North Seberang Perai district police chief Noorzainy Mohd Noor said an officer had told the trio gathered under a tree in Kampung Lembah Raja, Pinang Tunggal, to go home three times.

“On the fourth day, when the officer in charge of the station spotted the three men still chatting under the tree, they were arrested and brought to the station.

“They were then given a RM1,000 summons each for violating the movement control order,” he said.

The men comprised two farmers and a factory operator, aged 50, 53, and 72.

Noorzainy was responding to a Facebook post by one of the men showing the summons with the caption “Chatting with my neighbours under the tree across my house, got fined RM1,000” in Mandarin.

Police deny they took action without explanation

Later today, Noorzainy denied that police had taken action against the men without explanation, as alleged in a Facebook posting.

He said the three men had refused to listen to advice and did not obey instructions to disperse.

In the Facebook posting, “the account owner questioned the action, purportedly saying that the police did not provide any explanation, even disputing why they were issued compound notices despite chatting in front of their own homes.

“Actually before the compound was issued, the Tasek Gelugor police station chief had gone to the location for three consecutive days advising them not to assemble. On the fourth day they still gathered there and chatted.”

Noorzainy advised the public not to misunderstand the actions taken.

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