Singapore fugitives in JB

Many Singaporeans like to complain about the crime situation in Malaysia, especially in the border city of Johor Baru. Yes, it's true that JB is literally a cowboy town due to the high crime rate. This is probably due to the high number of transient workers and residents in the city as noted in a previous post.

However, not all crimes in the city are committed by Malaysians. This is shown in the latest judgement against a Singaporean. Lim Tiong Seng (left in the ST pix) and a Malaysian accomplice were sentenced to death by the Johor Baru High Court for an armed robbery bid in JB in 2001, according to reports this week.

It's not been easy for the Malaysian enforcement agencies to cope with surging crimes in JB or in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. It doesn't help when some Malaysian policemen aren't exactly morally upright.

It's also not easy for the immigration departments on both sides of the causeway to prevent fugitives in Singapore from fleeing to JB. This is shown in the case of former National Kidney Foundation ex-chairman Richard Yong, who reportedly fled to JB recently to avoid payment of the estimated $11 million judgment against him. According to ST, Yong was able to leave Singapore because officials of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority were not told about his bankrupt status until hours after he had passed through the Woodlands checkpoint.

Yong is not the first one to have fled from Singapore to JB and he won't be the last one. There were many other fugitives in Singapore who had fled to neighbouring Malaysia such as Singaporean one-eyed dragon Tan Chor Jin and Malaysian Took Leng How in the Huang Na case. They were eventually tracked down by police in the two countries and brought to justice in Singapore.

Regardless of the nationalities of criminals in Malaysia, Singapore and Malaysia must work even more closely to help bring their criminals and fugitives to justice and make life safer for citizens on both sides of the causeway.