Just last week (31st January), a 7-minute video of a Go-Jek driver arguing with a hysterical passenger after she accused him of kidnapping her went viral on social media.
While many were outraged at the passenger’s behaviour, calling it an overreaction, it appears the e-hailing driver has landed in some trouble in light of the video. According to the Straits Times, the driver, 49-year-old Kamaruzzaman Abdul Latiff, was recently summoned by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for an interview as part of investigations into the viral incident.
The LTA stated that they needed to interview both parties involved in this incident to gain a better understanding of what happened.
In light of this, a petition was created on Change.org as an appeal to the LTA to not revoke Mr. Kamaruzzaman’s Private Hire Car Driver’s Vocational Licence (PVDL) and it aims to gain 100,000 signatures. An excerpt from this petition, which has since gained over 48,000 signatures, reads,
“Under LTA regulations, PHVs (private hire vehicles) are not allowed to have inward facing cameras and recording devices and Abang (Kamaruzzaman) has breached the Road Traffic Act too by uploading the video of the altercation and sharing his conversation with the passenger publicly.”
“According to existing laws, Abang can be docked 21 demerit points and fined $500 for sharing the video publicly which will automatically disqualify him from driving Go-Jek.”
Tahukah anda driver gojek singapore hari tu bakal dikenakan denda 500sd dan bakal di ban dari gojek gara2 sebarkan video hari tu. Kejam bukan undang2 manusia ini. Drivers e hailing sedang buat petition utk bantu driver tu. anda juga boleh membantu di link https://t.co/QuPFN4gUlX pic.twitter.com/6qFG5ocdaV
— Nabil Nordin (@NabilNxrdin) February 4, 2019
The Change.org petition also warned against donating money for this cause as its only purpose is to appeal to the LTA. The Go-Jek driver also warned against donating to those who claim to be collecting money on behalf of him, as he did not ask for any money and warned that it could be a scam.
Source: Change.org
Meanwhile, those who started the Change.org petition clarified,
“We, the starters of this petition do not collect any funds for any individual or organisations, not even pocketing any money chipped in upon signing this petition.”
“There is no reason why any monetary donation should be involved in this case as Abang is still fit and healthy to earn a decent living for his family. There is no bank account number or card details attached to this petition. If u have donated any amount please revert to Change.org as our main and only purpose is to email LTA our petition once we have enough signatures.”
Meanwhile, the passenger, who wanted to be known only as Jovina, told the Straits Times that she did not have the time to file a police report against the Go-Jek driver because she left for Taiwan shortly after the incident, but she is still thinking about it. However, she did not say if she filed a complaint with the LTA over this matter.
Well, we hope that the Singaporean authorities can thoroughly and fairly investigate this issue. What are your thoughts on this latest development? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: Watch: Woman Hysterically Accuses E-Hailing Driver of Kidnap Because He Took a Route with Tolls
