Jail, caning for M'sian boatman who entered Singapore illegally with passengers on fishing trip

New Paper

10-05-2025

A Malaysian boatman landed in hot water when he entered Singapore's territory while bringing two passengers on a fishing trip.
Muhammad Rasidi A. Razak, 28, also collided with a Police Coast Guard (PCG) craft while fleeing from the authorities, causing his passengers to fall into the sea.
On May 9, Rasidi was sentenced by a district court here to four months and six weeks' jail, and three strokes of the cane.
He pleaded guilty to one count of entering Singapore illegally, and one count of navigating his boat in a rash manner so as to endanger human life.
One other charge of failing to stop his boat upon police orders was taken into consideration for his sentencing.
The court heard that the incident happened at about 2pm on April 18.
At the time, Rasidi had been working as a full-time boatman for about a month, operating a rented blue fibreglass craft. He had previously worked part-time since December 2024.
Two Malaysian nationals, named in court documents as Kiew Yuke Hua and Surinarayanan Subramaniam, contacted Rasidi in March to arrange for a fishing trip.
On the day of the incident, they set out at about 8am from a jetty at Sungai Melayu, Johor. They first went to fish at sea off Puteri Harbour, where they remained until about 1.15pm.
Rasidi then steered his boat to waters off Pulau Sarimbun, despite being aware that he should maintain a distance of more than 100m from Singapore's shore.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Chee Boon Kwan, a PCG team leader who was patrolling the waters at the time, detected Rasidi's vessel.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Law Yan An told the court: "Upon seeing (the PCG craft), the accused panicked and immediately accelerated (his boat) at high speed towards Malaysia territorial waters."
ASP Chee gave chase. As he tried to intercept Rasidi's boat, the latter - who continued going directly forward at high speed - collided with the PCG vessel.
The impact caused Kiew and Surinarayanan to fall overboard. Upon seeing this, Rasidi attempted to manoeuvre his boat to retrieve them.
ASP Chee asked Rasidi to stop, but he did not. Instead, he steered his boat towards the PCG craft again and collided with it a second time.
Rasidi stopped only when ASP Chee drew his pistol and gave warnings to freeze the boat and switch off the engine.
After stopping, Rasidi helped both his passengers back on board his boat.
Another PCG patrol craft arrived to provide assistance. ASP Chee sustained a cut of about 7cm with an abrasion on his leg, said DPP Law.
Rasidi did not have any valid travel documents with him. He was arrested the same day and has been in remand since.
Court documents did not state if Kiew and Surinarayanan have been charged with any offence.