7 interesting minor offences that you might not aware of!

Reading statutes sometimes can be boring because of the legal jargons and complicated substances involved.

However, rest assured that you won’t fall asleep while reading the Minor Offences Act 1955.

The Minor Offences Act 1955 is an interesting piece of legislation where you can find some of the weird laws in it. The most notable one is that riding an elephant down the street. Following are some of the intriguing laws that you might not hear before. 

#1 Pretending to be a fortune teller to cheat or take advantage of others! 

Section 28(b) of the Minor Offences Act 1955 provides that 

every person pretending or professing to tell fortunes, or using any subtle craft, means, or device, by palmistry or otherwise, to deceive and impose upon any person;

… shall be deemed to be a rogue and vagabond and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.

If you decide to cheat someone or take advantages of someone by pretending that you are a fortune teller, you will be punished with a fine not more than RM250.00 or imprisonment for a period no more than 6 months or both fine and imprisonment. This also includes using those fortune-telling devices and methods or even by palm-reading. Note that the intention here must be to cheat or to deceive or to gain benefits out of someone else. 

#2 Ridding an elephant on the road! 

Yes, you are right, riding an elephant! This might be the scenario in villages and kampung.

Section 11 of the Minor Offence Act 1955 does not permit one to ride an elephant on the public road without permission from the necessary authorities.  Failure to obey this provision would result in the rider of the elephant to be penalised with a compound no more than RM50.00: 

Any person who—

(b) drives, rides or leads any elephant on any public road without the permission of the Chief Police Officer or of an officer authorized by him in writing by name or office;

shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty ringgit.

#3 Simply leaving a dead body in public or private place without permission 

A dead body should be properly buried because it is against the law to simply store a dead body or even a dying person which is not yet passed away in public area.

It is also forbidden to place a corpse in any private property or place without the permission of the owner of the place.

Imagine that if someone just simply left a dead body in your place without your consent… scary right?

Hence, failure to comply with S.20 of the Minor Offences Act 1955 will result in a fine no more than RM250.00 or a jail term not more than 6 months or both:

Whoever deposits or causes to be deposited any dying person or any corpse in any public place or in any private place without the consent of the owner shall be liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both

#4 Dog chasing at persons or others 

Dog owners, be aware! If your dog has the habit of chasing at persons or even cars, horses, sheep and other animals passing through a public road, you will be found liable with a fine no more than RM100.00. 

Section 6 Minor Offences Act 1955  –

If it is proved to the satisfaction of a magistrate that any dog is in the habit of running at persons or at vehicles, horses, cattle, sheep, goats or pigs passing along a public road, the owner of such dog shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred ringgit.

#5 Simply Washing in the Public 

Section 15(1) Minor Offences Act 1955 stipulated that

Any person who— 

(b) bathes or washes himself, or any other person, animal or thing on any public road, or in or by the side of any public tank, reservoir, standpipe, watercourse or stream, the use of which for bathing has been forbidden by the Chief Police Officer or any other lawful authority; shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred ringgit

After a long jog, you feel hot and exhausted. You found a tank at the side of a road. You feel like you want to swim inside the tank or using the water from the tank to bath yourself.

Hold on! You might not know whether the public tank is designated for the purpose of bathing and washing.

It is an offence for a person who bathes or washes himself, other persons, or even animals and things on the public road, or inside or beside any public tank, standpipe and reservoir for which its purpose is not for bathing and washing. If found guilty, you will be fined not more than RM100.00.

#6 Wearing camouflage uniform 

You might think that the camouflage uniform is trendy and would like to give it a try. Beware of Section 25A(1) of the Minor Offence Act 1955: 

Any person, not being a member of the armed forces of Malaysia or of a visiting force, who wears any camouflage uniform or any part thereof or anything resembling a camouflage uniform or has in his possession, custody or control any camouflage cloth or camouflage uniform or any part thereof or anything resembling any camouflage uniform or camouflage cloth shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.

If you are not an army or a soldier, it is an offence to wear or even possess any camouflage uniform. You will be liable for a fine no more than RM500.00 or a maximum 6 months jail term or both. The police can even arrest you without a warrant and seize your camouflage uniform under Section 25A(3)(a) of the 1955 Act!  

#7 Cosplay Armed Forces Without Permission 

If one day, you decide to cosplay a soldier, police or any DBKL officer, please refer to Section 23 of the Minor Offences Act 1955:

Whoever wears without due permission the uniform appointed for the use of any of the armed forces of Malaysia or of any local force or visiting force or of the police force of Malaysia or of Singapore or of any Government or Local Authority or any dress having the appearance or bearing any of the regimental or other distinctive badges of such uniform or any colourable imitation thereof shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty ringgit, and any such uniform, dress, badge or mark may be forfeited: Provided that nothing in this section shall affect the wearing of such uniform for the purpose of any theatrical performance.

Without the necessary permission, you are not allowed to dress like an army, police or any local authority officer or otherwise you will be convicted and a fine of not more than RM50.00 will be imposed on you. In addition, you will also lose your uniform. However, it will not be an offence if the cosplay is for the purpose of performing arts such as movie and drama. 

It is after all common sense behind them… 

Do go and check out for the Minor Offences Act 1955! Sometimes we might not even aware that our action would amount to an offence. However, there a lot of common sense and logic behind each of the offences. They are reasonable in terms of regulating our daily life behaviour. So, so long as we behave ourselves in the public, then we would not be caught off guard for being guilty of any offences.