Singaporean stripped to underwear in JB cell.

[teckheng]

JB NIGHTMARE FOR SINGAPOREAN.

Confusion over tinted windows, coupled with his fears of car-jacking landed Singapore LW Sim in a Johor Baru jail.

His is a shocking lesson for Singapore drivers who ay not know that tinted windows which meet with the LTA'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 place 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 3 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 car park near City Square, s shopping complex at Jalan Wong Ah Fook in JB.
He was waiting for his two Malaysia friends, who were withdrawing money from a nearby Maybank branch.

Mr Sim recalled: “A uniformed traffic plice 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 standing nearby.”

PLAIN CLOTHES

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% light, compared with 50% for Malaysia.

Last month, another Singaporean, Logistics Manager Mr Lawrence Lee, 47, was issued a summons for driving to Malacca in a car that had dark windows.
Mr Sim 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 HQ.

A check with the JB's Traffic Police confirmed that it has the right to impound cars with tinted windows for further checks.

If the amount of tinted 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 end up arguing with them.
He said: “I though I'd only be fined. Instead, they wanted to detain my car for 48hours. They also didn't give me any documents to show that my car was being impounded.”
Mr Sim's 2 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.

[teckheng]

23 March 2007 - TheNewPaper page 3.

[sszone]

well to be honest....with the crime rate in jb and notoriety of car-jacking gangs, i can understand why that guy refused to have his car towed away. just going by instinct or commonsense, anybody ever got his car towed for illegal tinting?...surely we would have our doubts. anyway, its not our turf plus its a waste of time arguing with em cos can never win. thats why i dun go to jb that often...or at most take public transport or tour bus there lo. our BIG Singapore plate is already a very big invitation for ppl who dun like singapore cars and it would be worse if one is driving a nice expensive ride like RX300 which is a very popular prey for car-stealing syndicates..just my 2 cents

[fooman700]

again I would say this- give that place a miss lah if you can help it. why be a big moving fat target for those losers over there?

[sszone]

even the malaysians are aware of jb notorius crime rate with the exeption of jb police commissioner himself...hehe. overall, other parts of malaysia are quite safe actually. to be fair, we shouldn't call them losers. only the bad guys and corrupt ppl are, the rest are still honest normal folks...we aint wanna start an online war here. its just a case of different MANAGEMENT....govt that is

[centurion]

all my KL friends scared to go JB. I have not gone to JB since the 2nd link was up.

[Jase]

Originally Posted by fooman700

again I would say this- give that place a miss lah if you can help it. why be a big moving fat target for those losers over there?

You may not like it but there's no reason to call the ppl who stay there 'losers'. That doesn't reflect too well on you.

[satines]

Originally Posted by Jase

You may not like it but there's no reason to call the ppl who stay there 'losers'. That doesn't reflect too well on you.

I am not surprised by the term "losers" used in this forum. There seems to be alot implied meaning that you are a "loser" in the forum if you 'are of lower economic status', 'if you are from the north', 'if you have low budget for mods', 'if you are driving a non performance & luxury marque which just tear your bmw on the road" ......etc

[sszone]

Originally Posted by satines

I am not surprised by the term "losers" used in this forum. There seems to be alot implied meaning that you are a "loser" in the forum if you 'are of lower economic status', 'if you are from the north', 'if you have low budget for mods', 'if you are driving a non performance & luxury marque which just tear your bmw on the road" ......etc

dun feel too down bro...i guess its just a minority that thinks that way, most bros are here bcos of their love for bmws regardless of what type of bmw, mods or whatever.
i dun earn loads of money, i have low budget for mods and whatever, my E36 is ANCIENT..hehe....but hell i am still happy with my ride. so should i start a loser club here? haha....live life for oneself, not for others. i believe the passion for bmws and cars has no boundaries, regardless of financial status, car or nationality. worse come to worse, dun hang out with ppl who think that way, they aint worth it. i still prefer prata or whatever with bros who shares the passion. prata anyone?

[ryan]

Hi guys,

This thread has the potential to blow up into a huge mess, so i'll be taking the liberty to shut this thread down.

Please direct any queries regarding this directly to ME using the private message function.

Thanks.