Many Malaysians perceive the police in our country to be venal and corrupt. Whether this impression is fair to our cops is up for debate, but corruption is deemed to be so rampant that there is even a specific term used for bribery money – known as “coffee money” or “duit kopi” – which is an under-the-table way of quickly settling most matters relating to the police.
That’s why it’s not surprising to see such an act occur out in the open – such as this traffic policeman who was caught on camera allegedly accepting bribe money from a truck driver to settle his “case”. The secretly-filmed video was originally uploaded to TikTok in February – but recently reposted on Twitter, and immediately gained massive views within a short time.
What will PDRM do about this raging rampant corruption? This is not one off! pic.twitter.com/RBCTLwwjtz
— Dominic Damian JAN 1513 (@jan_1513) December 26, 2022
On Twitter, the video went viral likely because of the controversial caption, which includes a mention of the PDRM. The original TikTok video, which was uploaded in February, had provided little context, and had much less traction.
Even though the original video is months old, seeing alleged corruption take place in broad daylight was an eye-opener for most netizens. At the time of writing, the authorities have yet to issue a statement on the matter.
Scrolling through the Twitter comments, we found many netizens pointing out that bribes are often not just solicited, but offered – thus, blaming only the police for pervasive corruption is unfair. One commenter said that the act is an example of why there are many irresponsible lorry drivers out there with a total disregard for the lives and safety of others.
If an individual is caught bribing or receiving a bribe, they can be prosecuted. If found guilty, an individual can be imprisoned for not more than 20 years and be fined 5 times the value of the bribe or RM10,000, depending on which is higher.
Source: Twitter
