By Chief Editor
Seputeh member of parliament Teresa Kok suggest the government to set up a Covid prevention enforcement complaint committee for the public to lodge complaint against police and enforcement officers who abuse their power when carry out duty on Covid related enforcement.
She commented regarding a recent video emerged over social media depicting how a young teenager broke down into tears after he was issued a fine for not wearing his face mask correctly.
Captured on camera by a local Malaysian news program broadcast over TV3, the clip shows police officers filling out the fine before handing it over to the young man at the Rawang KTM station.
Shared by netizen @abamihsan, the video has since caught the attention of local netizens, especially in light of the fact that the teen had been fined for not wearing his mask correctly, and not because he wasn’t wearing one at all. This was corroborated by the program’s reporter in speaking with the him after the fact.
“I had only pulled down my face mask past my nose. I was fined for not wearing it correctly.” he explained to her.
However, many netizens have taken to pointing out what appears to be a double standard regarding Malaysian public figures who managed to escape scot-free for not wearing a mask, despite being caught on camera in packed public spaces. This is bearing in mind the fact that the teenage boy may not necessarily have the financial resources to pay off the RM1,000 compound, if one were to assume that he is still in school.
This is further exacerbated by stories emerging of underprivileged families and individuals who have been driven to drastic measures, such as reusing disposable face masks over the span of multiple days or even rummaging through garbage for used face masks to wear in order to avoid the RM1,000 fine.
