This morning, it is my unlucky day because traffic police fined me 5000 Riel at around 9:00 am at the traffic lights nearby Caltex Station. I left my workplace at 8:45 am toward my school. When I reached the traffic lights. The light is red, all passengers stopped waiting for green light at the right of dividing road, which divides road into 2 parts, for me I parked at the left of dividing road, which is the prohibited side. And then traffic light turned blue, I went but there were 5 traffic policemen standing in the middle of road and some on the sidewalk. And then they stopped and took my key. I walked my motocycle the sidewalk.
At the time, there were approximately 5 motocycles, including me. The man were talking with police and police told the man that ” If you do not need to compromise with us. We will take your motocycle to police station and then you will pay 5000 Riel for trasportation and 5000 Riel for fine”. The man was reluctant to make dicision. He told police that he had no money to pay for fine but police said that he did not need money, they needed to take motocylce to police center. while, I was silent and sew them talking to each other. But to me, I really knew that police really did not need to take motocycle to station. What they need is money to pay them. And then, I took 5000 Riel from my pocket and gave it to police. He responded to me that this was not fine. We compromised each other. I responded to him that, yes it was ok. As a result, I drove away.
When I heard the police and the man talking about fine. Police told the man that he did not need to take your money. And He added that if he took it, it meant that he is corrupt. I was suprised when police said about corruption. On contrary, he took my bribe. For me, I did not blame them because this was my fault that I broke the traffic law. I was not upset about this. The man had argument with police, finally he paid 5000 Riel to police too.
Popularity: 2% [?]
June 22nd, 2006 at 7:09 pm
I know that you just need to get back to school quickly and that the polices need money. But if everyone continues to do this, thing wont change. This will continue forever!
Together, we can make a change!
June 22nd, 2006 at 10:24 pm
hahaha that is hilarious! hahaha
June 23rd, 2006 at 8:25 am
Yes, I really did not do like that because it was a part of corruption but I had no choice but to pay them. If I did give them, they would not allow me go. By the way, I needed to go to school. So I dicided to do that.
June 23rd, 2006 at 11:15 am
Ah…what a bad day! Feel like getting a back luck when having police stop you on the street. I feel so for me
because it had happened to me too last time, and i have to pay them as well even they said they didnt need money. But thing’s going like that if we dont use some money we wont be easily released, or if we wait to get the moto back from the station it mights be more curruption, i mean maybe we’ll have to pay more. Even we know it’s currupt, but currupt should have been cleaned from the root.
June 23rd, 2006 at 5:56 pm
No! We could not just wait to have it cleaned from the root. Maybe it won’t happen forever!
So we’d better contribute to make it happens. If everybody continues to bribe them on the road then those policemen might have forgotten that it’s a kind of corruption and take it as what they should do as part of their job.
I believe that together we could make this happen. If we boycot this way of paying them, more or less those policemen might sense that what they are doing is not the right thing (at least they have to fight with their conscience!).
I said this because I did experience this myself. I let them took my moto to the central station but asked them to issue a punishment later with their names on it. Later I went to get mine back from the central and it was not 5000 riels but cheaper!
I am not saying this to show off myself but I believe it’s what we should do!
Dont be afraid of obeying the law!
June 24th, 2006 at 2:27 am
Funny that you were waiting for blue light. I guess you would be waiting forever.
Stefan
June 24th, 2006 at 6:40 pm
We should sweep from top to down. At the present, most high government officials are corrupt.
June 24th, 2006 at 9:04 pm
And why not do both?
June 26th, 2006 at 8:58 am
Hey Mongkol, I really support your idea to reduce corruption in Cambodia. For my opinion, We should remove both out, but the priority one that government needs to take action against is government’s high-ranging officials. And then low-ranging officials’s corruption will be able to diappear by itself or it is easy to stop it. Government official can be divided into 3 types: the poor, mediun and rich officials.
Do you all think that there is corruption in NGOs?