Khairul Azhar
KUCHING: The RM10,000 compound issued to those who flout the Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP) may be hefty, but is a more effective way of ensuring compliance as opposed to requiring offenders to perform community service.
This was the view of several members of the public who, when interviewed by The Borneo Post yesterday, felt that replacing the penalty with community service would not be a strong enough deterrent.
“Being told to do community service will not scare anyone to comply with the SOP, but having to pay the RM10,000 will definitely do the trick.
“There is a reason why the government set such a hefty compound and I believe it is because the previous penalty was not an effective enough deterrent,” said Khairul Azhar.
Melky Ngu
The 35-year-old from Batu Kawa believes that the high compound will result in higher SOP compliance rate among the public which is necessary to bring down the number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
Sharing the same view was Melky Ngu, 40, who said getting SOP flouters to perform community service will not ‘scare’ anyone into complying with the existing regulations.
While he agreed that RM10,000 was high, it was something that needed to be done by the government.
“Before this we can see people in places like eateries not adhering to the Covid-19 SOP. I hope that the RM10,000 compound will give people that awareness and that SOP compliance is not a thing to play with,” he said.
At the same time however, both Khairul and Ngu felt that the authorities should only reserve the RM10,000 compound for serious or repeat offenders, and that first-time offenders be given a lesser fine.
In addition, Ngu believes the authorities should not punish business premises whose customers were the ones who failed to comply with the SOP, saying the onus should be on the latter group to properly register themselves either manually or through the relevant applications when they arrive, and also adhere to physical distancing and other requirements.
“By now, everyone should know what they need to do during the time of the pandemic,” he added.
Palima Ngadan
Recently, Sarawak Federation of Chinese Associations had proposed that the government consider requiring those who flout the Covid-19 SOP to do community service, instead of issuing them with the RM10,000-compound.
Its president Dato Richard Wee questioned whether such a high compound could effectively raise awareness about the need for compliance with the SOP, adding that it was vital for the authorities to be fair when issuing the compounds on violators.
“The hefty fine of RM10,000 is not affordable by all social classes. Besides, can such heavy penalties truly raise awareness? This is worth a thought,” he said.
Nevertheless, Wee believed that first-time offenders should be fined RM1,000 and the authorities should only increase subsequent fines for repeat offenders, as not all ought to be punished severely.
For Palima Ngadan, 34, he felt that those caught flouting the SOP should be dealt with on a case by case basis.
He said the government could include community service as one of the punishments, but that the RM10,000-compound should be maintained as a strong deterrent to remind the people of the seriousness of the pandemic and the need to bring down the number of infections.
“As long as there is no hefty penalty, there will be many who will flout the Covid-19 SOP,” said Palima who is from Betong.
Christopher Jeffery Hill
Meanwhile, Christopher Jeffery Hill believes neither the RM10,000-compound nor community service were ‘good’ punishments.
“RM10,000 is a lot of money for the low-income group or those who do not have steady income.
“This group will also find it hard to do community service because some may have taken second jobs to earn extra money, meaning community service is also not an ideal option as they may not have the time to do anything else apart from focusing on their jobs,” said the 39-year-old.
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