Corruption is a ‘disease’ that, if left unchecked, permeates through all levels of society and unfortunately those in authority aren’t immune from it too.
A Singaporean woman recently took to Facebook to share how several police officers allegedly extorted RM500 from her while travelling back to the city-state.
Told to drive on lorry lane
Sharing her experience in the Facebook group MY SG Road Trip – Your Malaysia Road Trip Guide, the woman named Irene Teo said she was returning to Singapore and was waiting at the in the car lane (EDL) towards the immigration customs in Johor Bahru (JB).
While waiting, she noticed that the lorry lane on the left was opened by several Malaysian policemen and was instructed to drive on that newly-opened lane along with another Singaporean-registered car.
The road led us to a deserted side road beside the customs. When we looked around, we were surprised to see only two cars including us in the deserted area.
“A policeman in uniform then called his colleague over via the radio and another policeman came riding in a motorcycle. He then asked us when we used this route to go back to Singapore and we told him we were instructed by police to take the lorry lane,” she wrote.
SG woman claims M’sian cops extorted RM500 from her
By this time, Irene wrote that she felt “unsafe” and realised that the policemen had banded together beforehand.
She claimed the one of the cops asked for her driving license and passport and even said he would ‘help’ her go back to the car lane to the immigration customs.
He also demanded RM600 as a ‘fine’ for driving at an unauthorised lane.
Irene alleged that the officer told her if she didn’t pay, she will have to go to the police station to file a report, pay the fine, and have her personal details recorded down, something which the officer noted “wasn’t good” for her.
We told him we can go to the office to pay the fine officially but he simply ignored us. One of our passports was also with him at the time,” she wrote.
Left with little choice, Irene eventually handed RM500 to the officer as it was all she had. After receiving the money, the officer then led her back to the car lane.
Reached out to Johor MB & YDPA’s son
Speaking to Mothership about the incident, Irene said she had sent an email to Johor Menteri Besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi in hopes that he would intervene in the matter.
She also said that she had also reached out to the son of Yang di-Pertua Agong (YDPA) Sultan Ibrahim via Instagram.
When asked whether she would return to JB again, Irene said yes but added she will install a car camera first and avoid returning to Singapore on Sunday nights.
This isn’t the first time M’sian cops have been accused or caught taking bribes from foreigners, where it has garnered much public attention:
