Police Deny Issuing RM20,000 Fine To Couple Who Took Off Their Face Masks To Eat In Cheras
In a viral post, a man claimed he and his girlfriend were fined RM10,000 each even though they did not breach any standard operating procedures (SOPs).
By Yap Wan Xiang — 15 Mar 2021, 06:41 PM
The police have denied issuing compounds to a couple who claimed to have followed the standard operating procedures (SOPs), but were still fined RM10,000 each while dining in a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur
According to Sinar Harian, Bukit Aman CID director CP Datuk Huzir Mohamed said it was not the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) that issued RM10,000 compounds to the couple in Cheras.
Instead, it was enforcement officers from another government agency.
He said the police are currently investigating the matter.
"We have recorded the couple's statements. At the same time, we will also record the statement of the enforcement officers involved to assist in the investigation into the allegations," said Huzir
The Star reported that the couple was called up by Bukit Aman yesterday, 14 March.
"We discovered that the couple had expressed their shock and disappointment over the action of the officer for issuing the compounds as they felt it was unjust," Huzir added.
"We are scrutinising the case and we have referred the allegations made by the couple to the Ministry of Health. We will investigate further."
On Saturday, 13 March, a post by the couple went viral on social media, alleging that the RM20,000 fines they received were "illegal", "ridiculous", and "daylight robbery"
In the Facebook post, the boyfriend said that he and his girlfriend were ordering food while having their face masks on at a restaurant at 11.14am.
Two minutes later, they took off their face masks when the drinks arrived. Elaborating in a TikTok, he said he and his girlfriend started eating after taking some sips from their drinks.
"When the drinks arrived, naturally, you would take off your masks, right? Because you need to take off your masks to drink," he explained.
"We took off our masks, we took a sip of the water. The food came [and] we started eating."
"A minute later, 10 officers came in, (they) took our identification cards [and] straight away issued us summonses. They issued RM10,000 each [to] me and my girlfriend."
He then urged netizens to be careful, because according to him, the officers can issue the hefty compounds to members of the public regardless if they follow the SOPs.
At the time of writing, the Facebook post has garnered over 1,300 shares, while the TikTok has almost 8,500 likes.
Former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, too, described the couple's encounter as "ridiculous".
"Need to wear a mask while eating and drinking? The RM10,000 summonses don't make sense," tweeted the Muar Member of Parliament (MP).
