Who is the 'speed queen' in the cabinet?

Is it the iron lady - International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz? Or her deputy in Wanita Umno, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who is also women, family and community development minister? Or perhaps the youngest of the lot - Youth and Sports Minister Azalina Othman?

According to rilek.com.my website - which provides an online service for users to check and pay their traffic summonses - the crown goes to Azalina.

Azalina, 43, has chalked up 28 summonses for traffic violations in the past four years - all but two were for speeding.

The minister was nailed for the offences in five separate vehicles registered under her name.

According to Rilek, Azalina has outstanding fines of RM8,400, but with the generous police discount, it adds up to only RM3,850.

Meanwhile, Rafidah romped home in second spot with 10 summonses - seven for speeding and three for parking violations - dating back to 2003.

Her outstanding fines totaled RM3,000, but she only has to pay RM1,180 after the police discount.

Oddly, Rafidah's summonses are listed under her old identity card number.

Malaysiakini was unable to check whether Shahrizat followed the example set by her two female colleagues in the cabinet - we don't have her IC number, either old or new.

But to clinch the 'speed queen' title, she will have to beat Azalina's 28 summonses.

Earlier this month, malaysiakini reported that their boss, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was slapped with 11 summonses for speeding, traffic obstruction and parking offences.

An embarrassed Abdullah said he was not aware of the offences. However, he paid the fines after he was informed about the matter.

Abdullah's fines, originally RM3,300, were reduced to RM1,000 with the general discount offered by the police.

Dr M too?

What about Abdullah's ex-boss-turned-critic, Dr Mahathir Mohamad?

According to Rilek, he has three summonses - all for speeding. His fines work out to RM900, but he got a 50 percent discount. To be fair, however, Mahathir's compounds were relatively recent, dating back to last year.

Interestingly, Mahathir's IC number reveals that he was born on Dec 25, 1920 * , instead of the official date of Dec 25, 1925. [correction]

Going by his IC, the former prime minister would be 86 years old, not 81.

Malaysiakini reported yesterday that another VIP, Johor crown prince Tunku Ibrahim Ismail Sultan Iskandar, has notched up a whopping 89 traffic summonses - with fines amounting to RM26,700 - over the past six years.

The revelation of VIPs having outstanding traffic fines comes hot on the heels of a police crackdown on errant motorists who have yet to settle their summonses.

Earlier this month, the police launched 'Ops Warta IV' - which will last until Aug 5 - to nab errant drivers who have failed to settle their fines.

According to the police, traffic summonses totaling RM2.82 billion - issued between 2001 and 2004 - have not been paid by 9.4 million traffic offenders.

Correction: Mahathir's first six digits in his IC are 251220 (with the year being the first two digits). Thus, his birth date is Dec 20, 1925 and he should be 81 years old. We apologise for the mistake.