A group of young illegal racers, or ‘mat rempits,’ were made to perform squats after being caught racing along Kuching Airport Road during a police operation.
A viral video captured the moment when the youths were instructed to do 10 squats while holding their ears with their arms crossed as officers supervised the punishment.
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The incident took place during Op Samseng Jalanan, an anti-illegal racing operation conducted on March 2, as reported by Utusan Borneo.
Kuching district police chief ACP Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah said that the operation, which began at 10:30 pm, saw 168 motorcycles and 10 cars inspected.
“Out of 168 motorcycles, 26 were seized after they were found to have violated Section 60 of the Road Transport Act 1987 over illegal modifications being made to its original structure,” he said.
Additionally, 396 summonses were issued to 182 individuals for various traffic offences.
“The operation aims to combat street gang activities in hopes that road users will follow existing laws and road regulations. It will be carried out continuously from time to time, and we advise road users, especially motorcyclists, to always drive safely and not get caught in street gang activities,” he added.
Many netizens expressed dissatisfaction, arguing that the squats were not an effective deterrent.
“This is the most useless thing. They won’t feel embarrassed but fun since they’re doing it in a big group. So what’s the point? Please do better to stop these illegal, dangerous acts,” one user called Ethaniel John commented.
“Just giving that kind of punishment isn’t enough... Make them do community service, like cleaning the streets of Kuching city,” Coklet Masin suggested.
“Abang police, the number 4 from the front on the right side...he didn’t do 10, only did 7,” Rusydi Ranaie wrote jokingly.
