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Singaporeans are a fortunate bunch but being in Singapore most of the time also makes us sheltered and somewhat naive.
Just look at the number of Singaporeans who got scammed in the years past, for example.
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I just read that "A Singaporean man has been sentenced to a day’s jail and fined S$4,300 (RM$10,000) for attempting to bribe a Malaysian traffic policeman with S$21 (RM$50)."
I remember how almost 10 years ago, I exceeded the speed limit on the North South Highway by some 20km/hr and was caught in a speed trap.
The police officer smiled at me and told me I was speeding.
He asked for my driver's license and I gave it to him.
He did not proceed to issue me with a speeding ticket but continued smiling at me.
I looked at him and asked him how much was the fine.
He looked puzzled and looked at a chart and told me RM200 (thereabouts), if my memory serves me right.
I just said "OK, please give me the ticket".
His smile went away as he issued a speeding ticket.
My friend who was in the car with me gave me a scolding after I drove off.
"Couldn't you see he was waiting for you to bribe him?"
and
"You could have settled it with just RM50!"
I simply replied that I always do the right thing or try to anyway.
I got another scolding when I spent a couple of hours the next day trying to locate a police station in Klang to pay the fine. "See how much time we have wasted?"
It didn't help that the policeman on duty was dozing and the receipt was manually issued which took an inordinate amount to write.
A couple of years later, my dad drove the same car into Malaysia and was stopped by a policeman who claimed that the fine was never paid!
My dad called me on the phone then and I told him that I laminated the receipt and he would find it in the glove compartment.
I had taken precaution just in case something like that happened.
It's Malaysia.
Malaysia boleh!
(You have to watch the video by ABC NEWS.)
This Singaporean guy who was trying to bribe the traffic policeman, if you asked me, was just "suay" (bad luck) since what he tried to do is something which many (Malaysians and Singaporeans) have always done and are probably still doing.
The Chinese have a saying:
"Kill the chicken to show the monkeys".
He happened to be the chicken in this case.
Read the full story here.
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