SINGAPORE, July 13 — Over the long weekend, one video took social media by storm. In an apparent road rage incident at the Tuas Second Link on Saturday (July 9), a woman was filmed blocking a Toyota Alphard sports utility vehicle with her body. She then removed the car’s front number plate with her bare hands and threw it at the windscreen.
Malaysia’s Iskandar Puteri district police said on Sunday that the incident is being investigated as a suspected case of mischief. They stated that the Toyota had allegedly scraped the other vehicle involved in the altercation, a red Kia sedan, while changing lanes.
In response to TODAY’s queries yesterday, the Singapore Police Force confirmed that a report over the incident had been made with them here.
“As the incident had happened in Malaysia, the Singapore Police Force will provide the Royal Malaysia Police with assistance within the ambit of our laws and international obligations when requested,” the statement added.
However, far from it being simply a police matter, the incident has exploded on social media, with endless chatter over the rights and wrongs of the case, light-hearted memes springing up all over and even related advice on numbers to pick in the 4D lottery.
Since Facebook page SG Road Vigilante posted a dash cam footage from the Toyota on Saturday, it has amassed more than three million views and 14,000 shares. The video has also been widely reposted across social media platforms, and proved to be a goldmine of meme material for the online community.
Much of the original video shows the woman standing in front of the Toyota in an apparent bid to prevent the vehicle from moving forward, while also attempting to film it with her phone. She goes on to cross her arms and motion for other cars to overtake the Toyota.
Other footage taken by those nearby shows the woman leaning her back against the bonnet as the Toyota tries to inch forward, then apparently wrenching off the number plate and throwing it at the windshield, before it bounced to the ground.
Moments later, a young man, reportedly the woman’s 18-year-old son, in a blue “Team YIJC” shirt steps out of the red Kia and dashes up to flash his middle finger at the Toyota, as the woman gestures to him to return to the car.
Before re-entering the Kia, the man waves his backside at the Toyota and smacks it twice.
The reactions of online users ranged from outrage to hilarity.
One top comment on Instagram alleged: “She really tried to stop the car by pushing it.” Another remarked: “Guy in blue thinks he is doing something.” Many also made fun of the young man in blue’s rapid exit from the scene. One Reddit user offered this interpretation of the video: “That guy sure ran like a chicken when he saw the driver opening his door.” Some tried to determine which party had wronged the other, saying that both sides had been at fault.
“There are always two sides of a coin,” one Facebook users said. ”What did the black MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) do to trigger the anger of the couple?” Some praised the man in the black Toyota for not retaliating, and stepping out only to retrieve his car plate from the ground.
Several referenced a recent case of theft at the KSL City Mall in Johor Bahru, where a red Singapore-registered car parked in the mall’s basement car park had been stripped of its tyres and rims.
One Reddit user joked: ”Where are the KSL rim robbers when you need them?”
@tiobehpyo Really sad to see this. Not sure if owner is even aware yet. #ksl #johorbahru #jb #carsofsingapore #sad #thisonehurts Spooky, quiet, scary atmosphere piano songs - Skittlegirl Sound
Others referred to a lorry that ploughed through 11 vehicles on the Causeway last Thursday morning, noting that both the Volvo lorry and the Kia sedan have “6000” in their licence plate numbers.
A post of this observation in Facebook group Malaysia-Singapore Border Crossers on Sunday was shared more than 1,000 times, with many risk-takers rushing to buy the “6000” 4D lottery number.
Less than two hours later, a Facebook user posted an image in the comments section, which showed that the number had been sold out on the Singapore Pools lottery website.
Online users have also begun to use footage of the incident in memes across social media.
On Twitter, user “shakiraIaw” reposted a clip of the woman with her arms folded, smirking and nodding at the passengers in the Toyota, with the caption: “Primary school math teachers refusing to start the lesson till the whole class is quiet.” The tweet has received more than 3,200 retweets and 107,500 views since Sunday.
pri sch math teachers refusing to start the lesson till the whole class is quiet pic.twitter.com/EhQnqkGvFG
— shakira law (@shakiraIaw) July 10, 2022
The “Tuas Second Link woman”, as she has been dubbed, continues to swiftly generate new content for Singapore meme accounts. Screenshots and clips of the incident are now being used as “reaction” photos and videos, with one such post by “yeolo.sg” on Instagram receiving more than 10,900 likes by Tuesday evening.
new character unlocked pic.twitter.com/pEz2njjtYH
— YEOLO™ (@tzehern_) July 10, 2022
Another “yeolo.sg” meme also added the She-Hulk logo to a screenshot of the woman prying off the number plate.
Other Singapore accounts on Instagram likened the scene to a famous sequence from the 2004 superhero film Spider-Man 2, in which Spider-Man holds back a subway train full of passengers.
One post by Wake Up Singapore site that superimposed the woman’s face onto Spider-Man’s body has been liked more than 7,100 times, while a collage by Sgfollowsall site has received more than 6,300.
On TikTok, it appears that the parody videos are just beginning. A video posted on Monday by “missonglai”, taken from the dashboard of a car, shows the user re-enacting the incident from the Toyota’s point of view.
TikTok users complimented her facial expressions, with one observing that she had even found a polka-dotted shirt to complete the look. Since Monday, the video has been viewed more than 429,800 times, and comments have been asking for a “Part 2”.
@missonglai sorry malaysians #tiktoksg #tiktokmy #tuascheckpoint original sound - MissOngLai
Even performing artistes here have acknowledged the incident. King Kong Media Production artiste Chiou Huey uploaded her own parody video on TikTok after fans pointed out that she and the woman looked alike.
After many comments by online users about the woman’s resemblance to Hossan Leong, the Singaporean actor and comedian himself added a temporary profile picture to his official Facebook account on Monday in which he parodied the woman as well.
One comment on his Facebook feed read: “Just for this, I’m coming to your show.”
Leong also changed his profile picture on Instagram to the same image and posted a screenshot of the woman with a selfie of his own, to the amusement of viewers.
In light of the Kia driver’s and passenger’s newfound infamy, Facebook users have advised them to change their car colour and bid for a new number plate.
Malaysian daily The Star reported on Monday that the Iskandar Puteri District Police have since identified the suspects shown in the video.
A woman who claimed to be the female passenger told Singapore’s Chinese daily Shin Min Daily News on Monday that it was the Toyota driver who had first provoked her son by challenging him to a “one-on-one” fight.
She also said that she did not believe the incident was entirely her fault and would be making her own police reports in Singapore and Malaysia.
“I don’t care what netizens say, but my son is only 18 years old this year and is still studying,” she added. “His principal, teachers and classmates recognised him after seeing the video and all came to question him. My only regret is causing him this stress.” In their statement on Tuesday, the Singapore Police Force also said that a separate report over the matter had been made over the alleged doxxing of the woman and her family.
“Under the Protection from Harassment Act 2014, it is an offence to publish identifiable information about a person with the intention to harass, cause violence or fear of violence to a person. Those found guilty can be liable to be jailed up to a year and fined US$5,000.” — TODAY
