GO-JEK Responds to ‘Kidnap’ Incident; Driver Has Been Feeling ‘Troubled’

By
George Yang
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I’m kidnapped every day, and I don’t even know who the hell kidnapped me.

Whenever I step into the MRT, the door closes on me every single freaking time after a few seconds. Despite my knocking on the train doors, they won’t open. I tried calling SMRT but guess what?

They bloody hell said it’s “auto”!

But anyways.

Another lady faced the same issue recently, and let’s just say that compared to my experience, hers is much more terrifying, for she went viral overnight and was meme-ified so much, my Facebook feed has never felt so racist before.

Recap of Incident

So basically, Facebook user Kamaruzzaman Bin Abdul Latiff uploaded an video into Go-Jek Singapore Community group, relating an experience that has since garnered over 42K Shares in less than 24 hours.

You’d have seen the video; if not, you can view it here. Here’s my colleague’s concise description of the entire incident:

  • The driver was fetching the female passenger to the police station, following accusations that he was out to scam her money
  • She insisted that previous drivers would ask her whether she wanted to go the route without ERP, or the one with it
  • The driver then asked her for the route, but she couldn’t provide it
  • She then defended herself, saying that the driver knew the route and was taking another way on purpose
  • The driver stated he would not claim a single cent from the passenger, and the passenger reciprocated the notion
  • The driver asked her to claim for a refund from GO-JEK
  • The driver then said: “You should take bus, cheaper.”
  • The driver said he would report the incident to the police and the Land Transport Authority, and suggested that the woman do likewise

– Technical break to soothe your emotions for a bit – 

  • At this point, the woman moved to the other side of the back seat, in a bid to avoid the camera. When asked why, she said that he had no right to video her, even though she was videoing him too
  • The woman then got on the phone and accused the driver of being “dangerous”
  • It is unclear who the woman on the end of the line was, but she might have been a kin member
  • The passenger then blasted the phone on loudspeaker and asked the driver to talk to the phone
  • The person on the line told the driver she had the passenger’s GPS location noted down
  • The driver reiterated that he was going to the police station in Toa Payoh
  • The woman on the phone then expressed that the driver “ have no right to take her hostage”
  • Once they reached a location the driver thought was the police station, the woman started requesting for help and saying she had been kidnapped
  • The driver then talked to a police officer, who wasn’t in the camera’s view
  • The driver began explaining the situation
  • The police then told the driver he was not at the police station and directed him there
  • The woman then tried to exit the vehicle but the door was locked
  • At this point she went hysterical, screaming “He lock the door!”
  • When she got out, she accused him of locking the door and taking her hostage
  • The driver and the police then tried to explain to her that the door locks automatically, but she didn’t seem to be absorbing any of it
  • The woman then ended up shouting: “Is it because I am Chinese?” This assumption might have arisen because the other police officer seems to be of the same ethnicity as the driver

Following that, memes like these started to surface:

My favourite has got to be this:


But moving on.

GO-JEK Has Replied

Let me be the one to say it: GO-JEK must be damn happy about this incident.

They’ve been advertising everywhere, but this incident might provide the media value that’s worth more than their overall advertising budget so far.

I mean, anyone who doesn’t know about GO-JEK’s existence now knows about GO-JEK.

Why rap when you can just shout?

And everyone now knows that GO-JEK has a patient and professional driver.

Anyways.

GO-JEK has responded (of course they have to!).

Firstly, they’re aware of the incident (you don’t say?) and has told the driver that he did “nothing wrong” and that they “won’t do anything” to him.

(So…he didn’t kidnap her lah?)

GO-JEK has investigated the incident using the evidence provided and has spoken to both the kidnapper and the hostage driver and the passenger.

They told Straits Times, “GO-JEK takes all complaints from riders and driver-partners very seriously… A fair outcome has been reached with the driver partner and we are of the view that the matter is now concluded.”

It’s unknown what the “fair outcome” is. Maybe a Grab voucher for the passenger?

Driver “Feeling Trouble”

The driver drives full-time for GO-JEK (I can hear cheers in the GO-JEK office all of a sudden) and usually drives during the day.

So, why didn’t the driver just kick the passenger out into the sea?

Well, firstly, the passenger allegedly went apeshit when they were in CTE: vehicles cannot anyhowly stop at expressway.

Secondly, the passenger used strong words like “hostage” and “kidnap”. These are very serious offence in Singapore and therefore, the driver wanted to go direct to a police station to sort things out.

Since then, he has been feeling “troubled” over the incident and has been having difficulty sleeping. His heart also did not feel “at ease”. After the incident, he had informed GO-JEK of the incident and made a police report.

Well, at least now, he won’t need to feel troubled anymore, because everyone knows who’s the kidnapper.

It’s the passenger.

She has just kidnapped the Internet with “Is it because I’m Chinese?”

Over in TikTok, there’s a drama involving property agents that’s caused by us. Here’s what happened:

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George Yang
Email: [email protected]