Today my parent and I went to Gambang, Pahang to fetch my little brother back as it is his last day in matriculation. On our way back we decided to take a break after I drove for almost 3 hours non-stop, so we stop by a local coffee shop at Kuala Pilah for a tea break as well as a toilet break.
We sat by the table right in front of the shop, and I went to the toilet which is located at the back of the shop without even sitting down yet. A guy came out from the toilet and I walk into it right away as I need to pee badly.
When I was done, I opened the door and right after i stepped out from the toilet, a hand grab my right arm right away and tried to drag me to the back of the shop. He was a rather muscular Malay guy in t-shirt and jeans with a big gold necklace around his neck.
The first thought in my mind was that he is a drug dealer trying to sell me some drug =.=
I was reluctant to follow him and quickly grab onto something in the coffee shop and I asked him
me :"Apa kamu nak?" (what do you want)
him:"Ikut saya ke belakang sekejap" (follow me to the back for awhile)
I of course, as a normal citizen got terrified for a moment and tried to make my way back to the front of the shop where my parents and brother were at. That guy in the other hand, never let go of my arm and try to drag me behind with his might. Luckily I have a rather strong stance even though I was skinny and he wasn't able to drag me.
me:"nak buat apa ni?" (what do you want to do?")
him:"saya ada barang lupa bawa keluar kat tandas, sekarang nak check kamu" ( I have some stuff in the toilet I forgot to take out, I want to check you now)
I was like "wtf" and continue to struggle. Some crowd sitting near the back of the shop started notice us pulling each other but everyone were just watching.
him:"jangan takut, saya polis. Ikut saya ke belakang" ( Don't be afraid, I am a police. Follow me behind)
The first thing that came into my mind was he might be a fake police as I read about them all the time. My second thought was he want to put something into me and frame me for stealing or something like that. My third thought was, he has a gang of people behind and they will beat me up for whatever purposes if I follow him. (noted that he dress up like a gangster especially with the big gold necklace around his neck or just yongsui in another word)
So after thinking for awhile
me:"kalau polis, tunjuk document la" (Show me some documents or ID if you are a police)
I don't know if he didn't understand me or try to ignore me
him: " saya polis, ikut saya, saya nak check" ( I am police, follow me , I want to check)
me: " nak check, check kat sini la! Kenapa pergi belakang?" (check here if you want, why go behind?)
him:" bukan, saya ada barang, saya nak check kamu, saya polis" (no, I have something left in the toilet, I want to check you and I am a police)
Right after that, I shouted for my parent to come over, the workers in the coffee shop help me call my parent and they rush to me and try to question that guy. My mum furiously asked him to let go of me and he continue grabbing onto my arm claiming he is a police officer. Another guy in shirt finally stood up at a table nearby after my parent show up and took out his officer ID for a few second claiming they are police officers. Both of them stated they just wanted to check me.
I was like why the hell should i let you check suddenly. Some local uncles were around said in mandarin "don't be afraid, you did nothing wrong just let them check" My parent and I then tell them to check right on the spot instead of bringing me behind. The 2 "officers" were reluctant at first and show a lot of patterns.
The other guy :" kami hanya nak check, kalau tak salah buat apa takut ni?" (we just want to check, if you did nothing wrong why are you afraid?)
I almost show my middle finger to him but I remain my calm stating “how i know who the hell he was and he never show any documents or say anything but grab me straight away, isn't that scary?”
They seems to have nothing to say and I ask them to search me even though by law they should have search warrant! They ask me to give them my IC and I took out my wallet and gave them. My mum asked why they want my IC and they say they want to do a record. WTF oh?! So the other guy took my IC behind and took out his phone, act like pressing thing for awhile. The guy who grabbed me searched my pockets while one of my pocket was empty after i took my wallet out and the other pocket contains my phone and my iPod. He searched all my pockets and get nothing, so he keep repeating the search on the pocket which I had my phone and iPod in for 4 or 5 times. I even asked him if he want me to take out my phone to stop him from grabbing through the pocket which was irritating!
After that, the other guy give my IC back to me and shake hands with my parent and me saying it was just a misunderstanding and they are just doing their job. I almost wanted to ask for their names and ID numbers but my dad stopped me, and he was right. No point doing so as it will only waste resources and time as government will still protect them. How many news have we read over the past few years about such thing?
It was a weird experience and this is where tax payer's money goes to. Some ignorant local police who try to catch some unfamiliar faces? Is this how citizen should be treated? Is there no better crime to target?
So to whoever out there reading,
- I don't know what is wrong with my country, what's the difference between police and thugs?
- Don't go to a public washroom alone, you wouldn't know what will happen. If I was traveling alone today, I can't imagine what would happen to me.
- Ask for identification no matter what!
- Vote wisely!
I just want to use the toilet and pee! Is that illegal?