Like thousands of others, I received a video on social media a few days ago that showed a Dubai man filming himself boasting about how he had fooled the police into cancelling his fine.
The man had parked in a slot meant for special needs people at an upscale mall and, rightly, his car was ‘clamped’.
But the man decided to be smart and avoid paying the fine of Dh5,000.
He went to a pharmacy inside the mall, bought himself a wheelchair worth Dh400 and confronted the police to show them he did indeed have special needs, and his fine should be cancelled.
Immediately, the policemen apologised and cancelled the fine.
However, later, the man made a video describing the entire incident and explained how he had avoided the hefty fine, getting away with less than a tenth of the amount.
Needless to say, the video went viral and, of course, was shared thousands of times.
I can imagine he is now facing possible strict action but am not sure whether or not he has been detained.
As I have repeatedly said, social media should be used to serve mankind because it is a means of useful communication, information, governance, lessons and other things that enrich and increase knowledge.
Unfortunately, every day we see a lot of such useless and often harmful messages.
Imagine the audacity of this man in Dubai who proudly and brazenly boasts how he defrauded the police and shows off his “skills”!
This is the level of degradation that we have reached.
If I had to make a decision about this man, I would take the strongest possible action and make that an example for others.
I would, however, imagine that officials concerned will impose the maximum available penalties.
Honesty is the essence of every act.
Ethics have no value without honesty and it is the essence of science.
There is no knowledge except honesty and the essence of treatment.
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