A professor from Asia's one of the best academic institutions, National University of Singapore (NUS), has been charged with dangerous driving. The incident was recorded in a video, which showed that the Maserati car of the accused was moving against the traffic and stopped in front of a lorry.
The accused Henry Yeung Wai Chung, who is the Acting Head and Distinguished Professor on the NUS Department of Geography faculty page and applied for permission to leave Singapore for a work trip.
This year, in September the rash driving video went viral on social media. After the investigation, the NUS professor was arrested on September 12 and charged with one count of dangerous driving under the Road Traffic Act. No injuries were reported due to the rash driving incident.
No lawyer was hired to defend the accused during the Wednesday hearing at State Courts and Yeung said that he intends to plead guilty.
As per the court documents, the offence was committed when the accused was driving along Lorong Chuan towards Braddell Road on September 7 at around 1.15 pm. A video was posted on a Facebook page that clearly showed how the driver of a black Maserati mounted a curb and went through an opposite lane.
The video was posted by the Facebook page called Beh Chia Lor - Singapore Road almost a month ago and since then the footage of the offence has gathered almost 410000 views, about 2000 comments and 1176 comments. It was also shared over 4800 times on the social media platform.
However, the Guangzhou-born Yeung will be back in court on November 5. The Road Traffic Act states that "If any person drives a motor vehicle on a road recklessly, or at a speed or in a manner which is dangerous to the public, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the nature, condition and use of the road, and the amount of traffic which is actually at the time, or which might reasonably be expected to be, on the road, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both."
An NUS spokesperson said, "We are aware of this traffic incident involving a staff member of the University. As legal proceedings are currently underway, the University is not at liberty to comment on this private matter."
He also added that the NUS professor will "continue to carry out his academic duties. Pending completion of the legal proceedings, a Caretaker Head will assist with the day-to-day running of the Department."
