As land borders reopened on 1 Apr, many Singaporeans were eager to make a trip across the Causeway after a long hiatus.
However, on that very morning, a Singapore woman shared several clips of what she claims to be motorcycle gangs in Johor Bahru (JB) robbing Singaporeans.
Her post later went viral, garnering over 4,000 shares to date.
On Sunday (3 Apr), Johor police refuted these incidents and said they were fakes. They were reportedly old clips from 2014.
The police warned that spreading or making false speculations is illegal and urged the public to be wary of false information.
On Friday (1 Apr), the first day of the Singapore-Malaysia land border reopening, the Singapore woman shared four video clips supposedly of people getting robbed in JB.
She claimed that motorcycle gangs were robbing Singaporean motorists.
Three of the four video clips were of a graphic nature, with cars colliding head-on with the snatch thieves on motorcycles.
Another video showed a lone motorcyclist cornered by 12 other riders who patted him down and forced him off his bike. He was seen handing some items over to them.
They then zoomed off on his motorbike, leaving him stranded on the sidewalk.
In her Facebook post, the woman also shared pictures of the Causeway jam on the night of the border reopening. She then urged those driving into JB to stay safe.
According to Shin Min Daily News, these rumours of JB snatch thieves and footage were also circulating on WhatsApp.
On Sunday (3 Apr), Johor police denied the incident of a Malaysian allegedly injuring and robbing a Singaporean. They said video and photographs of the incident had been going viral.
Johor police chief Mr Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the video and photos in question were fake, Malay Mail reported.
He shared that in Nov 2021, the Royal Malaysia Police had also issued a statement on the matter.
According to Shin Min Daily News, investigations revealed that these circulated videos happened in 2014.
Mr Kamarul Zaman said these fake videos and photos were spread to create fear among the public, especially Singaporean tourists entering JB.
He stressed that spreading or making false speculation is illegal, and action can be taken under Section 233 of Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act 1988.
If found guilty, individuals can be fined up to S$16,038 (RM50,000), jailed for a year, or both.
Mr Kamarul Zaman urged the public to be wary of allegations from “illegal sources” and warned against false information.
Such statements and videos circulating on social media would undoubtedly incite fear amongst those looking to visit JB.
But rest assured, it was previously reported that 1,600 police officers would be on duty at the borders. Officers will also be deployed to ‘hotspots’ to ensure the public’s safety.
This is also a timely reminder for all of us to exercise discretion and ensure we verify the information we see online before believing and spreading them.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image adapted from Les Lynn Lim on Facebook and BintiHina on Twitter.
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