NTU’s Carpooling Telegram Chat ‘Ride Kakis’ Banned After Driver Molests Rider

A year ago, e-scooter incidents seem to be all the rage. Though by incident, I don’t mean the casual case of your typical Ah Beng blasting ‘我们不一样‘, but actual e-scooter incidents.

Fast forward one year, however, and strangely, e-scooter incidents have all but died down. Truth be told this revelation could have some affinity with certain stringent laws the law authorities have recently slotted into play, but I choose to believe in humanity.

Humanity boleh.

However, it seems that the age-old law of ‘equal exchange’ holds true, because even though e-scooters incidents have all but vanished off the face of this country, another crime category has been coming under fire in recent weeks/months.

Editor: Wait, isn’t the PMD issue more pressing and-

Shut up, this is my article. Anyways…

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about a category that goes all the way back to the cavemen era, when uncultured bearded males surreptitiously poke at hairy women with their unseasoned wooden clubs.

Sexual harassment.

It seems that once again, a top school has been thrust under the light. Though this time around it’s not so much of the school’s fault…

But a Telegram channel’s reliability that’s being called into question.

NTU’s Carpooling Telegram Chat ‘Ride Kakis’ Banned After Driver Molests Rider

Lest you’re unaware, carpooling and ridesharing arrangements have gone way past conventional platforms such as Grab or the now-defunct Uber Singapore;

They’ve actually branched out to chat apps such as Telegram.

And it seems that such arrangements are proving increasingly popular in Singapore too, as such services ascertain greater convenience, cost-effectiveness for riders and drivers who simply state where they’re going and how much one is willing to pay and be paid.

But like all things, it’s not perfect, and the following confession definitively highlights the telegram method’s utmost reliance on goodwill and good faith actors.

Yesterday (21 October), a woman made an anonymous entry through the NTU Confessions Facebook Page, in which she claimed to have been molested by the driver who used Ride Kakis, a peer-to-peer ridesharing platform primarily used by Nanyang Technological University students.

Lest you can’t read, here’s what the post entails:

Hi everyone, this is PSA for everyone using Ride Kakis or other non-regulated hitch platforms.

Without going too much into details because the police investigation is still ongoing, I want to share that I was involved in an incident last week where a non-NTU male hitched me via Ride Kakis, brought me to a secluded carpark and molested me. A police report has been made and the driver has been arrested. He claims that he was trying to ‘make friends’ but I found out that there is another report made against him on the same matter. So, it sounds like bullshit to me.

For those doubting this is real, don’t. I’m really not trying to stir shit or anything. I just wanna caution everyone, especially with all the sexual harassment cases nowadays. I was initially quite traumatised but I’m fine now and I honestly just want that guy to rot in jail if he is found guilty. I will be writing to the school about the incident, but figured a lot of NTU students read this page so it would be easier and faster to reach out.

Not hating on Ride Kakis because not every driver/rider is a pervert, but I just wanna ask everyone to please be careful. If the person you’re hitching/sharing cab with doesn’t provide his/her contact details, make sure you ask for proper identification before getting into the same car. The thing about Ride Kakis is that anyone can use it and verification is not compulsory. Yes, hitch can make friends but don’t be so foolish to let your guard down.

For those who know me, I wish to remain anonymous until the case is closed. So please don’t rat me out, thanks!

Also, to Ride Kakis admin, I sent y’all a message via the feedback option on the bot. Can you please reply?”

Submitted Sunday, 20/10
#NTUConfessions25063

And lest you don’t have enough attention span to read through the whole thing, here’s a rough breakdown of what happened:

• She was on a hitch ride via Ride Kakis
• The driver, a non-NTU male, brought her to a secluded carpark and molested her
• A police report has been made and the driver has been arrested
• The driver claims that he was trying to “make friends” but there’s already a report made against him on the same matter

Ride Kakis

According to Mothership, Ride Kakis started as an initiative by NTU students, and the channel’s user base has expanded to nearly 4,000 members.

However, any member of the public can choose to use the platform.

Also, verification of one’s identity on Ride Kakis was not deemed compulsory. To use Ride Kakis, one only has to provide an alias and Telegram username:

The Service Has Since Been Shut Down

As of 21 October 2019, 11:38 p.m., the Telegram channel in question has been suspended until further notice.

And while it’s not specified whether the suspension of the channel had resulted because of the alleged molestation incident, it’s entirely logical to assume it as one of the pre-determining factors.

And so, let’s hope that justice is served accordingly and that the near future would be one fraught with lesser molestation cases.

Because at the rate this is going, Singapore’s gonna be no.1 in the world for something other than street food, in all honesty.