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While reading the article Tough task against VIP smokers yesterday, I was reminded by the bad experience I had dining in a restaurant a week ago. The food was nice and the price was quite cheap. The thing that spoilt the whole experience was the fact that they allowed customers to smoke in the restaurant.

Didn’t the government enforce a no smoking policy indoors, especially in an air-conditioned public place a few years ago? There I was, sitting in a restaurant where the smoking and non-smoking area was separated only by an imaginary line. I’m not stopping anyone from puffing away but neither should I be robbed off my rights to breathing unpolluted air.

Anyway, back to the topic…

In the article, Perak Health Department director Datuk Dr Ahmad Razin Ahmad Mahir was quoted saying, “We want to respect them (VIPs) by not issuing summonses against them. But if we don’t do that, we’ll be seen as not doing our duty”.

Why does it seem that certain groups of individuals are being treated “differently” from normal citizens? The article mentioned that health officers find it difficult to issue summons to VIPs if they were caught smoking in smoke-free areas. Why is that so? Out of respect? Fear of losing their job? Shouldn’t every individual be treated the same way when they break the law, regardless of status?

In another incident, Khairy Jamaluddin was reported having 17 traffic summonses unpaid that totaled up to RM5,100. 6 out of the 17 summonses were due to speeding. He later cleared the summonses when it was reduced to RM1,740. That is a 65% “discount” (RM3,360) for his offences.

Karl commented in the article saying:

By having 6 speeding summons, its more then enough to get his driving license suspended under JPJ’s Kejara system.

Is it true that Khairy Jamaluddin’s license should have been suspended under JPJ’s Kejara system? I’m not well versed with the law but if that is true, why wasn’t it suspended? Here’s a list (courtesy of Malaysiakini) of the cabinet’s unpaid traffic fines and the discount given as reported last year.

Are there any non-VIP driver reading this that has something to share?

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2. 34 Who Said Malaysia Has The Best Remp-its?
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4. 12 SS2 Restoran Murni Is The Place To Eat At
5. Malaysia, Make Up Your Mind Already!

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 1st, 2007 at 11:33 pm and is filed under Malaysia oh Malaysia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.