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A driver of a Singapore-registered Mercedes E250 was filmed on video pumping petrol from a station in Johor Bahru, Malaysia into containers and storing the fuel in the boot.

His antics have sparked much discussion online.

What video showed

According to the video, recorded by another vehicle that pulled up at the petrol station, the Mercedes driver appeared to have pumped the petrol into two translucent plastic containers.

The incident supposedly occurred on Feb. 16 at the Petron station in Taman Pelangi, about 5km from the Causeway.

The driver was seen holding on to two plastic containers of petrol while walking to the left-hand side of the car.

The driver then used plastic bags to bag the containers individually, which were then both loaded into the boot.

But the video cut off before the second container was seen loaded inside.

According to the caption on the video, the man had pumped Ron97 petrol, which is the grade of fuel set aside for non-Malaysians, as it is not as heavily subsidised by the Malaysian government.

Responses to antics

The most common response to the video was to call out the man's antics.

This could be attributed to the caption introducing the clip, which urged the Singapore authorities at the checkpoints to inspect the man's vehicle for the importation of fuel, if he were to bring the petrol in containers back to Singapore.

Among the commenters who took this view were those who claimed without evidence that the man was bringing the fuel with him across the border and benefitting from cheap petrol sold in Malaysia.

Those who took a more charitable view said the man could be using the fuel for his generator, as he could be going to the great outdoors to fish or hike.

Some commenters also said he could be buying the fuel to fill up another vehicle that had stalled, or that he was heading to a more rural place, and he had to ensure he made the trip without running out of fuel.

Others who regarded the issue from a safety perspective said the man should only use containers meant for holding petrol to transport the highly flammable liquid.

Can petrol be imported into Singapore?

Information online pertaining to the importing of petrol from Malaysia into Singapore outside of a vehicle's fuel tank in separate containers is scant.

Forum threads that exist online on this topic date back to 2002 and 2016 but did not yield definitive answers.

The main claim that it is permissible is that some drivers have the practice of carrying around less than 5 litres of petrol in a separate container in the event they run out of fuel on the road.

Declaring the extra fuel in a container during customs checks was also recommended.

According to the Singapore Civil Defence Force and Singapore Statutes Online, the transporting of fuel of less than 20 litres in Singapore without a licence is allowed.

This pertains to fuel purchased locally.

The onus is on petrol station operators to record the details of the buyer.

Top photo via