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.'
