The Malaysian Insight

POLICE should show more empathy and use their discretion when it comes to enforcing the standard operating procedure (SOP) to curb the spread of Covid-19, said Kuala Lumpur MPs.

They said while the motto of the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) is “Polis dan Masyarakat, Berpisah Tiada (the police and the community are inseparable)”, some officers could do with more training in empathy and discretion.

The complaints MPs have received from constituents show that some officers do not bother to find out the real situation or reasons an individual is not wearing a mask at a particular moment, but instead seem to be “trigger happy” in issuing the RM1,000 fine, causing hardship to poorer folk and businesses.

The fine can be imposed on any breach of the SOP, which include wearing a mask, physical distancing, recording one’s details before entering a shop or retail premises or registering entry with MySejahtera app.

Auto repair business owner Melissa Yap, whose workshop is in Taman Segar, Cheras, shares an incident on October 27 involving a customer.

A 60-year-old man had come to get a car tyre replaced and while waiting in the garage which was hot and stuffy, took off his mask for a moment.

He had followed the other SOPs, including scanning his entry with his MySejahtera app.

“In less than five minutes, several plainclothes policemen walked in, asked for his identification card and issued him a fine,” said the 37-year-old Yap.

The customer still had his mask in the hand at the time and it was obvious he had only just removed it.

“The police could have advised him to put on the mask again instead of issuing a fine right away.

“The garage is hot and stuffy, sometimes we ourselves remove our masks briefly for some air, what more customers if they don’t feel comfortable?”

Yap said she pleaded with the police officers on the customer’s behalf but was ignored. In fact, as the shop owner, she was fined, too.

“The officers just said that we should be clear about these regulations.

“The customer ended up asking us to reinstall his old tyre that had already been removed. He apologised to us, saying he could no longer afford to replace the tyre after being fined.”

Yap said business is already bad because of the movement-control order (MCO) and now she has to deal with a fine that is unjustified.

“Adding to the burden of this fine, we must sell more tyres to cover the RM1,000 fine.

Commenting on the incident, Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai said although the officers involved were enforcing the law in accordance with their duties, they lacked empathy.

“While it is the responsibility of the public to comply with the SOP, law enforcement officers may also wish to find out first if there was a special reason why this customer took off his mask.

“While the officers are not wrong with regard to the law, they should also deal with the community appropriately. Evaluate the circumstances and environment.

“At the same time, it is also a way for officers to conduct public education,” said Tan.

Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng also has a case in his constituency of a middle-aged woman who was fined when she went to withdraw money from a bank.

“The woman approached the police at the front door and asked if she could go in, to which the police replied yes.

“When she came out of the bank, the woman received a ticket for not having scanned her registration before entering the bank.

“The woman was crying when she called our service centre. She felt that the police officer had deliberately tested her.”

Lim said his service centre received more than 50 public complaints in the span of two days recently.

One involves a young man who had just completed registration procedures before entering the premises. He was also wearing a mask.

“Two plainclothes police stepped up and identified themselves. They said they had a photo of him with his mask not covering his nostrils.

“The young man felt he had obeyed the SOP and insisted on seeing the photo. However, the police refused and implied that the young man could give them a bribe in order to be let off,” he said.

Lim said the young man stood his ground but got issued a RM1,000 fine.

The young man reported the matter at a police station and an officer checked the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of the premises and found him innocent.

“However, the police did not tell him what to do next.”

Lim said that he has compiled several complaints brought to him and submitted them with a letter to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Abdul Hamid Bador with a request to cancel the fines.

“The tickets are illegitimate, so I hope the IGP will investigate if police officers are abusing their power.”

Wangsa Maju MP Tan Yee Kew said issuing the fine without first assessing the alleged violator’s circumstances or level of understanding about the SOP creates hardship to small business owners and others struggling financially during the pandemic.

“The RM1,000 fine for violating the SOP is costly. In this financially difficult situation, hawkers are also struggling.”

She said the few cases of “unfair fines” reported in the news are but the tip of the iceberg.

In the news recently was a Kuala Lumpur hawker who did not produce a letter from his employer for travel, as he is self-employed, and was fined at a roadblock.

Tan is also worried that people would resort to bribing officers.

Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun, meanwhile, said the public complaints he received involve the restriction on the number of people per vehicle.

Limited to two per vehicle, he said this is impractical for those working as hawkers and merchants.

“I suggest this be relaxed to four individuals per vehicle if they come from the same family.

“I understand that the current rule is to reduce the number of people going out, but the hawkers will have no income if they do not go out or do business,” Fong said.

A chicken rice hawker who commutes from Jenjarom to his stall in USJ4 was recently fined RM3,000 for driving his co-workers – his two sisters and a nephew – as they were returning home after work.

The hawker, Seow Boon Keong, was reported saying that none of his family members who ran the hawker stall with him, could drive, and the distance they had to travel to his stall only made sense for all of them to travel in one vehicle, as they were also from the same family. – November 5, 2020.