Johor police allegedly ask Singaporeans for $3,000 'coffee money' after pulling their car over

Thinking that she didn't need to carry a passport while travelling in Johor Bahru, a Singaporean woman was apparently made to pay a hefty price.

Marissa, 28, took to social media app Lemon8 last Saturday (Aug 12) to share her experience of getting pulled over by Johor traffic police and allegedly being asked to pay 'coffee money' of RM10,000 (S$3,000). 

Marissa, who didn't want to give her full name, said that she and her friend, both Singaporeans, were travelling in Johor Bahru back in May using a Malaysian-registered car.

At around 6.30pm, Marissa mentioned that they were exiting Sunway Big Box Retail Park when she noticed that a Johor traffic police car was "tailing [them] but kept a distance". 

Marissa also claimed in the post: "We were driving at a very conservative speed and the car didn't have any thing that is illegal."

Minutes later, the police activated their siren, and she and her friend had to pull over. Her friend, whom she said was the driver, stepped out while she remained in the vehicle. 

Marissa noted in the post that there were five officers and that one of them was "guarding the passenger seat".

She shared with AsiaOne that her friend had his passport prepared to show the officers but she did not have her wallet, passport or other valid travel documents with her to prove her identification.

According to the Immigration Department of Malaysia, under Immigration Act 1959/63, all foreigners must be able to produce a genuine passport, travel document or entry permit with a valid endorsement upon request.

Failure to do so could result in a fine of up to RM10,000 or up to five years' jail.

Though Marissa said she did not have a physical passport with her at the time, she told AsiaOne that she had assumed she could use her SingPass to verify her identity "but according to Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ), SingPass is only recognised in Singapore and not in Malaysia".

Marissa alleged: "They kept saying that because I didn't bring my passport, I needed to pay them money. I said I don't have so much cash in hand because [my friend's] family house was just around the corner."

She added that the officers kept insisting that she pay RM10,000 "or else I'll be banned from entering Malaysia for the next five years".

Marissa shared with AsiaOne: "Not in my wildest dreams am I going to give them RM10,000."  

She added that after two hours of negotiation, she caved in, took out RM500 from her bag and gave it to the officer "so that they would let us go".

Bribery is a punishable offence in Malaysia. Offenders can be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the gratification, where such gratification is capable of being valued or is of a pecuniary nature, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

In the post, readers were shocked that 'coffee money' (money given as a bribe) still exists in Malaysia.

Another user, who is a Malaysian, shared that 'coffee money' is common in Malaysia and that, even as a local, he has also apparently encountered such situations before. 

In response to a sympathetic commenter, Marissa said: "It's okay. At least, I learnt from this expensive mistake. In the future I'm fully geared up!"

Marissa shared with AsiaOne some advice for Singaporeans travelling to Malaysia: "If you're a Singaporean driving around in Malaysia, everyone including the passengers need to carry their passports or National Registration Identification Card (NRIC) at all times."

"Even if just going like me for a short distance. They're quite particular on this."

ALSO READ: Self-service? Singapore woman says Johor traffic police pulled her car over, took $100 out of husband's wallet

ashwini.balan@asiaone.com