met, filed a divorced when they discovered the spouse had Herpes... ? I knew both of them quite well and they both are not a 'born-angel' sort of speak.. they could have been infected in their previous relationship. It was a lame excuse.

I do not mean, everybody should leave out anybody with STDs, or anybody suffering from cancer or those that survived cancer otherwise, being a cancer survivor, I too will be a bachelor for the rest of my life but at least, get to know each other's health condition the moment you are involved in a relationship and the pledge 'till death do us apart' would really apply since both then knew and accepted each other's actual health condition before marriage. Nonetheless, an early discovery is always good to prepare for the worse.

Nonetheless, with a thorough blood check that includes Sexually Transmitted Disease, you can be assured of your spouse's cleanliness, rather than accused each other in the future akin of my friend without even knowing that point of 'exposure' could have been in the past relationship.

More importantly, it is imperative to have a financial check done before taking a step further into the relationship. Not many are aware but the Bank Negara Malaysia (Central Bank of Malaysia) do provide this service. Unlike in Europe when everybody can check anybody's financial status (subject to some conditions), in Malaysia only the Bank Negara provide such a service. It is called the Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS).

Walk to the Bank Negara and informed the Bank reception counter that you would like a CCRIS check done. For only RM10 (Ringgit Malaysia Ten only) you can have the details of ALL EXISTING FINANCIAL INSTITUTION CREDIT under your name or your name joint with another person, your name under a sole proprietor, under a partnership or professional body. The report will also informed all outstanding credit facilities under "close supervision" by financial institutions as well as any application for additional credit facilities within the last 12 months (for more details click: Info). CCRIS also provide a credit patterns or historical loan repayment trend... hence a good or poor paymaster.

You can ONLY check YOUR OWN (or your company's) financial record and not for others and the report will only state the gearing or the credit facilities (example: credit card, car loans, housing, overdraft etc) under your name.

The report will not display your assets (example: fix deposit, investments, share holdings, fully paid properties etc) so you cannot go 'fishing' at Bank Negara but if you have a partner and love each other, you should include Bank Negara as a compulsory dating point and get to know each other's financial background... There are alot of fraud cases too where your name was used for unknown loan application or used to buy a car that you never knew existed... and this is one problem best known early to avoid inevitable legacy.

A date or a walk to the Bank Negara before marriage may also save your future. You can only dream of buying a new house or a new car or travel oversea on holiday if you & spouse are credit-worthy but if your spouse is banckrupted or blacklisted by financial instutions? ...you cant even leave Malaysia.


Be wise... do the blood and CCRIS credit check before its too late.......................

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