He loses passport, M'sian immigration says he overstayed a year
By Arul John
HIS motorcycle was stolen in Johor Baru - and that was just the start of his troubles.
Mr Abdul Razak Saman, 24, had left his Singapore passport in a compartment of the motorcycle.
When he tried to return to Singapore, he was shocked to find Malaysian immigration officials accusing him of overstaying in the country by a year.
He said he and a friend, Mr Ahmad Qamarul Zaman, 20, entered JB at 2am on Sunday.
Mr Abdul Razak, a property officer at Laguna Park condominium, told The New Paper on Monday that he and his friends would travel to Johor nearly every weekend to go surfing at Mersing.
On this Sunday, they returned to JB in the evening.
He parked his motorcycle outside Plaza Kotaraya shopping centre at 7.15pm.
Mr Abdul Razak said: 'Before entering the shopping centre, I put my passport in a compartment of the motorcycle. Mr Ahmad put his wallet and passport inside as well.'
This was what he had done on previous trips. But this time, when they came out around 8pm, the motorcycle was gone.
Mr Abdul Razak called his girlfriend, technical executive Hamidah Razak, in Singapore. She advised him to make a police report.
After reporting to the police, the two men took a bus to the immigration checkpoint.
There, Mr Abdul Razak was told that he had overstayed in Malaysia for more than 365 days.
'I told them that what they were saying was ridiculous as I had entered Johor Baru from Singapore just earlier that day,' he said.
'But the officers said their records showed I had overstayed and an argument started.
'When I showed the officers my police report, they said I could not leave Malaysia because I had no travel documents.'
The friends were told they had to go to the Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur to get replacement documents before they could leave.
By then, it was 11pm.
They decided to stay overnight in JB, but Mr Abdul Razak had only RM40 ($17) with him while his friend had no money because his wallet was in the stolen bike.
Fortunately, they were able to stay with a friend in JB.
On Monday, Mr Abdul Razak and Miss Hamidah called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) for help.
He also told his boss he was unable to go to work Monday and Tuesday.
Mr Abdul Razak said the MFA told him that it would do its best to help them.
'But the ICA said it could not help us as we were not on Singapore soil,' he added.
'We were told to go to the high commission in KL to get replacement travel documents.'
Mr Azahar Abdul Malik, the elder brother of Mr Abdul Razak Saman.
He also called his elder brother, Mr Azahar Abdul Malik, for advice.
Mr Azahar said his brother often goes straight to work after one of his surfing trips.
'My brother lives with my mother. I did not think much of it when my mother told me he had not returned home on Monday.
'When he called and told me what had happened, I was shocked,' he said.
Mr Abdul Razak called the high commission and made an appointment for 9am Tuesday to get temporary documents for him and his friend.
The high commission was closed Monday as it was a public holiday in Malaysia.
They left for KL by bus on Monday night.
An ICA spokesman told The New Paper that it was unable to help Mr Abdul Razak and Mr Ahmad Qamarul as they were on Malaysian soil, and had allegedly committed an offence under Malaysian law.
But she said it would help them enter Singapore after leaving Malaysia.
The spokesman said temporary travel documents could not be issued at the checkpoints but only at ICA headquarters or at Singapore missions overseas.
The Johor state immigration director, Mr Mohd Nasri Ishak, said any foreigner who loses travel documents in Malaysia must lodge a police report and get replacement documents from their missions.
ICs not enough
He said Singaporeans could not leave Malaysia using their identity cards as they were not travel documents.
Nor can they use photocopies of their passports.
He said he would look into the allegations of Mr Abdul Razak's overstaying and invited him to write to Malaysian Immigration about his case.
An MFA spokesman said it and the high commission in KL were aware of the incident and Miss Hamidah and Mr Abdul Razak had been informed of the procedures required if a passport is lost outside Singapore.
He said the Ministry gave them the contact number of the high commission's consular officer for the issuance of a temporary travel document.
The spokesman said: 'MFA would like to remind all Singaporeans travelling overseas to handle their travel documents with utmost care and security.
'It is not advisable for passports or any official travel documents to be left unattended in an open public space.'
Top photo: Mr Abdul Razak Saman, 24, with girlfriend Hamidah Razak.
OTHER CASES
JAILED, FINED
23 Jan last year: Army officer Lee Kee Fatt, 28, and his then-girlfriend, Ms Chua Wei Si, 23, drove to Johor Baru.
They claimed nobody was at the immigration counter and they handed their passports to the officer at the toll booth instead. When they later returned to Singapore, Malaysian immigration officers arrested them after discovering their passports had no entry stamps.
Lee was sentenced to three months in jail, but this was reduced to a fine this year after he appealed. Ms Chua served 14days in jail.
REMANDED
Early last year: 23-year-old store assistant remanded for six days after Malaysian immigration officers found his passport was not stamped and his immigration card was still whole.
JAILED
7 Feb last year: Singaporean sentenced to three months in jail when his passport was found to have no entry stamps.
WARNED
2004: Mr Daniel Peh, 32, was detained by Malaysian immigration officers when his passport was found not to have any entry stamps.
He was let off with a warning.
DETAINED, FINED
29 Mar 2001: The seven-member Ooi family went to Johor Baru on a shopping trip, but were detained later that day when they were returning to Singapore as their passports had not been stamped.
The officers told the family they had to pay a RM500 ($235) fine each. The family was later offered a total fine of RM2,500, but they thought it was still too high and refused to pay.
The family was detained until 11am the next day, then released and taken to the checkpoint, where they paid the RM2,500 fine and returned home.
HELPED
9 Aug 1999: Madam Neoh Chong Eng, 33, her husband, their four children and their maid were returning home from Johor when a traffic jam near the Causeway caused them to be diverted to an alternative route without clearing immigration.
The Malaysian High Commission here advised them to return to Johor within 14 days and fill up new embarkation cards when entering Malaysia.
When leaving Malaysia, they were told to present that card and the one from 9 Aug and explain their situation to the immigration officers.
WARNED
16 May 1999: Six Singaporeans detained for five hours by Malaysian immigration officers when they tried to leave Malaysia via the Second Link.
Their passports had no entry stamps. The six claimed the officers took a long time to process their passports, and had slipped the white departure cards and currency declaration forms into each passport. They therefore assumed the passports had been stamped.
They were let off with a warning.
This article was first published in The New Paper on Dec 30, 2008.
