THE highway robbery which saw a Singapore Ferrari Club member being assaulted by six men will not stop some of the club members from driving up to Malaysia again.
The club's motorsports director Chia Boon Teck said that if the members of the club request for another convoy trip, then he will have no problems organising another one.
He added that, personally, he has not been put off.
Of this trip, he said: 'Actually, the safety measures which we had in place worked as far as the convoy drive was concerned.
'But the robbery victim was not part of the convoy.'
The fleet of cars had gone to Genting Highlands on an invitation by the resort management as part of its corporate outreach programme.
The group left Singapore at about 10am last Friday morning. About two hours later, somewhere near Malacca, the convoy became the target of two thugs in a black Mercedes-Benz. The duo allegedly tried to rob the convoy three times, but failed.
Then, at about 2pm, they chanced upon a Singapore Ferrari Club member, a Malaysian, making his own way up to Genting Highlands to meet the rest of the group.
He was driving a metallic-grey Ferrari. There was a high-speed chase and the Ferrari driver's car spun on the wet road. When the car came to a stop, the thugs used a crowbar to smash his car window before assaulting him.
The driver, believed to be in his 30s, suffered from cuts and bruises. He was later rescued by some other members of the club. His wife, who was with him in the car, was not harmed.
The group of about 20 Ferraris and Maseratis, save for the robbery victim, returned to Singapore yesterday afternoon as planned.
The Resorts World Bhd management at Genting Highlands had arranged police escort for the group up to Singapore's Tuas Checkpoint.
Police escort
Mr Victor Ow, the club's treasurer, told The New Paper: 'The Genting management went out of the way for us and gave us 300 per cent service. We had the police escorting us all the way back from Genting.'
As the group passed through three different Malaysian states with different police jurisdictions, they had to switch police escorts three times.
Mr Ow, a businessman, said: 'The planning was difficult but it all went very smoothly.'
He said that when Singaporeans go out of the country, they have to look after each other. 'And that's what we did,' he added. 'We pulled together to help each other.'
It is no secret that the owners of high-end marques, such as Porsches, Lamborghinis and Ferraris, often go in convoys to Malaysia to 'run' their cars.
Even former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad alluded to this in February 2003, when he said during his visit to Johor: 'In Singapore, you buy a Ferrari you can't change into fourth gear, there is no use. So we want to give them (Singapore drivers) the opportunity to change into fourth gear on our roads.'
Most of these trips have been without any incidents until now.
Mr Chia, a lawyer, said that 'it's really not about showing off' for the group of avid motorists. 'It's about stretching the car and keeping the engine in shape,' he said.
'And we go to Malaysia because there is a long, straight highway.'
He added that they go in a convoy not so much to attract attention but because there is 'safety in numbers'.
Mr Ow, who pointed out that the robbery was a one-off incident and many previous road trips have been without incident, agreed that the 'buddy system and convoy system' work well.
'What's important is how one manages the attention you get.
