Woman on Singapore-registered bike killed in Malaysia

A Singapore-registered motorcycle was involved in a fatal crash on the North-South highway near Rembau, in Negri Sembilan, Malaysia, on Monday.

The couple on the Honda Africa Twin were believed to be heading towards Singapore.

A 40-year-old Taiwanese woman, who was riding pillion, was killed in the accident, a Malaysian police officer told The New Paper on Monday afternoon.

Her partner, Mr Michael Ho, a Malaysian who lives in Singapore, was injured.

DIED ON THE SPOT

Inspector Nuari, an investigating officer in the traffic police department in Rembau, said: "The rider suffered a broken left leg.

Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do to save the pillion rider. She died on the spot."

The dead woman has been identified as Ms Cheng Ching Yi. TNP understands that Taiwanese authorities have been informed of her death.

The crash happened at the 231.5km mark on the North-South highway at about 7am. No other vehicle was involved.

The report said Mr Ho, a 40-year-old divorcee, lost control of his bike and hit the central divider next to the fast lane on a straight stretch of the highway.

The weather condition was good at the time.

Mr Ho, a native of Penang, was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Alor Gajah, close to the crash location.

"Unfortunately, there were no specialists there. So Mr Ho was transferred to our hospital at about 11am on Monday," an emergency room medical officer from Malacca General Hospital told TNP yesterday.

The accident sparked a flurry of activity on both sides of the Causeway on Monday.

The biking communities in Malaysia and Singapore went on Facebook to alert each other about the crash in attempts to contact Mr Ho's friends and family.

At 10.25am on Monday, Singaporean Shahlan Saim posted photos of Mr Ho's motorcycle on its side at the crash location. The post was shared by 20 other Facebook users.

Mr Shahlan told TNP he received the photos via WhatsApp from friends who are members of an adventure group on Facebook.

By about noon, Mr Ho had acknowledged on Facebook to a concerned Singapore biker that he was involved in the crash and was "already in hospital".

Asked by the biker if everything was all right, he said "no".

Mr Ho, who was discharged from hospital yesterday afternoon, did not reply to TNP's Facebook messages on Monday.

Investigations are ongoing, said Insp Nuari.

This article was first published on Feb 17, 2016.
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