Two Singaporean women merely wanted to have supper in Johor Bahru, but a confusion over the new fingerprint scanning system introduced by Malaysian Customs resulted in to two days of humiliation for the women.

STOMPer Artful Dodger, who read about the incident on The New Paper today (Jun 14), said:

"I'm disturbed after reading this story. It terrifies me to go to Malaysia now, because it seems crazy things can happen to you, even if you make an honest mistake."

According to the report in The New Paper, the woman, Jane, was driving her friend to Johor Bahru last Thursday. When they reached a lane at the Malaysian Customs checkpoint counter at 1.30am, no one was manning the booth.

They tapped the Touch 'n Go card and drove on as the barrier lifted, thinking that there would be another station for the new thumbprint system.

However, when she realised that there were no more stations, she made a U-turn to head back to the Malaysian Customs, and told them that their passports were not stamped. What happened next was a nightmare for both women.

An immigration officer accused them of illegal entry and they were made to wait in a meeting room and later taken to an enforcement unit.

Hours later, a higher rank officer told them: "If you pay RM6,000 (S$2,400) by today, we will let you out."

They agreed to pay and were made to sign an undertaking in Malay, even though they did not understand its contents.

Six hours later, however, they were taken to a detention centre in Pontian, where they were told by a female officer to strip naked and made to do 10 squats each.

They then had to spend 24 hours in an overcrowded detention cell infested with mosquitoes and termites, causing them to get rashes and insect bites. They were also forced to eat soggy rice using their hands. The only way for them to relieve themselves was through an open-concept toilet.

When they approached an officer and offered to pay the RM6,000 fine later, they were surprised when they were told they would only be given a warning letter, which stated that they had committed an offence for not having a valid pass to enter and stay in Malaysia.

Their nightmare ended at midnight on Saturday, 46 hours after it first started.

Jane vows never to step foot in Malaysia again, and will be consulting a lawyer about the case.

She said: "Even though they knew it was a mistake, they made us go through the humiliation and suffering."