S'porean alleges Johor police asked for 'kopi money' after she failed to produce passport
A Singaporean woman had a sticky encounter with Malaysian police in Johor recently, alleging that she was asked to cough up “coffee money” since she didn’t have her passport with her.
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 was travelling with a friend, also a Singaporean, in a Malaysian-registered car at Sunway Big Box Retail Park where she noticed a Johor traffic police car "tailing” them at a distance.
"We were driving at a very conservative speed and the car didn't have anything illegal," she wrote in her post.
Minutes later, the police activated their siren, and she and her friend had to pull over. Her friend, who was driving, stepped out while she remained in the vehicle. There were five officers at the scene, said Marissa.
Speaking to AsiaOne, she said her friend had his passport with him, but she, on the other hand, did not have her wallet or any travel documents on her person.
According to the Immigration Department of Malaysia, foreigners who fail to produce a passport, travel document or entry permit with a valid endorsement upon request are liable to a fine of up to RM10,000.
Marissa said: "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 said the officers insisted she pay RM10,000 "or else I'll be banned from entering Malaysia for the next five years".
Marissa told AsiaOne: "Not in my wildest dreams (was) I going to give them RM10,000."
After two hours of negotiation, she took out RM500 from her bag and gave it to the officer "so that they would let us go".
Commenters to her post were shocked that the practice of “coffee money” still existed in Malaysia.
One user, a Malaysian, said it was common practice and that, even as a local, he had also encountered such situations.
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