Why are Klang Municipal Council (MPK) enforcement officers behaving so high-handedly with the ordinary public, as in the following clip from a camera phone on Star online report, “Fine mess, says tailor in MPK incident”.
What was all the hullaballoo about? Over parking ticket!
How can such things happen under the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who has talked so much about a people-friendly, efficient and productive public service?
But nobody seems to be listenining as the situation is generally deteriorating from bad to worse, with more and more basic services – including basic courtesy to citizens – breaking down and getting out of control.
The following is the Star report of the deplorable episode in Klang yesterday:
Fine mess, says tailor in MPK incident KLANG: Humiliated and enraged, that’s how Pua Chia Teng feels after several Klang Municipal Council (MPK) enforcement officers dragged him from his shop and bundled him into a car before taking him to the police headquarters here, all over a parking fine. Pua, 35, a tailor at Jalan Raja Hassan said it started over a parking fine issued at 2pm on Wednesday. “It all began with my elder brother Khiau Seong. He had parked his Mercedes Benz along Jalan Raja Hassan without a parking coupon. As an MPK parking attendant walked towards the car, Khiau Seong shouted out at him not to issue a compound as he was on his way out,” he said. He said the attendant ignored his brother’s plea. “Khiau Seong rushed out and within minutes a scuffle had broken out. I ran out and separated them while two other attendants watched. The three MPK attendants then walked away and Khiau Seong drove off,” he said. Pua added that 10 minutes later, a group of MPK enforcement officers barged into his shop demanding he follow them to the Klang police headquarters to give a statement regarding the scuffle. He refused. Pua said the officers then dragged him from his shop and forced him into their car. They then drove to the police headquarters. “I was dragged out in full view of passers-by and other shop owners. It was humiliating,” Pua said. “At the police headquarters, I had to pay RM1,000 bail to be released,” he said. Selangor DAP deputy chairman Peter Tan said he plans legal action over the matter. “It is unbecoming of the staff to act in such a manner,” he said. Council president Abdul Bakir Zin declined to comment on the way his men had taken Pua to the police headquarters. Asked about a video of the incident posted on the Internet, Bakir said, “Let the police investigate as a report has been lodged.”