Saturday, March 24, 2007

Something's Rotten in the State of Malacca

"Saya Anti Rasuah."

On one of those cute little badges
issued to Malaysian police officers


On the same day that I witnessed 3 consecutive road accidents, I was also treated to a familiar sight which is rather distinctive of Malaysian culture.

No, I won't state the obvious. Just look at the pretty pictures.

I was about to drive off in my car which was parked right opposite that new 'Digital Mall' (über lame name for a gadget mall, by the way) when I spotted Malacca's finest in action,


I'm not really sure what law that black car in front had broken. My guess was that the owner had forgotten to put up one of those scratch-a-number parking coupons or something.

Things got a lot more interesting complicated however, when the car's owner popped out of one the shops along the street and approached the police officer,


I was not really privy to traffic police procedures (since I *cough* never kena saman before), but I thought that it usually involves asking for the offender's identity card and driver's license.

It turned out that I was wrong. Come, let us take a closer peek.

Apparently, If you get halted by any cops for doing naughty things on the road, you must first pull out a piece of paper with Malaysia's first Agong printed on it,


If I remember correctly, you'll get a RM 30 fine for parking without that scratch-and-match coupon thingy. I certainly hope that the police officer would have enough change on him. The car-owner-guy seemed to be carrying only RM 50 notes.

I'm really embarrassed at how little I know about these things. I used to think that parking fines were paid at the Dewan Bandaraya near Jusco. Silly me. Apparently, you can just pay the officer which caught you on the spot to save you a whole buttload of unnecessary hassle! Gee whiz!


And of course, it is customary for the police officer to give a short talk on traffic rules and stuff to the offender. The bulk of the talk will involve friendly advice on how breaking the law is not worth the outrageous fine the government imposed.

Oh no sir, it's not worth it at all. Boy, I certainly wish that there's a way to get out of that.


I salute the model police officer above who had done his job admirably. Despite forgetting to wear his 'Saya Anti Rasuah' badge, he really taught the car-owner-bloke a lesson that day. At the end of his lecture, I am sure that the guy was a totally reformed person. Yes sirree, he'll never break no rule ever again for the rest of his life.

That's the beauty of Malaysia's traffic law enforcement,

It fucking works!



Because it's there,
k0k s3n w4i

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just sent this photos to the press and I am sure the police and that uncle will be quite busy soon.

Anonymous said...

lol...agree!
if you post it to THE STAR, it could even earn you RM50!

wow,k0k...u r d best la...

k0k s3n w4i said...

@mrbherng

Thought about that, but I feel sorry for the minimum-waged police guy (have a couple of Malay friends in service meself) and the uncle already terpaksa pay the full fine d (since I interrupted their transaction)

@innshan

I'll keep that in mind for when I'm short on cash :p

I actually only noticed the RM 50 in his hand when I'm editing the pictures (speech bubble all use mouse draw, haha. I'm improving)

Innocent^^Guy said...

good pictures, but not enough to prove that the police took the money. If you have, get the policeman in trouble!!! I'm evil :P

Can;t believe such things happen in my neighborhood! So close to my house! These ppl all getting too much and taking advantage just because I'm not around :P

k0k s3n w4i said...

Actually, I'm pretty sure the cop didn't take it. He spotted me snapping pics.

Preventing corruption for the government, haha

Anonymous said...

Ah yes....forgive us once, and we will never make the same mistake twice.
Thats the use of money... we can extend that 'once' into multiple events.

yapthomas said...

I got an up close shot also..
That fella took only like RM 12 from me and smart/lucky me throw all my money under the seat first..

Anonymous said...

this is kind of "culture" we all practicing....

btw... i dun know if i didn't see police for long time... to me he is not a cop... may be some local authority... i may be wrong....................

Linora 'Aronil' Low said...

This reminds me of when my parents and i had goen for an outing, the cop was literally wearing his anti-rasuah badge and still asking for a piece of the cake!

Btw I don't agree with your tots on Sweeney Todd just being great for costumes alone. In all fairness I think they do deserve the Golden Globe for both their work as well as Johnny Depps performance. As much as it is preference of individuals on what they like, for what it's worth musicals are terribly hard to shoo. Bad enough there is singing and you have to combine it with actions as well. And it is not the simple mt video clip where they are dancing in some cheap corridor. The actors need to act as well. It is probably one of the better musicals I've seen in a long while, and no i would not think at all that High School musical can match up to this at all! Johnny is no Pavarotti but for a person that is acting in his first on screen musical and with that much of vengefulness, at the same thing being comedic, I think well done. just my thoughts :P

lankapo said...

bro,
that guy is from majlis perbandaran melaka or something definitely not a police.

anyway, why is he so stupid, pay rm 50 for fine only rm 30.Either he is too lazy to pay at their office or just too rich

k0k s3n w4i said...

3point8: well, i have this stupid principle of playing by the rules all the time, so i don't bribe (no doubt people will call it stupid). so i just stick by the traffic rules all the time. hence, 3 years driving and still zero summons :p

yapthomas: i remember my Mom passing me most of her money once when she got stopped - cos i was only a lil' kid then. she didn't let me keep them, unfortch -.-

cs: nah, you're correct. he is some majlis perbandaran guy, i think. but he rides a motorcycle, gives out summons and can be bribed. if i ask any malaysian what's the first thing they can think of when i say those words, the answer would invariably be "malaysian traffic pollice".

aronil: the badge is as useful as most of the other drains on tax money the gomen put on our heads, like paying police officers for one. i rated the movie in accordance to how much i enjoyed it - which wasn't a lot, to be honest. i am an ENORMOUS fan of both Burton and Depp (and Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter too, for that matter). then again, long time fans tend to be harshest - and when i put sweeney todd against the performances of all these people in the past, i felt that it's pale in comparison. and if i remove 1 point from every score if i can guess its ending :p. and i have never watched high school musical at all. the title itself is a good enough deterrant for me.

lankapo: thanks for clearing that up. but, read my reply to cs - he is in all senses, a traffic police :p
i'm thinking perhaps that bloke simply committed something worse - like parking in front of a hydrant or something. or maybe he really had no change on him xD

Simon Seow said...

Definitely not from PDRM. First off, police in the blue uniform will not care whether your car is parked right or wrong, only traffic police in white and black strip will give summon for parking offences.

From my guess, that guy definitely a Municipal Hall officer. Looks a lot like MBPJ people.

k0k s3n w4i said...

simon seow: yes, for the third time, I'll agree it's not a real traffic police officer. let's all put this heinous error behind ourselves and live happily ever after. Anyhow, these dudes do give out tickets for parking offences - so the difference between them and the PDRM is just a technicality here.

Linora 'Aronil' Low said...

Ok then i forgive you hehe. Not everyone can enjoy a musical for what it is :P. For me I did enjoy it albeit that it was a bit haunting and gory at certain parts. I tihnk they all did very well, but there was perhaps not as much range for Alan Rickman. still i love the movie :) dude make a post and i'll debate with you on the movie hehehe. Always like a good talk on good shows. Have you seen vantage point btw? Jumper was a tad disappointing

Johnny Ong said...

very common la. and i was stopped twice for carrying some electrical goods and was requested to proof my ownership.....can u beat that?

no payment of course and on both occasions, police got scolding from me. dare to bcuz knew i'm have done nothing wrong

Anonymous said...

wow..real life caught on photos..huhu..