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THE carjacking and an attempted robbery of Singaporeans in Johor Baru recently may have raised questions of personal safety across the Causeway.
But a Singaporean took matters into his own hands last Sunday when he took on his aggressors with a baseball bat. The man, who wanted to be known only as Alex, posted on fuckwarezone. com’s online forum that evening that he narrowly escaped after encountering a gang of four men posing as policemen along a road near Stulang Laut.
He wrote that the men, who were riding on two motorcycles, had signalled for him to pull over in his Chevrolet Cruze sedan at about 2.30am, while they stopped at a traffic light junction.
Alex, who was headed back to Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint, was alone, he told my paper in an interview.
He sensed something amiss but complied anyway, stopping his car by the side of the road.
When he was approached by one of the men, who demanded RM1,000 (S$397) from him, Alex grabbed a baseball bat he kept beside him in his car and hit the man in his face.
Alex then sped off, only to be chased by the two motorcycles at speeds of up to 140kmh for about ten minutes.
He got away after one of the motorcycles ran over a pothole.
The men on the other motorcycle then gave up the chase.
He told my paper that he had encountered Malaysian policemen before and “they rode proper police bikes”, unlike the four men, who rode small-capacity underbone motorcycles.
All four men wore civilian clothes, donning vests emblazoned with the word “Polis” in capital letters as the only identifying markings, said Alex. He did not make a police report as he could not recall the facial features of the men nor the motorcycles’ licence-plate numbers.
A Straits Times report last Saturday said that an average of one Singaporean a day falls victim to crime in Johor.
Alex, who is in his late 20s, has frequented Johor Baru for the past two years and always keeps a baseball bat in his car – just in case.
Lawyers told my paper that Alex’s actions were within his rights of self-defence.
“A person is entitled to reasonable steps to protect himself and his property...he did the best thing that he could in those circumstances,” said lawyer Amolat Singh.
But motorists who frequent Malaysia say that wielding a baseball bat may not be the best option.
Mr Chris Ng, who organises frequent road trips to Malaysia, advises motorists to accede to the demands of would-be robbers and “fight back only when you do not have any leeway to move backwards”.
Travelling in groups and avoiding dodgy areas are also recommended, he said.
“When you travel in a group, your chances of safety are much higher.”
But a Singaporean took matters into his own hands last Sunday when he took on his aggressors with a baseball bat. The man, who wanted to be known only as Alex, posted on fuckwarezone. com’s online forum that evening that he narrowly escaped after encountering a gang of four men posing as policemen along a road near Stulang Laut.
He wrote that the men, who were riding on two motorcycles, had signalled for him to pull over in his Chevrolet Cruze sedan at about 2.30am, while they stopped at a traffic light junction.
Alex, who was headed back to Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint, was alone, he told my paper in an interview.
He sensed something amiss but complied anyway, stopping his car by the side of the road.
When he was approached by one of the men, who demanded RM1,000 (S$397) from him, Alex grabbed a baseball bat he kept beside him in his car and hit the man in his face.
Alex then sped off, only to be chased by the two motorcycles at speeds of up to 140kmh for about ten minutes.
He got away after one of the motorcycles ran over a pothole.
The men on the other motorcycle then gave up the chase.
He told my paper that he had encountered Malaysian policemen before and “they rode proper police bikes”, unlike the four men, who rode small-capacity underbone motorcycles.
All four men wore civilian clothes, donning vests emblazoned with the word “Polis” in capital letters as the only identifying markings, said Alex. He did not make a police report as he could not recall the facial features of the men nor the motorcycles’ licence-plate numbers.
A Straits Times report last Saturday said that an average of one Singaporean a day falls victim to crime in Johor.
Alex, who is in his late 20s, has frequented Johor Baru for the past two years and always keeps a baseball bat in his car – just in case.
Lawyers told my paper that Alex’s actions were within his rights of self-defence.
“A person is entitled to reasonable steps to protect himself and his property...he did the best thing that he could in those circumstances,” said lawyer Amolat Singh.
But motorists who frequent Malaysia say that wielding a baseball bat may not be the best option.
Mr Chris Ng, who organises frequent road trips to Malaysia, advises motorists to accede to the demands of would-be robbers and “fight back only when you do not have any leeway to move backwards”.
Travelling in groups and avoiding dodgy areas are also recommended, he said.
“When you travel in a group, your chances of safety are much higher.”
