Complied by HO JIA WEN, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
SEVERAL highways have been flagged as hotspots for illegal street racers, better known as mat rempit, Harian Metro reported.
The highways included the Duta-Ulu Kelang Expressway (Duke), North-South Expressway (PLUS) and Kajang-Seremban Highway (Lekas).
Federal Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Yusri Hassan Basri said police also detected several other highways favoured by these racers, including the Federal Highway, West Coast Expressway (WCE) and East Coast Highway 2 (LPT2).
He said last year, 2,241 mat rempit were arrested nationwide.
Duke highway concessionaire Konsortium Lebuhraya Utara-Timur (KL) Sdn Bhd pledged to work closely with the police and other enforcement agencies to combat illegal racing.
It said it viewed the matter seriously, as illegal racing activities endangered lives.
“Continuous monitoring is conducted by the Duke traffic monitoring centre, and patrols are done so that information can be relayed to the police in real time,” it said.
> Actor Meerqeen has refuted talk that he was becoming arrogant and refusing fans’ requests for photos, Kosmo! reported.
The 23-year-old, whose real name is Muhammad Shameer Shauqeen Saiful Izam, said he had always obliged such requests from his fans.
“I think fans and those close to me know what I am like. I’m not the type to refuse when someone asks me for a photo. Even when I’m eating, I am willing to stop to take a photo,” he said.
However, he stated that he did not invite others to take photos with him because he found it embarrassing.
“I understand that many people are watching, but it wouldn’t make sense for me to greet them and ask for a photo. So I just pretend not to notice,” he said.
Some fans claimed that Meerqeen’s behaviour has changed and that he is no longer as humble as he was during his early days in the industry.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a, it denotes a separate news item.
