Boredworkers.com

Last week, the police department announced that they were reducing the prices of traffic summonses. There were mixed reactions from the general public regarding this move. The authorities believed that the move would encourage motorists to own up as well as reduce corruption in the form of bribes to the police’s traffic force. Some were against the decision, fearing that it would encourage more offences and traffic violations.

One such person was the Transport Minister Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy. Not 24 hours after the initial announcement, it was published in the papers that he was taken by surprised and was very much against the decision. After some politicking, the announcement for discounted summonses was reversed. Specifically, fines for five traffic offences would not be reduced.

This show of disunity among the ranks of the government is rather disconcerting. One would have assumed that the various government bodies consult each other on a regular basis and are on the same page on certain matters.

One way or the other, the general public is little affected by the decision. Except perhaps for the slight inconvenience of having to keep up with the bribe rates. To help you keep with the changing rates, I’ve created a nifty bribe calculator. There’s an online version and a downloadable Excel sheet.

Use it for fun, pass it around, tell your friends, whatever. But always remember, bribery is a crime. Don’t succumb to it. Cheers, and have fun.