An Unpleasant Encounter-what would you do?

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It happened yesterday evening.

We were on the way to meet our friend from the UK for dinner. My gas tank was low, the Shell Station was on the opposite side of the main road. We turned off the main road to a make a U-turn at the feeder road to to get into the service road that runs parallel to the main road.
A police on his bike stopped us, walked over with his book and said we should not make the U-turn. But, there was no sign that said we couldn't. He spoke Bahasa which I could sort of understand but which I could not argue the point of absence of No U-Turn sign. All I said was " saya Bahasa no good, first time this happened", he took a deep breath and went on in Bahasa  and repeated a few times as I needed to get what he was saying.
Simply, he asked for the DL and IC ....Oh dear we forgot to bring our passports along and the photocopy in the glove compartment was missing!!! He realized we're not locals and he said we'd be fined Rm300 and if we go to the police station we'd get a discount and pay Rm200. So I asked "what should I do and where should I go to pay?" He shook his head, sighed and smiled, in Bahasa, "ok lah,...buy me a coffee, so how much?"  I said "How much? Where do I pay?" He sighed again and smiled, in Bahasa, "ok, ...no summon... you go..., how much?" Then, I knew all he wanted was pocket money and if I didn't give him he'd take us to the station as we didn't have our passports or even a copy of it...and I've heard before that they could book other people's traffic offenses to you if you refuse to pay them as they'd have your infos on record then (that's how some get a collection of unknown summons for traffic offenses they didn't commit nor were even at the mentioned scenes!!). In order to avoid such troubles and seeing what he wanted, oh boy I was really troubled and my poor hubby I guess was just so taken aback. I took out Rm50, he shook his head and said Rm100. So I gave him what he wanted  He returned the DL and out of sight in a sec, we felt dumb, vulnerable...my dear half said we should have just taken the summon, but then it could mean we'd miss the dinner with our friends having to go all the way home to get the passports and consequence effect of him getting hold of the infos and booking us with other unknown offences.

I have to make copies of our passports again and make sure they are in the car every time we drive. How I wished we have our MM2H IC Cards. We didn't feel good paying the dirty cop, and yet we didn't want to get into trouble with no passports on us and the thought of missing the dinner with our friends or a big uncontrolled delay. I'm still 'dazed' by this incident and if it happened again under the same circumstances, I guess I'd just pay him. But, if I have my DL and ID, I'd collect the summon on the spot....but on second thought, my worry is would he booked me with other's offenses, maybe paying him would rid the troubles but my conscience is troubled  (SIGH)

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It appears to me that you would have been better off calling his bluff by taking whatever he decided to throw at you.

My wife & I never carry our passports with us, sometimes not even the photocopies. Admittedly we have never been asked to produce our passports during the last 13 years here in Malaysia, firstly on a work permit & lately on the MM2H visa. On the one occasion when I was flagged down for driving above the speed limit, I simply denied the fact & asked the copper to mail me the traffic summons. He gave a weak excuse about "checking the computer", then waved me on once he realised I wasn't about to offer a bribe.

Forget those rumours about trumped-up traffic offences. They are far too complex to execute & the risk of being exposed is too great for any policeman to take, unless the stakes were extremely high (not so in your situation last night). Remember that he would need the cooperation of other policemen in order to fabricate charges against you - why would the others participate in such a risky venture? In fact, the risk of being charged with soliciting a bribe probably meant that the policeman was far more wary of the outcome than you were last night, but you were unfortunately overcome by your fears.

In conclusion, my advice is to stand your ground, suffer the inconvenience of being booked if necessary & make it clear that you are prepared to make a report of his attempts to solicit a bribe.

Regards.

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I told my hairdresser today as she lives in that part of town. Well, she too had the same experience at that same location. She said for speeding the ticket to be paid at police station is Rm200-300, for U-turn it's Rm100 and for the police it's Rm20-30 and never above Rm50!!

Thanks Megalink. Yes, definitely it was the fear at that moment it never really crossed our minds he was at risk for soliciting a bribe. Not being able to fully understand every word he said, lack of Bahasa vocabulary and the horror stories caused us to feel and react in such a dumb way. Now with hind sight we should have stood our ground. A new learning experience here.

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Hi,

Pay the 50 or 100 and avoid the hasstle. I have been caught speeding on numerous occasions, usually coming up from Singapore. I can assure you the time you have to spend going into JB and paying the fine is not worth it. I know it is a con but it really is a small amount of money and just a part of the "rich tapestry" of Malaysian life.

Cheers

Brian

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hi, BB,

Sorry to hear about your nasty experience, hope that it wasn't too much of a spoiler for the rest of the evening.

Obviously this cop was out to get anyone, for anything, and get a bribe. The RM100 is a bit high, I've always been done for RM50.

regards, Scott

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Hi Brian, thanks for your feed back. Indeed it's part of the interesting life here that we just have to adjust to.

Hi Scott, yap I gave him a belated Hari Raya Bonus  It did trouble me some how even the next day, but the enjoyable dinner/mini reunion with old friends after an absence of 20+ years made my day.

Appreciate all the valuable advice and views.

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If you 'pay' on the spot for such an offence (speeding the same) RM50 is the max you should pay...(if your conscience allows you to!). Most of us do it, and it is in reality condoning bribery and corruption which we all hate so much....but what to do lah?

I related a sppeding experience on another thread here. The cop pretended he would write a ticket, and kept telling mr RM300 compound fine. I said Ok write it. he asks do you want to settle now? I say how much.He says RM300. I say "No Way...my friend say RM50 max" He say "I must check with my Boss. He goes away and come back and say "OK RM50 is good!"

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Thanks Fizzy. Now that you mentioned your speeding experience I kind of vaguely remember it!
If it happened again, and if the cop looked skinny enough he might need the Rm50 cup of coffee and Roti,hehe!

(This might be a silly question. I've never had a summon here before).
If we do not pay them on the spot, is there a choice to have them send the summon instead of having to go and pay at the police station right then?

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With view to the comments regarding the police I found the following article (http://allmalaysia.info/news/story.asp?file=/2007/7/24/homepage/18369452&sec=mi_homepage) amusing.

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The policemen in malaysia request for "coffee money"! are well known.It is a traditional...but it is a shame !Usually RM10 to RM20 can settle,but nowadays they ask for more and more!!


Shirley.