KUCHING: The sole purpose of a fine is to deter, so the amount needs to be high enough to prevent an offence, said Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Women chief Kho Teck Wan.
In view of this, she disagreed with Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii in proposing a tiered compound system to punish people who didn’t wear mask in public places.
“Kelvin Yii argued that the fine of RM1,000 is too steep for most Malaysian. In my opinion, too steep exactly what a fine should be because the whole purpose is to deter someone from committing a mistake,” she said in a statement.
She pointed out that if everyone could afford the fine, then more would disobey the order.
“The consequence of not wearing a mask can cause massive outbreak that disrupts normal daily operations, impact the country’s economy, unemployment, and worst of all – death.
“Is a fine of RM1,000 too steep for an offence that can cause all these?,” Kho asked.
Wearing of face masks in public places and public transportation was made compulsory from Aug 1 in the country. Those who flout the mandatory rule could be subjected to a fine of RM1,000 under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988.
However, Dr Yii said the RM1,000 fine was too high. As such he and other lawmakers had signed a petition urging the federal government to reduce the fine to RM250 for the first offence.
In a Facebook post on Friday, Dr Yii said he understood and fully respected the different opinions given on the face masks issue.
“Although the RM250 proposal is for first time offence, which may include people who accidentally made an honest mistake and forgot, some who may not fully understand or aware of the implications of the policy, or may at that time cannot afford a disposable mask.
“I do think no one wants to pay RM250 for a mere mask offence, and if we baseline it with other offences like smoking which is also a health hazard, traffic fines which also may cause death or injuries, the compound is also about the same amount or less than RM250,” he said.
He added that repeat offenders and those who refused to wear, the fine would be more and that is why a tier system was proposed.
“At end of the day, it is all about enforcement, even if the fine is RM10,000, if no one enforces it, it will be the same.
“If they tighten enforcement even with RM250, I think many will be concerned regardless how rich they are,” he said.
He added it was also important to educate and promote greater public health awareness, and not merely just to punish.
