What Logic?

Last November, my family received a traffic summon (by post) for speeding. As faithful citizens of Malaysia, we immediately went to the traffic police station to clear our "debt". It must be noted that it has been a common practice in Malaysia to receive a discount upon request. Therefore, we went to the "discount" department and hand in our earnest request.

After looking at the date of our summon, the police smiled at us and said in Bahasa Melayu, "Ni tak boleh diskaun, hanya saman sebelum bulan sembilan boleh diskaun." In English it roughly means "We cannot give you a discount, discounts are only given to summons dated before September." We were bemused and stunned by his reply. I understood that they gave discounts to summons dated before September in order to attract drivers to pay their long overdue summons. Fair enough. As for citizens who pay their summons in time, they should be given a better discount as a reward for their sense of responsibility. Yet, not only are they not given a better discount, they are not given any discount at all!

Isn't the government sending a message to the citizens: "Do not be foolish and pay the summon in time, for you will have to pay the full amount. Let the summon expire first, because after that, we will offer you discount prices. So, wait!"?

Talk about improving efficiency.