All this while, I have only heard about them. I heard about the issue of a couple who got arrested for holding hands in the Lake Gardens, Kuala Lumpur not too long ago. I have heard a dozen other bad stories on how they victimised their suspects, but I didn’t really want to believe them because I thought they are the pious people and the so-called ‘protectors’ of the religion.

But now I know how terrible they are. I have my personal account to relate; a clear proof of how stupid they are in carrying out their duties which could embarrass the religion. Their acts are not only silly, but certainly not in line with Islamic teachings.

Meet the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Affairs Department’s (Jawi) enforcement officers. Sometime last month over the weekend, my girlfriend and I were taking a stroll in Putrajaya. We first parked our car a few metres away from the Wawasan Bridge – a spectacularly designed bridge in Putrajaya where folks hang out for fresh air and a scenic view – and walked towards it.

A few metres from the bridge, we stopped near a traffic light junction, standing facing each other and talking. There are also other people walking around that area. Suddenly, we saw a car (with a government department’s logo which we couldn’t identify) and a van which carried a full load of passengers slowing down; everyone was staring hard at us like we were terrorist suspects or something.

Of course, we didn’t bother because we were under the bright light and had done nothing wrong. We’re not even holding hands then. For your information, both of us were well-dressed, and my girlfriend wore a tudung (headscarf).

After like five minutes, we walked for another 20 metres and reached the bridge. They were so many people around as it was a weekend. Upon reaching the bridge, we chose a spot – again, under the very bright light of Wawasan Bridge – and sat down on the pedestrian safety divider like most of the people there did.

There were people were all around us; kids, the elderly, parents, couples both Malays and Chinese. In fact, the nearest ones sitting next to us were hardly two metres away. I guess they were more than a dozen cars parked along the bridge so you would certainly have an idea how many people were there.

Yes, we’re sitting next to each other, happily chatting and enjoying the spectacular view of the administrative city. We’re also looking at others, some who come to the bridge with fancy digital cameras to capture the scene, and others couldn’t enough of posing for photos there. We did nothing but enjoyed our conversation.

Twenty minutes later, we saw the same car and the van came and they stopped next to us. We gave a glance, and noticed there were a few people in the car, including a man who had his face covered a la militant style. Again, everyone in the car was staring at us. Still, we couldn’t be bothered. Then, a young lady, armed with a camera stepped out of the van. ‘This place must be a real haven for photographers, I thought.’ We both had our eyes glued on her, guessing where she would put her camera to immortalise the Putrajaya scene like every other shutterbug there.

But to our surprise, she was walking straight towards us and suddenly shooting a number of shots right at us - right smack in our faces. We were stunned but before we could think what actually was happening or what went wrong, a person who identified himself as a Jawi enforcement officer appeared before us. He flashed us an authority card and, to our surprise, told us that we were behaving indecently in public.

‘We have been observing you from there (the traffic light junction), and you have been behaving indecently,’ the plainclothes officer told us. Then he started lecturing us on our ‘immoral’ acts and threatening to arrest us. Of course, anyone in our position would be angry. How can we behave indecently in public under the bright light? Very bright light indeed!

‘She has her hand on your lap,’ he shouted, while the lady photographer kept on shooting at us. We’re perplexed, confused and angry. In the first place, she didn’t even realise it and even if she did, was it a terribly wrong act? When I confronted him and said that I had done nothing wrong, he said I had been rude to him, and wanted to take us to the police station. We knew we had done nothing wrong, and of course we had nothing to fear. But we were disappointed that they had spoiled our outing on a precious night of the weekend.

Since we think it was silly to get involved in such stupid arguments, we gave our identity cards when he harshly asked for them. We knew that without the presence of a policeman, he had no right to ask for our ICs, but we just wanted to get away quickly because the whole thing that happened was so stupid.

We couldn’t believe that a Jawi officer could stoop so low in their moral policing act in the name of ‘mencegah maksiat’ (preventing vice) by intimidating us in public. We were wondering whether they were real honest in carrying out their job or just seeking thrills or flaunting their authority.

Of course, no action was taken against us except that act of intimidation because that officer knew there was no case against us.

For Jawi’s enforcement officers information, if we wanted to do something silly which is not in line with the Islamic laws (which we both know well), I could have taken my girlfriend to my apartment or gotten a five-star hotel room (which I can afford) somewhere that night, or any other night. Why should we go to a bridge when the light was so bright and they’re so many other people around?

In conclusion, such an act by a government officer was such a waste of taxpayers’ money and reflected nothing but non-professionalism. Please don’t do something that results in a backlash for the department or worse, embarrasses the religion just for the sake of a thrill when armed with a little authority.

If Jawi officers are very sincere and competent in carrying out their duties in the name of Islam, there shouldn’t be a single prostitute left in the Federal Territory or even a drop of alcohol sold in places where it is not supposed to be sold. Don’t waste your time and our money, Jawi.