The act of cutting queues is a common occurrence in our daily lives. However, it is not acceptable and can lead to serious consequences. On March 23 2023, a 36-year-old Malaysian man was caught cutting a queue of cars by overtaking them using the bus lane near the Woodlands Checkpoint.

Mohd Shahrir Johari was spotted trying to filter into the car lane from the bus lane by auxiliary police officer Muhammad Noralif Amir Hamzah, whose job is to control traffic towards the checkpoint. Vehicles that try to cut the queue in the car lane from the bus lane are instructed to make a U-turn and head back towards Malaysia.

In spite of Noralif and his partner instructing Shahrir to make a U-turn, Shahrir ignored them and continued cutting the queue.

Seeing that the Malaysian did not adhere to the given order, Noralif stood before Shahrir’s car to stop him while his partner once again instructed him to make the U-turn. Despite the fact that he was aware that Noralif was standing in front of his car, Shahrir continued to inch towards him.

According to court documents, Shahrir was a driver for his wife’s transport business and provided limousine services to ferry individuals between Singapore and Malaysia. The reason behind his actions is that he was in a rush, being late to pick up passengers.

Noralif’s partner then used his hand to hit the car’s bonnet and instructed Shahrir to stop. However, Shahrir wasn’t taking no for an answer and proceeded to inch towards Noralif until his car came into contact with the officer’s leg. This is just asking for trouble.

Deciding to put a stop to Shahrir’s actions, Noralif’s partner reached his hand through the open window of Shahrir’s car and switched off the engine. Shahrir proceeded to turn on the engine once again after a dispute with Noralif’s partner.

He then continued to inch towards Noralif and the officer was forced to take multiple steps back to avoid being hit. After a brief communication with the officer’s superiors, they allowed Shahrir to drive towards Woodlands Checkpoint.

Not long after that, Shahrir was detained by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers and handed over to the police.

On Thursday, April 13, the Malaysian was brought to court and pleaded guilty to one charge of acting rashly to endanger human life or the personal safety of others. This resulted in four weeks of jail time and a 12-month suspension from driving.

Although no harm was brought to Noralif, the prosecution highlighted that there was “serious potential harm” and that police officers “must be protected from thuggish behaviour”.

According to sources, Shahrir broke down in court when the judge delivered his sentence and said he “respects Singapore law”.