A traffic police officer recently gained notoriety after stopping a European couple for speeding during their van tour of Malaysia and requesting a bribe. It was reported that the couple had complied with the officer after he offered them RM100 in exchange for not having to pay an RM300 fine at a police station.
Now, a similar incident arose in Langkawi where the police officer was caught on tape informing a foreign tourist to pay him instead of paying a fine at a police station during a traffic stop.
Renowned YouTuber Luke Damant had planned to spend a day on the stunning island of Langkawi, but he had no idea that he would have an unpleasant surprise.
Luke was stopped by a traffic police officer while filming himself and his companion on their motorcycle.
Additionally, Luke’s chat with the traffic cop was captured on tape as he turned the camera away.
Luke remarked, “Okay, we got pulled over.”
He quickly said that he is Australian when the police inquired where he was from.
The officer told Luke he wasn’t wearing a helmet and said that he would be fined RM300.
Luke asked the officer if he would receive a ticket to be paid later, to which the officer replied that he would need to follow him back to a police station about 10 km away to pay the fine as they fear tourists would leave the country without paying the fine should they allow them to pay it later.
“If you are local, you have time to pay it for a month. But if you’re a foreigner, if you go back, you won’t pay the fine.
“The procedure is that we will bring you to the police station and you must pay at the police station. At the police station, you can get a receipt,” he told Luke.
The officer then gave Luke the choice to follow him to the police station or to settle there and then, with a ‘discount’.
It was alleged that they agreed on a figure of RM100, and Luke was instructed to follow the officer into an alley to do the transaction.
After the incident, Luke expressed amazement that he had ‘gotten away’ with not paying a fine and went to a shop to buy a cheap helmet to avoid future difficulties.
“I’ve ridden motorbikes like (in) Bali. You just get away with chucking money at them,“ he added. “It works here I guess.”