Just show him what he can get for his budget and see if he likes it:

Olympus E-PL3 14-42mm single lens kit  RM 1,190.00
Meike FC100 Macro LED Ring Flash          RM 180.00
Macro Tubes For M43                                  RM 55.00
Flexible Tripod 3Kg (Gorillapod Knockoff)      RM 55.00

                                                                RM 1,480.00

You can also option to upgrade for Olympus E-PL3 14-42mm + 40-150mm twin lens kit for RM 1790.  You can also check out panasonic GF3/5 and maybe you want that 14mm pancake lens too from the twin kit sets.  Another option is Raynox instead of macro tubes.

Lazy to shoot raw, get the oly for its punchy ooc jpeg.. Epl3 kit flash is not too big either..
I've posted the comparisons between the two cameras earlier in the post.. https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2731512/+200#

Want mine 2nd hand hehehe....

Not sure if the prime is cheap..but its range between 1k-2.5k

This shot with kitlens 14mm not so fast f2.5

no need to be sad..i shooting kitlens in auto mode with m43..

if you need it for macro..get used body, 40-150 and a raynox. add a manual flash..total damage less than 1500.

The king is back! Comes with the new MZD 12-40mmf2.8 constant aperture     

Better get the Fuji X series rather than this one.. It has better sensor and more lens too.. 

GX7 sure win the EM5 which is an older camera.

I think more the less the same.

The suggested retail price for EM1 with no lens is above 4k. (in US - USD1399)
The suggested retail price for GX7 with 20mm is RM3,999. (USD999 now selling USD899)
The suggested retail price for EP5 without lens amd EVF is around RM3.9k also. (USD999)

You get more discount from shops. And yes, GX7 is significantly cheaper than EM1 and EP5.

No idea but EP5 is not selling well according to Olympus own mouth. That's expected based on the price and spec and I believe the price will have to drop. The 17mm, when compared to 12, 20, 25, 45 and 75 is just not that sharp. 

Yah i was there also. The OMD kick 5D Mark II on the face. 3 of the visitors with FF failed to identify which photo was shoot with OMD comparing with 5D Mark II .

Chet the mc ask me to answer his question regarding the full frame and crop sensor photo but didnt give any free gift  

In studio environment memang la cannot see the difference, try go outdoor and see

erm is actually hard to say like that...on lacking in low light high ISO setting
Olympus they ask me to turn off the noise filter and set the ISO up to 12500 and noise is still not visible yet..
well you can say bigger sensor has better noise control, DOF..etc...

but they challenge FF camera really impressed me and happy to see a small power house can do such an impressive thing, the final challenge picture really can see is much sharper than 5dm2...

only thing that hold me back is the price...RM 4500 for body only and then the whole set with battery grip and 12-40 lens near to RM8k...