Cool MBPP officer wins praise

Penang Island City Council (MBPP) enforcement officers (from left) Sabrina Mohd Sabri, 29, Zarina Othman, 31, and Siti Asa Abu Bakar, 34, sharing a light moment after receiving their incentive from Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng at his office in Komtar. (Charles Mariasoosay/The Star)

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Island City Council (MBPP) enforcement officer Zarina Othman has won praises for the cool way she handled two men who verbally abused her after their vehicle was clamped in Campbell Street here.

“As an enforcement officer, I need to be a role model to others in my uniform. Yes, I was upset and uncomfortable when one of the men threw the RM50 note on the pavement.

“But not wanting to worsen the tense situation, I bent down and took the money,” she said at the MBPP enforcement office in Jalan Timah yesterday.

In the incident, which happened at around 11am on Wednesday, one of the two men shouted at Zarina, asking her to remove the clamp on his car, which was parked on a double yellow line.

They then tried to remove the front right tyre, which was clamped, when Zarina refused to do so.

A video showing the man shouting “Wa bukan tak ada duit. Wa banyak duit. Lu buka dulu (It’s not that I don’t have money. I have lots of money but you open (the clamp) first)” went viral on social media.

The other man then took out a RM50 note and threw it on the pavement.

Zarina maintained her cool, picked up the RM50 and proceeded to unlock the clamp.

As soon as she had unlocked it, one of the men said, “You anjing, jaga-jaga kalau kami jumpa (You dog, beware if we see you).”

Zarina said she had met all kinds of people in her nine years as an enforcement officer with the council.

“I have been verbally abused, yelled at many times, but having money thrown at me was the first,” she said.

Her colleague Siti Asa Abu Bakar, 34, took the video as proof for fear that something ugly might happen. However, she said the video that went viral was not hers.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said two men, aged 19 and 25, were picked up by the police at a fast-food outlet in Bandar Baru Air Itam at about 4pm yesterday.

He added that the case would be investigated for obstructing a public servant from discharging his/her duties.