Car seen flashing vulgar message as it drives along Woodlands Centre Road
The police are investigating after a car was seen flashing a vulgar message on its moving display screen in Woodlands.
In a video posted by SGRV on Facebook, the words “F**K Chinese” could be seen scrolling continuously in the vehicle’s rear window.
Source: SGRV on Facebook
Car with vulgar message seen in Woodlands on 20 Nov
The silver Honda Stepwagon Spada multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) was seen along Woodlands Centre Road on Thursday (20 Nov), said the caption on the clip.
It showed the MPV pulling into the Woodlands Train Checkpoint while continuing to display the controversial message.
Source: SGRV on Facebook
Going by the car’s licence plate number, the car is registered under the Chauffeured Private Hire Vehicle (CPHV) scheme, according to the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA’s) OneMotoring site.
Car owner says display was hacked
After SGRV’s post was widely shared, the car’s owner denied in a comment that he was responsible for the message and claimed that his display had been hacked.
He did not set a password for it as he did not know that a password could be set, he said.
Source: Facebook
He is already under investigation for the incident and would not comment further, he added.
In response to queries from MS News, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) confirmed that a police report was lodged and investigations are ongoing.
Owner did not notice message until relative alerted him
The car driver, identified as a 53-year-old man named Maman, told Shin Min Daily News that he had no idea his car was flashing that message.
It was supposed to display “Support Liverpool”, which was preset in the system, he said.
He had been working from 7.30pm to 2am and did not notice anything unusual until he got home and a relative sent him the online video.
When he went down to check on his car, he found that the message had reverted to “Support Liverpool”, he added.
He explained that the text would go back to the default message whenever he restarted his engine.
Car message can be changed by anybody within distance of 50m
Maman said he had bought the display screen from Shopee for S$30, and it is operated by the “iPixel Color” app.
As the app can be downloaded by anybody, he suspects someone hacked into his screen and changed the text.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
When a reporter from the Chinese daily tested it, he found that he could connect to the screen from a distance of 50m and change the text at will.
Maman said once the text was changed, it would remain that way even if he drove away from the person who changed it, only reverting when he restarted his engine.
He speculated that a female passenger he picked up at about 9pm that night could have reported him to ride-hailing platform TADA, so the text must have been changed before that.
‘I’m not racist’: Car owner
Maman wondered why anybody would want to do such a thing, saying:
I’m not racist. Many of my neighbours and friends are Chinese.
Besides, as a PHV driver, many of his passengers are Chinese, he pointed out, adding:
How could I possibly use such language and ruin my own livelihood?
Flashing decorative lights not allowed on vehicles
Under LTA rules, vehicle modifications such as flashing decorative lights are not allowed as they may distract and disorient other road users.
Maman admitted that he was wrong for flouting the rules and had already removed the display.
He has also received a notice from the LTA to bring his vehicle in for inspection.
Additionally, he also made a police report over the matter.
Also read: Ice cream vending machine at Mount Faber Park stuns visitors by flashing Hokkien vulgarities
Ice cream vending machine at Mount Faber Park stuns visitors by flashing Hokkien vulgarities
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Featured image adapted from SGRV on Facebook and Shin Min Daily News.
