Everyone knows that disabled parking spaces are meant for drivers and passengers with disabilities, and that the non-disabled are not allowed to park their vehicles in those spots.
However, despite this fact, this Penang woman and her wheelchair-bound mother were reprimanded by authorities for parking in a disabled spot! Huh?
According to Free Malaysia Today, enforcement officers from the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) clamped the woman’s car when she took her wheelchair-bound mother to a bank on Macalister Road.
The woman reportedly explained to the officers that she was in the midst of applying for a disabled car sticker as her mother was believed to have suffered a stroke just two weeks ago.
In a video, the officers can be seen arriving on a motorcycle. One of the officers can then be seen telling the woman to pay a fine before he takes off the clamp.
The woman then asked a bystander to call a staff from the bank she just visited to come out and help.
At the same time, other bystanders can be seen telling the officers off.
“How long can she sit in the hot sun? If anything happens to her, who will be involved (responsible)?” a security guard at the scene told the officers.
“What is wrong with you all? She is in a wheelchair… If your mother is like this, can ah? You are very rude to the public,” the security guard continued.
A woman, believed to be a staff from the bank, then arrives at the scene shortly after that and paid the officers so they could take off the clamp.
However, MBPP has defended the actions of its officers, stating that they followed the law because there was no proof of disability when they clamped the vehicle.
“If the driver was in the car, we would not have issued a ticket or clamped the wheel. We have advised all applicants of the OKU (orang kurang upaya/people with disabilities) parking pass to display their OKU card on the car at all times,” MBPP mayor Maimunah Mohd Sharif told FMT.
“Our enforcement officers have been advised to act in accordance with the law. There was no OKU card or sticker displayed on the car, so action was taken.”
What do you guys think of the MBPP officers’ actions? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: Malaysian VIP and Civilian Park Illegally, Only One of Them Gets Car Clamped