by Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK)
We live in an era of increasing digitisation. We tap, swipe, and click through life. Automated voices greet us before humans ever do; if we get to speak to one at all.
But not every problem can be solved by a script. Not every heart can be calmed by a help article. This is when the voice on the other end matters most.
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Recently, a man called and spoke to an AKPK call operator. He had been retrenched and had been going through hard times for quite awhile.
The AKPK operator listened and responded without judgement or condemnation. While it did not solve the man’s problems, it offered a major relief to him.
This one conversation reminds us that listening and being heard can be a form of rescue and that even the most invisible jobs carry extraordinary weight.
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world suddenly rediscovered the term “essential worker.” We clapped for nurses. We thanked the grocery clerks. We praised the gig workers who brought us food. But customer service operators were still mostly left in the shadows.
Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear headsets. Some sit quietly behind screens, offering dignity to strangers.
In an age of inflation, debt, layoffs, and systemic precarity, their relevance is not only rising—it is redefining what it means to be essential.
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In recent years, Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK) has seen an alarming rise in calls from people facing financial crises. Economic downturns, job losses, medical bills, and the rising cost of living have pushed more families to the brink. Thousands of Malaysians carry the weight of financial strain in silence—afraid of judgement, unsure where to turn. But help does exist. AKPK’s Customer Service Centre is a first point of human contact—a safe space where anxiety, shame, and helplessness are met with empathy, not judgement. Sometimes, the first step isn’t a solution. It’s a conversation. Your story matters. And someone is ready to listen.
AKPK General Line: 03-2616 7766 | W: www.akpk.org.my
