MALAYSIAN High Commissioner N. Parameswaran has hit out at allegations that his staff abused their VIP privileges at land checkpoints and tried to ferry an overstayer from Singapore to Johor.
The incident, he said, was due to a 'genuine oversight' and not an attempt to abet an immigration offence, as the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) charged earlier.
In a strongly worded letter to Malaysian newspaper The Star on Thursday, Mr Parameswaran (above) said he took 'serious exception' to the MFA's allegation.
It was the latest salvo in an exchange that began on Sept 12, when The Star published an article in which Mr Parameswaran complained about new rules at Singapore's land checkpoints. The change meant that staff of the Malaysian High Commission could no longer use VIP and bus lanes to bypass traffic congestion when crossing the border.
He called the move 'unfriendly' and described an incident at the Second Link when his car was stopped and asked to turn back and wait in line.
The article prompted a response from the MFA, which explained that the new restrictions were put in place after a series of abuses by the High Commission's staff. These included not stopping for immigration clearance and not producing identification, including not carrying a passport.
In one case, a High Commission vehicle attempted to abet an immigration offence by ferrying a Malaysian overstayer from Singapore to Johor, the MFA said in its letter to The Star dated Sept 12.
In a letter sent to the media yesterday, Mr Parameswaran said the MFA brought to his attention three instances of abuse. He investigated all three and took appropriate action to ensure similar incidents would not recur. He also explained that the Malaysian worker who had overstayed had fallen ill here and a Singapore hospital sought the High Commission's help to repatriate him.
The worker showed up in a wheelchair at the High Commission's premises on April 18, the same day he was discharged from the hospital.
The High Commission's staff then decided to send him to a hospital in Johor. It was only when his passport was presented at the Causeway checkpoint that they realised he had overstayed by a day.
Mr Parameswaran pointed out that on Sept 11, the MFA sought the High Commission's help to move someone 'linked to a high Singapore personality' from Johor Baru to Singapore for medical treatment. The person mislaid his passport and was injured. He said he immediately dispatched an officer to the Causeway to assist in the repatriation.
'At no time did it ever occur to us that the Singapore Foreign Ministry was asking us to abet an immigration offence,' he said.
'We did this out of the goodness of our hearts and the high friendship that we hold for the Singapore people,' he added.
He also acknowledged that the Singaporean who was repatriated retrieved his passport and crossed the Malaysian checkpoint with it.
Mr Parameswaran said Singapore's new land checkpoint rules had affected the efficient work of his office. The Sept 6 incident in which his car was asked to wait in line 'has made it clear that the Malaysian High Commissioner in Singapore is not considered a VIP in Singapore', he added.
The new rules also implied that Malaysian High Commission staff were also 'suspect' and should go through enhanced security measures.
When contacted by The Straits Times yesterday, the MFA made it clear that the two incidents cited by Mr Parameswaran were not the same.
An MFA spokesman said that the latter case involving an injured Singaporean was a matter of consular assistance, as distinct from 'the Malaysian High Commission's use of VIP lanes for alleged 'official duties' in Johor'.
In requesting and rendering consular assistance, the normal practice is for both sides to provide prior notice and information of the case.
The MFA, the spokesman noted, had given prior notice to the Malaysian side when trying to get the Singaporean across. 'Had the Malaysian High Commission provided prior information with respect to their consular case, our checkpoint authorities would have rendered cooperation,' he said.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Sept 20, 1998.
