• Typically, if a debtor fails to repay their loan to a loan shark (also known as ah long) on time, the loan shark or their runners will paste debt collection notices known as “大字报” (literally, “big-character poster”) at the debtor’s residence or workplace.
• Personal information such as the debtor’s name and address are usually written on the posters. Some posters will also include obscenities, threats or insults to force the debtors to repay their debts.
• Putting up such posters is considered an act of vandalism. Offenders may be arrested and charged.

The police arrested three women on the 28th of this month and found 62 loan shark posters in their possession. Preliminary investigations show that the three women were involved in a loan shark harassment case at Pasir Ris Drive 1. (Lianhe Zaobao, 30/4/2019)

In China, the term “大字报” has a different meaning. In the 1950s, the “四大” (“four bigs” or “four big rights”), consisting of “大鸣”, “大放”, “大字报” and “大辩论”, were associated with the Rectification Movement. “大字报” were also widely used during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. Their use stopped entirely in the 1980s.