Commuter collapses and dies in CIQ bike lane

ISKANDAR PUTERI: A 56-year-old man, who has been commuting to Singapore for work since he was 18, died after collapsing at the Bangu­nan Sultan Abu Bakar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine Complex (CIQ).

Yam Kok Kong (pic) was on his daily routine, scanning his thumbprint while on his motorcycle for immigration clearance when he collapsed at around 6pm on Thursday.

He was at one of the MBike lanes at the CIQ after coming back from Singapore, said Iskandar Puteri acting OCPD Deputy Supt M. Kumarasan.

MBike is a secured automated clearance system that was introduced in November last year to reduce motorcycle lane congestion at the Malaysia-Singapore checkpoints.

DSP Kumarasan said that many passers-by and motor­­cyclists came to his aid and took him aside before alerting the authorities.

 However, he was pronounced dead by a Gelang Patah medical officer at the scene.

Post-mortem results showed that he died of a heart attack, DSP Kuma­rasan said when contacted yesterday.

DSP Kumarasan said that Yam, who was from Taman Bukit Mewah, worked as a project engineer at an electrical company in Tuas, Singapore.

CCTV footage of the incident went viral on social media, showing Yam going through the checkpoint and scanning his thumbprint.

Suddenly, he collapses on his motorcycle.

According to his youngest sister, Yam was the second child among 11 siblings.

She said Yam was not married and had been working in Singapore since he was 18.

“He was the type of person who would not hesitate to help his siblings whenever we were in need, including financially,” she said.