Can you believe this?
Jun 14, 2011,ST
JB supper trip turns into nightmare for 2 women
They say they were remanded and forced to undress and do squats
By Tham Yuen-C
-- An Illustration'They asked us to strip, take off all our clothes and underwear, and then asked us to stand up and down while pulling our ears.'
Ms Lim, one of the two women
TWO Singaporean women who drove to Johor Baru for supper found themselves questioned by Malaysian immigration officers, handcuffed, thrown behind bars and made to do squats while naked.
They said their nightmare started when they drove into Johor Baru without getting their passports stamped, through an unmanned immigration lane. It ended 48 hours later when they were allowed to return to Singapore with a warning.
'We thought it was a small issue, we didn't think something like that would happen,' said one of the women, a manager in an insurance company who wanted to be known only as Ms Chang.
A spokesman for the Custom and Immigration Quarantine Complex in Bangunan Sultan Iskandar confirmed that two Singaporean women had been detained for an immigration offence.
Ms Chang, in her late 30s, had been driven to Johor Baru by her friend, a property agent in her late 20s who wanted to be known only as Ms Lim, at about 1.30am last Thursday.
Ms Lim was driving her new Nissan Latio. It was the first time she had driven to Malaysia, although she had been driven there before by friends.
'We just wanted to go for supper, polish my car and explore a bit,' she said. 'I just bought my car a month ago, so we thought we'd make it an adventure.'
At the Malaysian immigration side of the Causeway, they drove into a lane that was not manned. 'There wasn't anyone at the station and the green light was on,' said Ms Lim. 'I pressed the intercom and couldn't hear anything because of the static, so I just continued driving when the barrier opened.'
Ms Chang said they drove on because they thought that Malaysia's newly introduced biometric system - which has been in the news - would be ahead.
Ms Lim said they drove for another five minutes before they realised there would not be another counter.
The women realised that they had proceeded through Malaysian Customs without getting their passports stamped, and immediately did a U-turn.
By 2am, they were back at the checkpoint and explaining their mistake to the officers there. But they said the officers did not buy their story, although they pointed out that their Singapore passports would show that they had just entered Malaysia.
An officer also appeared offended when Ms Lim suggested that they check with Singapore immigration. They were asked to leave their car and were taken to a meeting room and told to wait there.
Ms Chang called her elder brother, and Ms Lim called a friend, to let them know what had happened.
The two women were left on their own in the room for about two hours before they were taken to another meeting room at about 4am.
Ms Chang said that at about noon last Thursday, an officer told them they would have to pay a fine of RM3,000 (S$1,200) each before they could be let off. Another officer had earlier said they could be fined up to RM10,000 and jailed for five years for illegally entering Malaysia. 'We agreed to pay because we wanted to get it done once and for all,' said Ms Chang.
The women said they signed a statement that was written in Malay, and asked to be taken to an ATM. They waited for three hours but no one came for them. By then, their phones had been taken away.
At about 5pm, they were told that they would be transferred to the Pontian Remand Centre and held for up to 14 days.
They then asked for their phones so that they could keep their families informed.
At the remand centre, the women were handcuffed. They also had to remove their belongings before being patted down by a female officer.
Worse was to come. 'They asked us to strip, take off all our clothes and underwear, and then asked us to stand up and down while pulling our ears,' said Ms Lim. She said they felt like prisoners 'although we hadn't been convicted yet'.
After doing 10 squats, the women were told to put on their jeans and were given T-shirts. They were then locked in a cell three-quarters the size of a basketball court with 50 other women, mostly from Indonesia, China and the Philippines.
'The conditions were terrible,' said Ms Chang. 'No fan, no ventilation, no bed, the flooring is wood, and they have termites, cockroaches, spiders, mosquitoes.'
There was an open toilet in the middle of the cell.The other women said they were being held for immigration-related reasons. They also said that immigration offenders were usually locked up for about six days, said Ms Chang.
The women spent the night in the cell. At about 5pm the next day, they were told they would be released. They were driven in a six-seater van back to the immigration checkpoint at the Causeway where they received a warning letter.
By then, it was already about 11.30pm on Friday. When they were later taken to their car, Ms Lim noticed scratches on it that had not been there before. She asked the officer about them, but was told he had nothing to do with it.
Now back in Singapore, both women say they will never go back to Malaysia. 'I don't think I will ever want to step into Malaysia any more. I am worried this thing will happen again,' said Ms Lim.
Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) yesterday said it was investigating the incident and would help the women in whatever way it could.
The Malaysian High Commission here said it had not received any formal complaint about the incident.
Yesterday, Ms Lim and Ms Chang said they would be meeting the MFA today, before deciding whether to make a complaint.
When pressed about the case, the Custom and Immigration Quarantine Complex spokesman said it was the responsibility of travellers to get their passports stamped before they entered Malaysia. He declined to elaborate.
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