The Road Transport Department (Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan/JPJ) has issued a warning to not decorate vehicles with decorative lights, especially during the festive season.
We as Malaysians are generally very creative and this spirit is brought to the point of decorating or customising our vehicles, regardless if they are cars, motorcycles, lorries, rickshaws, bicycles and so on. However, the authorities do not appreciate this creativity because they have a duty to ensure that each of our vehicles is safe not only for us, but also for all road users.
The Public Relations Officer of the Road Transport Department, Mohd Syahmi Abdul Latif explained that the act of decorating vehicles with decorative lights is wrong.
“Even if the intention is only to celebrate Ramadan, vehicle owners are warned to remove the decorative lights and return them to their original state or be fined.”
“In any case, the decision rests with the responsible officer. For this type of offence, the fine is usually between RM100 and RM200,” he said when contacted by Berita Harian.
He said this when commenting on a video uploaded to the Tik Tok application by a user who goes by the name @kaksuemeow, which shows her car fully decorated with decorative lights.
@kaksuemeow claimed she had encountered the police several times while driving in Bukit Bintang but was not fined.
“On the contrary, the police only showed thumbs up. I have already removed the decorative lights from the car but there is still a possibility that I will decorate them again. It took me about six hours to install all the lights and wrap them around my car,” she added.