Frustrated with the lackadaisical attitude, especially among tourists, the cops there have come up with quite an unusual form of punishment - push-ups.
If you're caught without a mask in public and can't pay the fine, you'll be forced to do 50 push-ups in public.
According to VAO News, those found wearing masks improperly, including wearing it below their noses, were punished with 15 push-ups.
"Respect for the wearing of a mask by foreign tourists is very low," said law enforcement officer, Gusti Agung Ketut Suryanegara.
He said that many came up with poor excuses, including not being aware of the regulation, forgetting to bring their masks or that their masks are wet or damaged.
The fine for not wearing a mask in Indonesia is 100,000 rupees (That's roughly about RM30).
Suryanegara said that since the start of the year, many tourists have been arrested for not wearing masks.
“90 per cent of offenders are foreign tourists," explained Suryanegara.
In another report by Kumparan, Suryanegara was quoted as saying that foreigners also tended to purposely flout regulations because they had money to pay the fines.
"Sometimes we feel that our dignity as officers is humiliated. Oh, I just pay, they say,"
Eeeeeeee, annoyingnyer!
Creative punishments
Unorthodox penalties are not uncommon in Indonesia though.Hoping to keep Indonesians in check, fines and all sorts of "community service" punishments have been imposed on those who dare flout the SOP.
Punishments include:
1. Pulling weeds from local parks
2. Told to clean up filthy riverbanks
3. Locking up violaters in ghost houses
4. Forced to stare at graves of those who died from COVID-19
5. Ordered to dig graves for those who died from COVID-19
6. Forced to lie inside coffins
Some of these punishments really take it too far but we're in total support of the community service ones.
Those found going against regulations in Malaysia should be ordered to clean out streets, pick up rubbish at our parks or even help fish out waste from our rivers.
Maybe then people (ehem ehem, politicians) will think twice before going against the set SOP?