Story by Amanda Khong
THE two men who verbally abused Penang Island City Council (MBPP) officers on Oct 7 were hauled to court on Oct 12 where they were charged with obstructing a public officer from performing his/her duty.
They were released on bail and will appear again in court on Nov 26.
A video clip of the incident, which has gone viral, shows the two accused arguing and verbally insulting and using money to degrade the MPPP enforcement officers.
The three female MBPP officers had earlier clamped the wheel of a car which was parked on a pedestrian pavement and also out of the parking space.
Upon returning to his car, the owner and his friend were not happy and started to argue with the three officers.
The two men tried to forcibly remove the clamp by themselves while relentlessly arguing with the officers.
The MBPP officers in charge calmly explained to them that a payment of RM50 was required to remove the clamp but the two men continued to be unreasonable.
As the officers refused to budge, one of the men threw a RM50 note on the ground instead of giving it to the officer.
The female officer on duty, Zarina Othman, then calmly bent down and picked up the money and proceeded to remove the clamp.
The men threatened the officers after the clamp was taken off, saying: “You anjing, jagajaga kalau kami jumpa!” ( “You dog, watch out if we see you”.)
A press conference was held regarding this issue on Oct 8 in the MBPP building where councillor Mohamed Yusoff Mohamed Noor said a report had been lodged at the Jalan Patani police station on the incident.
“The three officers were threatened and we made the report for their own safety,” he said.
He hoped that police will investigate and charge the two men with obstructing a public officer from performing her duty and publicly insulting the officers.
“I am very proud of our officers for handling the situation in such a calm and professional manner. I also am very disappointed with the two men for acting in such an irrational and uncivilised manner against the officers who were just doing their job,” MBPP councillor Ong Ah Teong said.
MBPP has asked for the public’s cooperation to respect and abide by the regulations set by it to prevent such incidents from recurring.
Any complaint can be lodged at the MBPP office and if found reasonable, further action will be taken.
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