MALAYSIA: Two Singaporean men have been arrested at a Malaysian checkpoint after allegedly attempting to leave the country without valid immigration clearance, in separate incidents.
According to Malaysian publication The Star, the first man was detained when he tried to exit Malaysia and claimed he had simply taken the wrong road.
However, investigations revealed that he had entered Malaysia through an unmanned motorcycle lane at the Sultan Iskandar Building in Johor Bahru, bypassing immigration checks entirely.
The second man was stopped while attempting to leave the country on a motorcycle, only to be found with no entry record in the immigration system.
Both cases are now under investigation by Malaysian authorities under Section 6(1)(C) of the Immigration Act, which deals with entry without valid documents. If convicted, the men could each face a fine of up to RM10,000 (about S$3,033), up to five years in prison, and up to six strokes of the cane.
A Malaysian immigration official stressed that it is a criminal offence to enter or leave the country without presenting a passport. He revealed that during peak traffic hours, some local motorcyclists had even been caught forcing open the guardrails of motorcycle lanes to skip clearance checks.
In response to the growing number of such incidents, the Malaysian Immigration Department has launched a targeted operation at the Sultan Iskandar Building and the Second Link to clamp down on Malaysians and Singaporeans attempting to bypass passport checks.
