Update: This story has been updated with more information from Singh.
Popular TV actor Gurmit Singh has been fined and temporarily banned from driving after he was caught speeding in Woodlands two months ago.
Singh, 56, who is best known for playing contractor Phua Chu Kang on television, was fined S$800 (US$604) and banned from driving for three months after he pleaded guilty today under the Road Traffic Act. According to the court, Singh had on April 12 drove at 131 kmh along Woodlands Avenue 12, which was nearly double the speed limit.
Singh did not know how his Audi A8 L had reached that speed, he told the court today, noting that he was trying to let his son hear a “flapping sound” that was coming from his car when it hit 100kmh. Singh said he was picking up his child from his workplace that night. The actor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“After I got him I wanted him to hear the same sound, so I realised it comes out at 100kmh,” Singh told District Judge Salina Ishak. He was not legally represented.
He added: “Of course I’m not saying I should drive at that speed [on] that street, but it was just a short (distance). I don’t know how I got 131, I wish I knew, but I just ask the court’s understanding that I’m not this reckless driver who does this daily. It’s just a one-off thing I wanted my son to hear.”
The judge told him that he had also risked his son’s life.
“I understand, your honour. I regret doing what I did,” Singh said.
After this story was published, Singh explained to Coconuts that the sound he was referring to in court was coming from the undercarriage.
“Got it repaired while it was still minor (That is why I could only hear the flapping at 100km/hr on the expressway),” he said last night. “But it’s no excuse for driving that speed at that stretch of road. It was a bad call on my part and a totally regretful one.”
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