Hishammuddin, investigate nude squat incident involving Singaporean women (EN/CN)

Press statement by Teresa Kok, MP for Seputeh, Selangor State Senior EXCO and DAP Wanita National Secretary at Kuala Lumpur on June 14, 2011.

Hishammuddin must conduct immediate investigation on despicable nude squat incident involving two Singaporean women

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein must immediately conduct an investigation on reports by The Straits Times of Singapore that Malaysian immigration officers had forced two Singaporean women to perform nude squats while detaining them at the Pontian Remand Centre to restore any sense of respect for the Home Ministry.

The women, identified as Chang and Lim, had told Singapore media that they were confused by what they thought was the newly introduced biometric system at an unmanned entry point at Johor Bahru and had driven into the country without having their passport stamped. They said when they realised they had made a mistake, they returned to the checkpoint to have their passports stamped and were then detained for entering the country illegally.

The Malaysia Insider, quoting Straits Times, reported: “Chang said that at about noon (about 10 hours after they were detained), an officer told them they would have to pay a fine of RM3,000 each before they could be let off….The women said they signed a statement in Malay and asked to be taken to an ATM… At about 5pm they were told that they would be transferred to the Pontian Remand Centre and held for 14 days.”

At the centre they were reportedly made to strip naked and then made to stand up and down while pulling their ears for 10 times. The next day, they were released with a warning and no charges were pressed.

This despicable and degrading procedure of making detainees do nude squats smacks of abuse of power by the immigration officials. It makes Malaysia look barbaric in the eyes of bona fide tourists.

Hishammuddin must state once and for all the Department of Immigration’s standard operating procedure for detaining suspected illegal immigrants and explain why nude squats were required of these two women who had in effect turned themselves in upon realizing their mistake and posed no danger, as evident by their subsequent release without any charge. This incident has re-opened questions raised in 2005 when the police made a female suspect do the infamous nude squats which remain yet unanswered.

Due to this black incident, Malaysia is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons and this incident has just about neutralised every effort put in by Tourism Malaysia.

Teresa Kok

民主行动党全国组织秘书兼士布爹区国会议员郭素沁于今天（14讯）在国会所发表的文告

内政部必须立即指示警方调查根据新加的坡海峡时报等媒体的报道，移民厅官员强迫两个新加坡妇女在笨珍的扣留所做裸体下蹲。

这两名受害者，张女士和林女士向媒体透露，当他们进入我国时感到困惑，因为他们在新山一个入境关卡办入境手续时误会以为是新推出的身份识别系统，无需在的护照上签证。他们说当他们意识到他们犯了错误后，立即回到关卡盖章但为时已晚，被控告非法入境我国。

大马网络媒体-马来西亚内幕者(TMI)，引述海峡时报报道说：“张女士说，在中午（他们被拘留大约10小时后）官员告诉他们，他们得付罚款3000令吉才可被释放….，他们签署了一份马来文的文件后被官员带去附近的提款机 …在下午5时他们被告知，他们将被转移到笨珍扣留所扣留14天。“

据说在扣留所他们被要求戴上手铐，指示他们拉着自己的耳朵上下蹲10次。第二天，他们被释放了，只是收到警告和不需付罚款。

在这被拘留者被体罚裸蹲的过程与公务员滥权和违纪的事件中，将会造成马来西亚成为外国游客眼中的野蛮国家。

是时候提高公务员的服务水准和提供世界第一等的服务，并停止像小拿破仑那样随心所欲，为所欲为那样，恐吓人民。

入境事务局局长必须出面解释是否有发生被拘留者裸蹲事件，因为在2005年时也发生了警方指示女嫌犯做裸体蹲这让公务员臭名昭著的事件。

马来西亚已是一而再，再而三的犯下同样的错误，这已使马来西亚旅游观光局所付出的努力都付诸东流。

郭素沁

June 14, 2011

Both women say they will never visit Malaysia again. — wapedia.mobi pic

SINGAPORE, June 14 — Two Singaporean women who drove to Johor Baru for supper were questioned by Malaysian immigration officials, handcuffed, thrown behind bars and made to do squats while naked, the Singapore Straits Times reported today.

The two women said they had driven into Johor Baru without getting their passports stamped, through an unmanned immigration lane.

Following their punishment, they were allowed to return to Singapore after 48 hours with a warning.

“We thought it was a small issue, we didn’t think something like that would happen,” the Straits Times quoted one of the women, a manager in an insurance company who wanted to be known only as Ms Chang.

A Malaysian immigration spokesman in Johor Baru confirmed that two Singaporean women had been detained for an immigration offence.

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 Lim, at about 1.30am last Thursday, the Straits Times reported.

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, according to the Singapore newspaper.

“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,” Lim told the Straits Times.

“I pressed the intercom and couldn’t hear anything because of the static, so I just continued driving when the barrier opened.”

Chang told the daily they drove on because they thought that Malaysia’s newly introduced biometric system — which has been in the news — would be ahead.

The women realised that they had proceeded 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, the newspaper reported.

According to the news report, the two women were left on their own in a room for about two hours before they were taken to another meeting room at about 4am.

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.

The women said they signed a statement in Malay, and asked to be taken to an ATM. They waited for three hours but no one came for them, they told the newspaper.

At about 5pm, they were told that they would be transferred to the Pontian Remand Centre and held for up to 14 days.

At the remand centre, the women were handcuffed. They also had to remove their belongings before being patted down by a female officer.

“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 Lim to the Straits Times.

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 women spent the night in the cell. At about 5pm the next day, they were told they would be released, and were driven in a six-seater van back to the immigration checkpoint at the Causeway where they received a warning letter.

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 Lim.

内政部必须立即指示警方调查根据新加的坡海峡时报等媒体的报道，移民厅官员强迫两个新加坡妇女在笨珍的扣留所做裸体下蹲。 

这两名受害者，张女士和林女士向媒体透露，当他们进入我国时感到困惑，因为他们在新山一个入境关卡办入境手续时误会以为是新推出的身份识别系统，无需在的护照上签证。他们说当他们意识到他们犯了错误后，立即回到关卡盖章但为时已晚，被控告非法入境我国。

大马网络媒体-马来西亚内幕者(TMI)，引述海峡时报报道说：“张女士说，在中午（他们被拘留大约10小时后）官员告诉他们，他们得付罚款3000令吉才可被释放....，他们签署了一份马来文的文件后被官员带去附近的提款机 ...在下午5时他们被告知，他们将被转移到笨珍扣留所扣留14天。“

据说在扣留所他们被要求戴上手铐，指示他们拉着自己的耳朵上下蹲10次。第二天，他们被释放了，只是收到警告和不需付罚款。

在这被拘留者被体罚裸蹲的过程与公务员滥权和违纪的事件中，将会造成马来西亚成为外国游客眼中的野蛮国家。

是时候提高公务员的服务水准和提供世界第一等的服务，并停止像小拿破仑那样随心所欲，为所欲为那样，恐吓人民。

入境事务局局长必须出面解释是否有发生被拘留者裸蹲事件，因为在2005年时也发生了警方指示女嫌犯做裸体蹲这让公务员臭名昭著的事件。

马来西亚已是一而再，再而三的犯下同样的错误，这已使马来西亚旅游观光局所付出的努力都付诸东流。