A tourist from the UK had strong words to describe his time in Malaysia and the country as a whole after he found himself unable to leave in the foreseeable future.
The reason? His passport got confiscated by the authorities over an RM7 parking fee he didn’t pay.
Tried paying RM7 parking fee but couldn’t
Speaking to Express UK about his ordeal, Ahmed Hadi said he and his family parked their car at a parking lot in Penang for 10 minutes on Dec 7 last year.
When he was about to leave, he tried paying the £1.27 (RM7) parking fee but the payment machine simply wouldn’t accept both of his cards.
He added he then pressed the the help button and spoke to parking officials for another 10 minutes but couldn’t find a solution as well.
As such, Ahmed lifted the plastic barrier to let him leave the parking lot but it broke as a result.
There was no other way out. It was quite annoying and ridiculous. I was gentle with the barrier, but it just caved in like paper,” he claimed.
Summoned and arrested by police
Days after the incident, Ahmed was contacted by police and after facing questioning from them, he was arrested and turned up in court, in which his lawyer negotiated a settlement with the parking company.
Furthermore, his wife, Lucy, paid a total of nearly £2,425.41 (approx. RM13,600) to get him out of jail, as well as bail sponsors and lawyer’s fees.
But eight weeks later, Ahmed is still unable to leave Malaysia as his passport was seized by the court as part of his bail conditions.
“The whole thing was ridiculous from the start. I was willing to pay, but they couldn’t take the money and wouldn’t let me out. I thought we’d sorted everything out, but I still don’t have my passport or any idea when or if I’ll get it back,” he said.
‘M’sia is a hellhole with no human rights’
Ahmed, who’s scheduled to appear in court again on Feb 17, said he previously thought of moving to Malaysia to live with his family, but the incident has since changed his mind. He also labelled the country as “a hellhole with no human rights”.
He also said a police officer threatened to beat him while he was in detention, adding, “We think Britain is broken, but this makes you realise how good we have it. This country is a rip-off, and you’re not free.”
As for Lucy, she didn’t have anything positive to say about Malaysia as well, where she claimed the authorities detained Ahmed as they thought he was a “rich British Kuwaiti man.”
“It’s basically a police state – there’s no freedom of speech. They just arrest you for anything, and they do it to make money,” she fumed.
The British Embassy in Malaysia declined to comment when inquired about the matter.
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