Stories about foreigners using fake license plates on their motorcycles have been in the news of late, which is why a clip of a foreign male driving a motorbike with a red license plate (denoting a vehicle owned by a government official) in Denpasar recently went viral.
The bike’s actual owner, a village chief in Buleleng, issued an apology soon after.
Reports say that the 22-second video shows the tourist, who, it should be noted, was wearing a safety helmet and not speeding at all, riding the motorbike on Teuku Umar Road.
The clip zoomed on the red license plate to show the oddness of the situation.
It was later stated that the motorbike belongs to Bukti Village Chief Gede Wardana, who is visiting Denpasar this week to spend time with his grandchild.
“I deeply apologize to the Buleleng Regent and Buleleng Administrations because of the viral incident,” he said in a video made available to the media.
Gede said that he did not know that the traveler, who is a client of his son, had borrowed the motorbike.
“I was holding my grandchild [when the motorbike was borrowed],” he said, adding that the motorbike was only used briefly by the traveler.
“Perhaps he used it to buy drinks or maybe go to the ATM. I do not know.”
Vehicles with red license plates are for government-owned vehicles and thus are meant to only be used for official purposes only.
Denpasar Immigration Chief Tedy Riyandi said separately that he was aware of the video and was monitoring the situation.
