S'porean driver claims M'sia police in KL asked for bribe after stopping him on road

This practice is getting riskier to carry out given the prevalence of car cameras.

Belmont Lay | April 14, 2022, 11:55 AM

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A video has been put up on Facebook on April 14 allegedly showing a Singaporean man giving a bribe to Malaysian police in Kuala Lumpur after they allegedly asked for it.

The identity of the man has been masked, but the video taken from his vehicle's rear camera showed the presence of a car that had "Polis" written on its bonnet and blue flashing lights on the roof.

The incident supposedly occurred on April 10.

What video showed

The video started at the moment a police officer in a high-visibility vest could be seen entering the front passenger seat of his police car.

The Singaporean man's car and the police car were pulled over by the side of the road.

The police car's licence plate was visible in the video.

The caption accompanying the video explained what occurred prior to the scene.

KL police accused of asking for bribe

The Singaporean man claimed he had driven all the way to Kuala Lumpur in what was presumably a Singapore-registered car, but was pulled over by the local police.

The police then allegedly told the man he was in violation of several rules, which the man denied he had committed.

Some of the supposed violations, such as driving without a Malaysia driving licence and carrying a print-out of his NRIC as his passport was kept in the hotel, were not even legitimate violations.

The man was even allegedly told by the Malaysia police that he was seen driving in the opposite direction.

The post's caption added that the man was allegedly advised to give the Malaysia police a "treat" to avoid being arrested and fined.

The Malaysian police allegedly told the Singaporean man to proceed to throw the money into their car and to do so when no one was watching.

The caption read: "My hand should not be in the car. Hence I quickly pulled my hand away. Happened on April 10, 2022 at 12:30pm."

Responses

Responses to the video mostly expressed incredulity at the situation, given the risk of asking for bribes, colloquially known as "kopi money", which would be risky in this day and age with car cameras galore.

Some commenters suggested lodging a complaint with the Malaysia police since the licence plate of the police vehicle was visible.

Others jokingly empathised by saying Malaysian police have been deprived of much needed roadside income for two years now.

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