A Singaporean woman has claimed that she was told to pay RM200 (S$60) while passing through the Johor Bahru checkpoint.
The officer allegedly asked for the sum after finding that some pages in her passport were torn.
Source: Google Maps
72-year-old Li Lihong (transliterated from Mandarin) told Shin Min Daily News that the incident happened on 23 Feb, when she was travelling to Malaysia with friends for a Chinese New Year gathering.
The party of nine reached the JB checkpoint at about 11am and handed their passports to the officer without leaving their vehicle.
The officer had stamped several passports before saying that her passport had torn pages, she said.
From a photo she shared, the corners of two pages had been ripped off.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Speaking to the driver of the vehicle, the officer allegedly said that Mdm Li had to pay RM200 (S$60) before she could pass through the checkpoint.
However, she had only RM50 (S$15) on her and asked whether that would be enough.
But the officer allegedly said he would need at least RM100 (S$30).
Eventually, the group was let through after she coughed up the sum, but she was worried that the same thing would happen again when they returned to Singapore.
The officer assured them that it wouldn’t.
Source: Google Maps
Mdm Li returned to Singapore with no issues that night and applied for a new passport the next day.
But she remained perplexed by the incident at the JB checkpoint as she didn’t know how her passport got torn.
She always checks her passport before leaving the country, she said.
It was renewed just two years ago and was set to expire in 2033.
Shin Min reached out to Jabatan Imigresen Malaysia (Malaysia’s Immigration Department) in Johor, as well as Mr Mohamad Fazli Mohammad Salleh, chairman of Johor’s Public Works, Transportation, Infrastructure and Communications Committee, about a week ago.
They have yet to respond to the emails and text messages as of Monday (3 March).
According to Singapore’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority, a Singapore passport that is torn in any way is considered damaged.
Citizens whose passports are damaged should consider replacing them. They may report a damaged passport online and submit an application for a new passport.
Also read: S’porean Woman Asked To ‘Pay’ JB Immigration Officer $50 For Not Having Passport Stamp
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News and Google Maps.