This article was submitted anonymously.
There’s an age-old term that goes: money doesn’t solve all problems.
While some may agree with this statement, others, like myself, think otherwise. No offense, but I think you’re incredibly naive to believe that money isn’t everything. Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand where you’re coming from an emotional standpoint, but realistically speaking, money talks.
And in this 21st-century world, where a burger and rojak stall owner can get fined RM50,000 for operating after hours in their own housing area while politicians are allowed to berkumpul and eat durian together without getting reprimanded, money and power are clearly essential parts of life.
You can do anything if you’re rich and powerful enough. Some may use it for their own entertainment, buying luxuries and goods and whatnot, while others use it to help themselves as well as others.
Among those people, there are also a bunch that may use money for…less than responsible things. And the worst part? They get away with it without so much as a slap on the wrist and a “stern warning”.
Here’s The Thing…
When I was in college, I used to have a friend that would constantly talk about how powerful their family was. They would not just brag about going overseas and having all those luxuries on standby, but also about… other activities (read: some less than legal ones). When asked if they were worried about the consequences, they just scoffed and said “Why? My dad can just pay them [the authorities] off.”
Deep breaths, folks.
Look, it’s one thing to be arrogant, but it’s another thing to be very self-aware about it. How confident of a person do you have to be that you’re not even scared of the possibility of getting reprimanded? Or going to jail even?
It would suffice to say that some people in power (or related to power) are so detached that they could just swerve their way out of getting sentenced by just waving around their VVIP status while us mere ‘commoners’ suffer the consequences of our actions.
Although throughout the years, the public has expressed their discomfort and anger over the blatant blind eye towards higher status individuals when it comes to doing time, everything would eventually be swept under the rug. As usual.
So, what’s the point really?
Well, I’ll tell you what the point is. As long as there’s something to speak up about, keep talking about it. If you let it die down and just accept the fact that “this is just how life is” or that “life isn’t fair anyway”, then nothing will change.
Just “Looking Into It” Isn’t Enough
Among mistreatment of power is like breaching MCO rules just to satisfy your craving for nasi ganja. And your only scare was that the police are “looking into it”. Seriously, that’s it? How hard is it to find a helicopter owner? How many people in Malaysia are owners of these flying hunks of metal?
Another instance when people of power are above the law can be seen a few months back in December 2021 during the giant flood incident.
A video of the police seemingly giving the PM’s convoy the right of way instead of letting an ambulance go first was circulating online. When questioned about it by people on social media, Selangor Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department (TEID) Chief Superintendent Azman Shari’at said that they gave way to the Prime Minister’s car in order to avoid collision between cars coming from the main road.
To that, I say…okay? Stop the traffic from that road for a second to let the ambulance pass, then. I’m confused, is this a new rule? I wasn’t aware that a PM’s convoy is more important than someone going being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
And It Goes On and On…
Speaking of convoys, an accident happened earlier this month on 4 February 2022 when police had reportedly stopped traffic at a road junction to let a fleet of cars who were believed to be VVIPs pass by. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if it’s no emergency, why are you blocking the road just for some “important people” to pass through?
Where does it say that police can simply hold traffic in the smack middle of nowhere to let VVIPs pass by? Because if there was, I haven’t heard of it.
While we’re on the topic of traffic, let me just add on a time when celebrity Neelofa was given a police escort because she was late to an event with Oppo. Now, getting a police escort definitely isn’t illegal, but it does, however, raise some eyebrows as to how she got all that in such a short period of time. A police escort would require at least two weeks to process the paperwork and get approval.
Who knows if this was pre-planned but regardless, it definitely wasn’t an emergency. So why was she allowed to use so many resources for something relatively non-essential? And why had the authorities given her the green light to do so?
Just to add a little bit more spice to this already boiling soup, let’s not forget to also mention how funny (and also not at all funny) that an alleged criminal is still walking free while he was found guilty of seven charges of corruption.
While we’re at it, let’s also talk about the time he was fined RM3,000 for not checking into a chicken rice restaurant while the owner of the establishment was reportedly fined RM10,000.
The police defended themselves by saying that a fine is a fine, regardless of social status. But come on, that’s a little bit excessive, isn’t it?
Of course, the people in power and celebrities have the money to pay off those penalty fees, but what about people who are living paycheque to paycheque? Or people who’ve got nothing more than the clothes on their back? How are they supposed to pay for that?
I could go on but it’s getting kind of depressing.
Are You Above The Law? Depends
So the verdict is, are you above the law when you have power and money? Yes, of course. Let’s not beat around the bush here and pretend that we have rules and laws against this when we can clearly see what’s happening. Despite that, the Malaysian PM would go on record and say that no political party or person is above the law. Sure.
As it is, life definitely isn’t fair. But… as it also is, fairness is subjective. Some people think that fairness isn’t everyone getting the same thing, but it’s everyone getting what they deserve. So, really, in the end, it goes back to “it depends”.
That being said, with huge amounts of money come huge amounts of leeway. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. Have you ever heard of survival of the fittest?
Truth is though, no matter how much you hate it, you still can’t deny that money and being in a position of power does indeed buy you a lot of privilege. And there isn’t anything much you can do about it but continue to speak out.
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