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Malaysian content creator Leong Jeen Hern (@dbstoryy) recently learnt the hard way that he’d been using his Autopass card wrongly every time he drove in to Singapore.
Jeen Hern revealed in an Instagram video that he was told by ICA officers that his “car has been blacklisted” and he had incurred fines.
The LTA-issued Autopass card is mandatory for all foreign-registered vehicles driving in to Singapore and is used to record the vehicle’s entry and exit as well as to pay all fees and tolls incurred here.
Jeen Hern assumed that all he needed to do was to pass his passport to the immigration officer, wait for it to be returned, insert his Autopass card, and drive off once the barriers were lifted.
“I thought it was going to be very simple… But I was wrong,” he shared.
After inserting his Autopass card on a recent drive in to Singapore, Jeen Hern was told by ICA officers to head to the LTA office as the system did not record several of his previous entries and exits. He was then informed that his vehicle had accumulated S$207.60 in outstanding charges from previous trips.
Speaking to 8days.sg, Jeen Hern revealed this wasn’t even his first drive into Singapore, but his fourth.
“Because I didn’t know how it worked, even my very first entry wasn’t properly registered in the system,” he tells us.
Surprisingly, Jeen Hern wasn’t worried when he got called into the LTA office as he “was so confident [he] didn’t break any rules”.
Jeen Hern tells us LTA officers spent nearly an hour checking and calculating his previous entries and exits before informing him that three of his previous trips had not been properly recorded.
It was only then that he realised that drivers were responsible for making sure their Autopass card transaction is successfully processed, even if the barrier is lifted.
“I assumed that when the barrier opened, everything was okay, then I just drove through,” he said in his video.
Jeen Hern reminded Malaysian drivers to learn from his experience and explained the right way to do it. “You need to insert the card, look at the screen, [see that] everything is okay, then you press the button,” he said.
Also, he shares that motorists in Malaysia, and even in neighbouring Brunei, are used to a different system.
“The barrier only opens after your passport is cleared and the payment has gone through,” he tells us.
Jeen Hern shares with us what he’d do differently if he could turn back time.
“I’d probably be more kaypoh and ask the ICA officer, ‘Everything okay?’ But thinking about it now… it also sounds like I’m asking whether there’s something wrong with my passport,” he quips.
“I don’t think I will drive into Singapore again, unless necessary,” he says.
8days.sg has reached out to LTA for comment but has not received a response at press time.
The video sparked plenty of reactions from netizens, especially Malaysians who admitted they had no idea the Autopass process could be so confusing.
“The Autopass card incident happened to me too. Nobody told me about it. The immigration officer even laughed when I drove off without inserting my card. When I came back, I was told to report to the office and ended up paying a S$60 fine,” one said.
That wasn’t the only hiccup during his recent trip to Singapore, which Jeen Hern described in an earlier video as a roller coaster ride.
It started well enough. After crossing the Causeway, he happily shared that he managed to get breakfast for just S$5, which included two eggs, two pastries and an iced Milo.
Then came an expensive surprise. “When I paid my parking ticket…[it was] S$47!” he exclaimed.
The next day, his parking woes continued.
“I parked inside the box, paid for parking, and thought I was very lucky because I found street parking in the CBD on a weekday,” he said.
Unfortunately, he had unknowingly parked in a coach parking lot, earning himself a S$70 parking fine. This meant that his misadventures in Singapore had cost him a total of over S$320, including the fines and parking fees.
“My eyes kena stamp… my eyes are blind,” he joked.
Netizens couldn’t resist poking fun at Jeen Hern’s expensive Singapore adventure.
“OMG! You came to Singapore just to pay fines!”, one said. Another wrote: “Your car spent more money than you did.”
One summed it up with a classic Singapore pun: “We’re a ‘fine’ city, bro. Hope you’re fine and not getting fined anymore.”
Another suggested a simpler approach, and commented, “In Singapore, we use BMW ( Bus, MRT, Walk). Better to leave your car at a workshop in JB and use the S$320 to enjoy your holiday instead.”
And perhaps the most Singaporean response of all?
“Thanks for your contribution to our economy,” read a comment.
Ouch.