As reported earlier, Malaysians across the country are currently entitled to 70% and 80% discounts on their traffic fines issued by both the Royal Malaysian Police and the Road Transport Office (JPJ) beginning 9th December 2021 to 12th December 2021. The discounts were issued as part of Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Ismail Sabri’s weekend-long Keluarga Malaysia event held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC), which was also meant to mark his administration’s 100th day in office.
Huge crowds & lack of social distancing at KLCC over saman discounts
While the idea of issuing discounts on fines meant to act as a deterrent against repeat offenses is peculiar enough, Malaysians have also pointed out that massive crowds will wind up congregating at the convention halls simply to pay off their fines, which could pose as a potential COVID-19 risk given the difficulty in enforcing proper social distancing measures.
It was like this outside before the event launching ceremony started.
Next tweet will show inside the hall/exhibition area. pic.twitter.com/V1JtmCTnXy
— Hariz Mohd (@HarizMohdWrites) December 9, 2021
Predictably, that prophecy proved true after netizens took to sharing scenes from within the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre yesterday (9th December 2021), where many had turned up to claim the 80% discounts on traffic fines. As one can imagine, the huge turn-out meant that many present were seen pressed shoulder-to-shoulder in some instances, while other locations such as the hallways leading into the convention hall space were populated with long lines.
Here at KLCC for an event and thought 'wow, so many people came to see me'. Only to realise this is the queue for the summons discount.
What world we living in that it can't be done ONLINE?!
I can't even joke about 'Hello polis' because they are the police! 🤦🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/ztvKIuQmtg
— Jeff Sandhu (@JeffSandhu) December 9, 2021
The situation from inside the convention hall did not improve much either, with similar sightings of heavy crowds trying to squeeze their way to walk between other attendees.
Online payment portals have crashed
According to the official notice regarding the discount on fines, offenders are now allowed to not only pay at designated counters at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre between 9:00am to 6:00pm, but they are also able to do so at Regional Police Headquarters or Contingent Police Headquarters, as well as online via JPJ and PDRM’s official portals.
As expected, your #mybayar server is down @PDRMsia_Trafik @PDRMsia #keluargamalaysia pic.twitter.com/qwM6b80MZo
— Shukor Zain Al-Abidin (@ShukorZ) December 9, 2021
Despite the option to pay online, many have found that both portals were inaccessible due to heavy online traffic that led to service outages. Scenes at police headquarters showed similarly long lines with many awaiting to pay off their traffic offenses within the remaining 3 days for the 80% discount.
Alongside the discounts on traffic fines, the Keluarga Malaysia event also saw other initiatives and activities being held, which includes a job fair that has also attracted a large turnout. Netizens have since taken to sharing their concerns, may whom pointed out the hypocrisy by the Ministry of Health for not standing up against the government’s decision to organise such a large-scaled public gathering in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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Also read: Take note! M’sians can get 70% to 80% discount off JPJ and PDRM samans from 9th to 12th Dec
