On the seventh day of CNY, which was on Saturday, CF and I went out for dinner with his three closest friends – KW, FL and GB. We were at The Curve and then yam cha at SS2 Murni.
Since CF is like a brother to the two girls - FL and GB - it was only natural that I would have to meet them
On the way back, we were unfortunate enough to encounter a police road block. It took about three minutes before it was our turn and inexplicably, we were told to pull over.
Turned out that the road tax has expired barely two days ago.
As the car was registered under CF’s dad’s name, CF gave him a call. The father even spoke to the policeman.
When the phone was passed back to CF, the policeman asked, “Tanya you punya bapa berapa dia mahu belanja?” (Ask your dad how much he wants to spare me.)
CF didn’t have the required denomination, but I did have a piece of a aqua grey note. The policeman, for whatever reason – to make it sound reasonable or just to scare us – was going on and on about how CF is still on a probationary license and that a summon will definitely not look good on his record.
Now, the policeman was dressed in dark blue uniform. Correct me if I am wrong, but as far as I know, only traffic policemen, in white uniform, has the authority to issue summons.
I was seriously contemplating letting him issue the summons, and see whether he actually would or not.
What the heck, we decided to pay him anyway. We were not willing to have more trouble, seeing how the police seemed to be a tad overzealous nowadays, for whatever reasons.
Now, what really pissed me off was the way he took the money. Or put in another way, the way he wanted the money handed to him.
I wanted to be discreet, but he disagreed. He said, “Bagi sajalah, tak payah takut-takut. Sini tak ada orang nampak, hanya Tuhan yang nampak.” (Just pass it to me. Don’t be afraid of anyone watching us, but God sees all.)
WTF?
It’s bad enough that corruption of the men in blue is public knowledge (I truly am ashamed to have abetted in this dirty behaviour), but quite obviously this particular law enforcer was quite unapologetic about it. He didn’t even mind that God was watching and even mentioned it nonchalantly.
For a religion that pays so much importance on the afterlife and ultimately to go to heaven, his actions really shocked me.
Anyway, CF was quite down already from an earlier incident (and it wasn’t me this time!), so being caught for a traffic offence was another whammy.
No worries though, he is feeling quite OK now. Though for the time being, he won’t be able to drive to college or anywhere else.
13 comments:
that's really bad! something is really wrong with the system in Malaysia.
these days, i would always say, 'kalau nak saman, tolong saman,' and i would just drive away
i dont believe in giving 'duit kopi'
Everyone knows how the system works here, and they ain't gonna change anyhow.
That was just bad luck. My driving license was expired first day of CNY, that's why I asked my friends to pick me up instead of me driving around. Hehe... Perfect excuse to not driving.
Heh. Reminds me of the time my brother got caught at the airport bringing in...questionable CDs. The man was telling him of 'tak tahu malu ke?' but was actually trying to get a bribe. It was puasa season even. Who should be 'malu'? Grrrr.
But seriously, CF's not driving at all? Fear or haven't renewed road tax yet?
Can I share CF's dad? It would be cool! Tell CF to relax. All of us have our share of summonses.
paul
The police here deserve to go to H***...
God I hate Malaysian cops. I'll always choose to bribe - at the end of the day, it's cheaper - but do they really have to gloat like that?!
Maybe you oughta keep a mini videocam in the car and film the bastards sinning. Won't just be their Tuhan who sees it then.
Makes me so grateful for our guys in blue ... and they'd be out of a job (with no police pension) if they even considered accepting a bribe.
i thought i commented yday?
anyway, there is no afterlife in the religion, all of them go to heaven mar......
God, I'm so embarassed and I'm a muslim. I can't believe they're still doin this despite the anti-bribery campaign !! The damn policeman was using religion as an excuse. So wrong. I kinda agree with Jay. Maybe you should catch them in the act with your hp video camera and leak it to the press. That oughta show 'em !!
It wouldn't kill them to show a lil' bit common sense.
erm, the solution to this problem actually lies with the public. Dont bribe
oh my god... i'm soo malu with that officer...ermm no...that bastard. doesn't he got any pride wearing that badge? ergghh... and to do something like that!?
tagging tuhan along without any guilt? he is sure gonna be burn in hell... isk... and just an info for you guys... our policemen are not that smart... most of them are academically challenge...
and mostly, policemen are malays..
i'm a malay.
i'm SO going to slit my wrist...
kitjar: Good for you then. Keep it up!
legolas: Lucky of you to realise it has expired. ;P
mrbunnyban: He wasn't driving till it was renewed. It was done on Monday.
savante: I know it isn't a big thing. But it was the way it happened which pissed me off.
marcus: Even though I agree with your sentiment, I believe there are still honest ones out there.
jay: Good idea. But won't it be difficult to record inconspicuously? ;P
I still remember your little encounter with them. LOL
hrugaar: Which is exactly Jay's point.
keatix: Really? I didn't know that.
akihisa: Let me first say that I am not trying to make anyone embarrassed or pointing fingers.
No matter who does it, giving and accepting bribery is still wrong. Period.
anonymous: I know, dear. I solemnly promise not to do it again.
bitch: No need to feel malu or anything. It was another person's action, not yours, even though you may share the same religion.
Bitch darling, you are a bit overdramatic ... slit your wrist pulak ... LOL
They basically saw you as someone to be bullied. They look at you and size you up before they will ask. In this particular instance, expired for 1 day or 2 days, it was unfortunate. They were banking on your fear and anxiety. It's tough to know if you could have called their bluff. But I would have asked for the ticket and let the law take it's course. But there you go. Chalk it up to experience and try and keep your road tax up to date. ;-)
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