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Some drivers in Singapore have used Carousell to skirt the law and its penalties for their traffic offences, as some on the platform are willing to be scapegoats, as long as they get paid. CNA reported that those who take the fall are willing to absorb the demerit points at a price of S$100 per demerit point. Taking the fall for someone else is itself against the law in Singapore. Such cases can be dealt with as giving false information to the police. However, CNA also reported that these listings have since been removed by Carousell, as they "encourage illegal activity", a vice president of operations for the platform said. How scheme works The modus operandi is in fact very simple. Both the offender and the scapegoat will meet in person at an AXS machine, where fine payments can be made, to execute the transaction. The seller will assume the fault and responsibility of the traffic offender by declaring that he or she was the driver that flouted the rules at the time of the offence. The seller will simply register his or her details to assume responsibility for the traffic offence. Payment of the fine will be made by traffic offender, on top of a cost of S$100 per demerit point to be paid to the scapegoat. For example, an offender with six demerit points and a fine of S$200 will have to fork out S$800 in total to get rid of his traffic offence. Such transactions can easily go as high as S$1,200, if a driver, say, committed the offence of failing to conform to traffic light signals. Why it works Such a scheme works as the onus to declare a person as the offender is not witnessed by a third party. Moreover, there are many people in Singapore with a driver's licence, but lack the opportunity to drive because car ownership is hefty. By taking the fall, there is little to no risk of forfeiting one's chance to drive, as the demerited points reset to zero after two years. Coupled with the possibility to earn as much as S$2,400 every two years with relative ease, the supply of sellers willing and ready to take the fall is unsurprising. What can be done Surveillance equipment can be installed at fine payment machines, where transactions are carried out, to facilitate identity verification purposes. Additionally, traffic offences could be made to be resolved in-person at the Neighbourhood Police Post, where traffic offenders are required to declare that their particulars are truthful before paying their outstanding fines. Singapore's demerit points system The Driver Improvement Points System (DIPS) was implemented by the Traffic Police in 1983 to ensure the safety of motorists and pedestrians. Depending on the gravity of the offence, demerit points or a combination of demerit points and fines are doled out to traffic offenders. The licence of a driver can be suspended should he/ she incur more than 24 demerit points within 24 months. This number of points and time is halved for a driver that has been previously suspended before he is liable for subsequent suspensions. After the third suspension, the driver's licence will be revoked. He/ she will have to retake two tests -- theory and traffic police driving -- to regain it. Amendments to the law Under the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill on Monday, Apr. 5, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) proposed harsher punishments for those who obstruct, prevent or defeat the course of justice for road traffic incidents. A new offence was created by MHA for traffic offender impersonations -- those who “cause or permit to provide false or misleading information, or intentionally alter, suppress or destroy information that leads to the identification of an offending driver”. If found guilty, the sellers can jailed for up to a year and/ or fined up to S$10,000 and potentially be disqualified from driving. source: https://mothership.sg/2021/04/carousell-pay-demerit-points/

Migrant workers Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were charged with the murder of David Miller, 24, and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23. The tourists’ battered bodies were found on the southern island of Koh Tao on September 15. The arrests of the men, both in their early twenties, followed intense scrutiny of Thai authorities which have been accused of mishandling the investigation. http://www.thenational.ae/world/southeast-asia/myanmar-man-accused-of-british-murders-is-scapegoat YANGON// The mother of one of the Myanmar men accused of murdering two British tourists in Thailand has said her son is a “scapegoat”. Migrant workers Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were charged with the murder of David Miller, 24, and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23. The tourists’ battered bodies were found on the southern island of Koh Tao on September 15. The arrests of the men, both in their early twenties, followed intense scrutiny of Thai authorities which have been accused of mishandling the investigation. “The case has been fixed, my son is a scapegoat,” Zaw Lin’s mother Phyu Shwe Nu said, adding her son “has never done anything violent before”. Britain has voiced concerns about the way Thai police had handled the case so far and offered police support to Thailand. Myanmar president Thein Sein has also asked for a “fair” investigation, amid reports the accused were tortured into confessing.The mother of the second suspect, Win Zaw Tun, said the news of her son’s arrest had left her suicidal. Thailand has strongly rejected allegations of torture and defended its probe, with junta chief and premier Prayut Chan-ocha saying the case was “reliable”. Earlier in the week Thai authorities agreed to accept British and Myanmar observers to monitor the case but details of what form this would take were not provided. Thai police have said the two Myanmar suspects confessed to the crime and their DNA matched samples taken from Witheridge’s body. The murders dealt another blow to Thailand’s tarnished image as a tourist haven after months of protests in Bangkok led to a coup in May and the introduction of martial law -- which has yet to be lifted.* Agence France-Presse

The family of Dinesh Raman, the prison inmate who died after being negligently left in 'prone position' without adequate supervision, is unhappy with the sentence that the senior prison officer in charge was dealt. The officer who had not provided the adequate supervision which caused Dinesh's death was fined $10 000, an amount the family says does not compare to the life that was lost. The case took almost 3 years to come to a conclusion and the family says that they are still not sure how exactly the 21 year old had died in 'prone position'. The late Dinesh Raman was sentenced to reformative training in 2007 for the charges of rioting and theft. He was released in January 2010 but was recalled to Changi Prison in May after he failed to comply with his supervision order. His mother, a cleaner, expressed that she was unsure why he went back to jail. She had seen him for the last time shortly before we was re-imprisoned in May. She said that she was unable to visit him as she was stressed and occupied with other family matters at that time. As a mother, she had visited her son often during his first 3 years and continually encouraged and supported him. She said that as a boy, her son was always affectionate, kind and helpful around the house. His hobbies included simply listening to the radio, watching TV, playing games and exercising. She said that she is constantly reminded of her son and there isn't a day that goes past when she doesn't think about him. She continues to live in the same flat that the family used to share and has thought about her son every day since his death 3 years ago.