Paying Fines

We love our sales! Malaysia must be the only country in the world where we have mega-sales for police fines. Our government has extended the deadline for the 50% discounts on all traffic fines till the 10th of March. I felt odd that I had not received any fines since 2004 but after checking, found out that I had two out-standing fines in my name.

So, I duly went to pay up my fine today. However, I would not even have known about this if people did not make such a fuss about the first dead-line. Then, I found out that our government is planning to implement a system where fines will be given an automatic discount if paid up early but will incur a heavier fine if paid late.

Now, that’s sounds like a good system as it encourages people to pay up early, which is fine until you realise that one does not know that they have received a fine, sometimes for years. Like in this case, I did not know that I had been fined until I actually checked. This means that I would have to pro-actively check on my status regularly. In other words, I need to presume that I am guilty unless proven otherwise.

I hope that the police work out a system of immediately informing someone if they get fined. That way, this system would be fair. Otherwise, people are going to get penalised for police tardiness.