Illegal racing has long been a problem in Malaysia where mat rempits (illegal racers) would take to the streets and perform dangerous stunts, endangering not only themselves but others as well.
A viral video has recently surfaced online showing a group of young mat rempits being made to do ketuk ketambi (squats) after they were caught racing along the Kuching Airport road in Kuching, Sarawak.
Group of youths made to do 10 squats for illegal racing
In the 12-second clip, it showed a throng of young people doing a total of 10 squats while holding onto their ears with their arms crossed as police watched on.
It later turned out that the youths were nabbed during an Op Samseng Jalanan held yesterday (Mar 2), reported Utusan Borneo.
According to Kuching district police chief ACP Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah, the operation began at 10.30pm, where a total of 168 motorcycles and 10 cars were inspected.
Out of 168 motorcycles, 26 were seized after they were found to have violated Section 60 of the Road Transport Act 1987 over illegal modifications being made to its original structure.
On top of that, 396 summons were issued to 182 individuals for various traffic offences.
“The operation aims to combat street gang activities in hopes that road users will follow existing laws and road regulations.
“It will be carried out continuously from time to time and we advise road users, especially motorcyclists, to always drive safely and not get caught in street gang activities,” he added.
‘Too lenient!’
In the comment section, netizens felt that the mat rempits weren’t punished harshly enough to deter them from getting involved in illegal racing and called for better penalties to be levied.
‘This is the most useless thing, they won’t feel embarrassed but fun since they’re doing it in a big group. So what’s the point? Please do better to stop these illegal, dangerous acts.’
‘They got off too easily. Should make them do community work so that they can spend their energy on the right areas.’
This isn’t the first time squats were used as a ‘punishment’ for errant road users, with one taking place early this year:
