Just got this email from LLC:
“I read this on your website – Why Iskandar Development Region will fail by Richard Teo
“How can the IDR attract Singaporeans if this type of news keeps getting published in newspapers in Singapore?
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136, 125523-1174773540,00.html
JB NIGHTMARE FOR S’POREAN
DARK DARKER DARKEST
DARK: Tinted car windows, cops stop him
DARKER: He fears they are carjackers & resist arrest
DARKEST: He has to strip, sleep sitting up in crowded cell
By Crystal Chan
March 24, 2007
CONFUSION over tinted windows, coupled with his fears of car-jacking landed Singaporean LWSim in a Johor Baru jail.
His is a shocking lesson for Singapore drivers who may not know that tinted windows which meet with the Land Transport Authority’s requirements could get you into trouble in Malaysia.
This is because Malaysia has stricter laws on the amount of light that must be able to pass through tinted car windows.
Mr Sim, 29, found this out the hard way when he refused to let JB police impound his car for further checks. He was arrested and placed in a police lock-up.
The sub-contractor was later charged in court with obstructing justice and jailed a day.
Mr Sim had driven his three-year-old Honda Civic to JB for a shopping trip on 11 Mar.
At about 6.30pm that day, he was approached by a traffic policeman in a carpark near City Square, a shopping complex at Jalan Wong Ah Fook in JB.
He was waiting for his two Malaysian friends, who were withdrawing money from a nearby Maybank branch.
Mr Sim recalled: ‘A uniformed traffic police officer came up to me and told me to drive 5m forward.
‘I did so and I got out of the car to ask him what was the matter. He then told me to go to another man who was standing nearby.’
PLAINCLOTHES
That man turned out to be a plainclothes police officer. He showed Mr Sim his police warrant card.
Mr Sim said: ‘I don’t understand Malay but the card had the word ‘Polis’ on it, and I knew it’s Malay for police.
‘This officer told me that my car wasn’t allowed in Malaysia as it has tinted windows,’ said Mr Sim.
Singapore’s LTA requires the side windows of vehicles to allow in at least 25 per cent of light, compared with 50 per cent for Malaysia.
Last month, another Singaporean, logistics manager Lawrence Lee, 47, was issued a summons for driving to Malacca in a car that had dark windows.
Mr Lee was told the fine would not be more than RM300 ($132).
But Mr Sim was unaware of the law. ‘I’ve been driving to JB at least once a week since I bought the car in 2004 and I haven’t been stopped before,’ he said.
‘I tinted the windows when I bought the car so that I don’t get so much glare from the sun when the weather is hot.’
Things turned ugly when both cops insisted on towing his car to the traffic police headquarters.
A check with JB’s traffic police confirmed that it has the right to impound cars with tinted windows for further checks.
If the amount of tint is against Malaysia’s laws, the driver will be fined when he collects the vehicle.
Mr Sim said he was worried that the men might be from a car-jacking syndicate.
He refused to surrender his car keys and ended up arguing with them.
He said: ‘I thought I’d only be fined. Instead, they wanted to detain my car for 48 hours. They also didn’t give me any documents to show that my car was being impounded.’
Mr Sim’s two Malaysian friends arrived, and the heated exchange continued. All three men ended up being arrested.
A police car arrived and took the men to the JB Selatan police station.
He said: ‘I never doubted they were real cops since they showed me their credentials, but I wasn’t sure if they were good ones.
‘And I never expected the matter to get so serious.’
At the police station, they were told that they were being detained for obstructing justice as they had argued with the cops.
Bail was denied. Mr Sim could only make one phone call, so he called his younger brother.
His car was impounded at the traffic police headquarters, which was some distance away.
The stay in the lock-up was unpleasant.
Mr Sim said: ‘I was ordered to strip to my underwear and kept in a cell with 37 other people. My friends were in separate cells.
‘It was so crowded that there was no space to lie down. I had to sleep in a sitting position but it was hard to sleep as I was worried about what would happen.’
DIDN’T TELL PARENTS
The following morning, Mr Sim’s younger brother, who declined to be named, arrived at the police station.
Mr Sim was due to appear in court that afternoon.
His brother told The New Paper: ‘I didn’t tell our parents about the incident as I didn’t want them to worry.’
He added that he had engaged he met a lawyer at the police stationher to represent his brother.
That afternoon, Mr Sim was charged with obstruction of justice and jailed a day in the same lock-up.
‘The lawyer pleaded for leniency, so I spent only an extra day in the lock-up. Otherwise, I’d be detained longer.’
The New Paper’s checks with the JB police confirmed that MrSim was detained after arguing with the police over the tinted car windows.
They also said that phone calls are not allowed in the lock-up.
The traffic police said it has the authority to impound cars for further checks if officers suspect that the windows were too dark.
The matter did not end with Mr Sim’s release. When he collected his car from the traffic police, he had to pay a RM200 fine for having windows that were tinted above the limit.
Showing us the receipt for the fine, Mr Sim said: ‘The trouble started because of the car windows. But when I was arrested and detained, the car windows became the secondary issue.’
Still, the incident will not stop MrSim from visiting Malaysia.
He said: ‘I’ll just avoid driving there in cars with tinted windows.
‘I’ve also told my friends who own similar cars that they should be careful when driving into Malaysia.’
#1 by accountability on Wednesday, 28 March 2007 - 10:49 pm
i’m not surprised at all…
1) our barbaric ministers wanted to forcefully build a half-crooked bridge to singapore
2) the latter was then accused of cheating the royal ancestors
3) and now they are given such harsh treatment knowing darn well they are tourists to this country
… and why not? the minister from that state once declared the concept of Bangsa Malaysia is forbidden even though we are ALL Malaysians born and raised (and some of us even contributing to) in this country!
malaysia bodoh!
#2 by Godamn Singh on Wednesday, 28 March 2007 - 11:28 pm
Incubus
Kurakurap has difficulty in focusing on the issue and tends to drift away into an argument with himself. It is a medical condition.
#3 by pwcheng on Friday, 30 March 2007 - 1:53 am
I think this is a case of the Singaporean trying to show his arrogance and the police showing their power and in between at the onset what is on the police’s mind is any body’s guess. Reading between the lines there must be some heated arguments and the police made use of their power and the law. I will not empathize with the Singaporean if he has behaved arrogantly and knowing well he is in a foreign country. The Singaporean police would have done the same to any Malaysians under the same circumstances if my assumption on the circumstances is correct.
We cannot compare ourselves to those Big Shots because we all know there are two set of laws in this country and it is accepted by our top guys. Precedents had already established this facts of life in this country but to what level we can accept it is left to the individual.
However coming back to our Malaysian police, very often they made mistakes in issuing wrong summons (purportedly for speeding), wrongful arrest and detention or even death at detention. Imagine the plight of the victim who for no reasons are at the least inconvenienced, waste of time and expenditure and the worst endure the pain of loosing love ones. Under such circumstances when they are in the wrong it is only fair that they have a compensation fund derived from a monthly deduction of their salaries to reimburse the victim That will make them to be more diligent, accountable and careful.
We must start this campaign of equal responsibilities and burden so that when we are in the wrong we are being fined but there must be some remedy when they are in the wrong.
#4 by undergrad2 on Friday, 30 March 2007 - 4:27 am
“Under such circumstances when they are in the wrong it is only fair that they have a compensation fund derived from a monthly deduction of their salaries to reimburse the victim That will make them to be more diligent, accountable and careful.”
We should expect a lot of policemen having no or negative salaries but debts to pay. The entire police force would disappear overnight. The country will be paralyzed by massive traffic jams since one wrong gesture of the hand on the part of the traffic policeman would mean a deduction from his salary.
#5 by tokmoh on Sunday, 1 April 2007 - 10:29 pm
smeagroo Says:
March 27th, 2007 at 11:44 am
And we say JB police are not working? They are so efficient to me. Take a drive in Klang Valley and see the number of cars with heavily tinted windows on all sides and more and more cars being fitted with bright HID lights! Lawlessness is the order of the day in the country. Hmmm, should I go get myself a pair of HID lights today?
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I hope you don’t misunderstand that there’s actually nothing wrong with installing HID on your car. In fact, it is the way to go and more and more newer and modern cars are fitting them as standard. They are brighter, use less voltage and lasts much longer than the normal yellow halogen lamps. Think of it as the compact energy-saver flourescant light for cars.
However, installed wrongly may cause unnecessary glaring to other drivers, which is the common case with those modded cars. The ones fitted as std by car manufacturers are 100% legal and safe.
If you want to install HID, go ahead. As long as you comply with JPJ std, there’s perfectly no way for you to get into trouble for having HID, unless if the polis become mengada like these JB polis who wants our country to keep on rotting in the international arena, although by legal right and law, you’ll be perfectly fine.