A screen grab from the video purportedly showing a policeman slapping a foreigner in Bayan Baru.

GEORGE TOWN, Dec 16 — A Penang-based policeman shown in a video clip slapping a foreigner that went viral on social media sites recently has been put on desk duty pending investigations into the case, state police chief Datuk Abd Rahim Hanafi said today.

The unnamed policeman, who was formerly based in the Bayan Baru police station, was immediately transferred to the Balik Pulau operations centre after the video clip was uploaded on to YouTube on December 13.

“We are investigating this case now and we will not compromise when it comes to any of our officers who commit any offense or smear the image of the police force,” Abd Rahim said in a official statement.

“I have issued an order to all department heads, district police chiefs and formation chiefs to ensure all officers under them to always fulfil their duties in accordance to the law,” he added.

Abd Rahim had also warned the police force in Penang to toe the line or face the consequences of their indiscipline.

“Do not even once act against of the law or do anything that can smear the image of the police force as this will not be tolerated at all,” he said.

The Penang police chief’s statement today came in the wake of a torrent of comments after the video clip spread.

It has been shared over 2,000 times on Facebook after showing up yesterday on a popular local online forum called JBTalks.

The one minute-and-six-second video clip, which appears to have been recorded on a smartphone, shows a policeman slapping and scolding three men who appear to be foreigners in a public area in Bayan Baru.

The policeman was at first seen to be ordering two of the three men to squat down beside a the third who was already in a squatting position on the ground.

The policeman proceeded to scold one of the men and slapped the latter repeatedly while asking him in Malay, “You mau kurang ajar dengan saya [You want to be disrespectful to me]”.

The video ends abruptly when the policeman turns around and faces the anonymous cameraman, who appears to have captured the incident from across the street.

The clip has attracted more than 127 comments on Facebook, most of which criticised the policeman for his actions.

“Gangster berlesen” (licensed gangster) one Facebook user, KS Sim, commented while another user, Yu Min, said he “felt so sad for the police — kurang ajar scolding kurang ajar HAHAHAHA LMFAO”.

Many other commenters simply used the slogan “Malaysia Boleh” [Malaysia Can] in a sarcastic manner, pointing out that such incidences frequently took place in Malaysia.