It was reported last month that the driver of a black Maserati SKK9192G was arrested for “dangerous driving” after a video of his reckless driving behaviour was uploaded online and went viral.
The video showed that while trying to overtake a lorry on a narrow 2-line road, he hit a dividing kerb and went over to the other side of the road. Undeterred, he continued driving at high speed against oncoming traffic and narrowly missed oncoming vehicles before swerving back to the correct lane and eventually forcing the lorry driver to come to a stop down the road.
This was not the first time the driver drove aggressively on the road. Another video uploaded a few years ago, showed him aggressively tailgating a motorcycle in a 50km/h zone. He revved his car engine in an attempt to intimidate the motorcycle rider. After overtaking the motorcycle, he swerved his Maserati right, endangering the motorcyclist.
Through online CSI, netizens finally pinpointed the Maserati driver. He turned out to be Prof Henry Yeung Wai Chung, a China-born Distinguished Professor at NUS. He teaches at the geography department in the faculty of Arts and Social Science.
According to the NUS website, Yeung was born in Guangzhou and moved to Hong Kong in 1979 at the age of 11 years old. He came to Singapore in 1988 after his ‘A-level’ in Hong Kong, and subsequently graduated from NUS in 1992. After obtaining his Ph.D from UK in 1995, he returned to start his career at NUS. Clearly, from the timeline, he did not serve National Service.
“Since July 2005, I have been Professor of Economic Geography. Since February 2018, I have been appointed Distinguished Professor of the National University of Singapore in recognition of my ‘outstanding academic excellence as well as academic and intellectual leadership’,” Yeung wrote.
Yeung to plead guilty
Yeung was charged with dangerous driving in court today (17 Oct). ST reported that in fact, Yeung is now a Singaporean, a new citizen.
Yeung told the court that he intends to plead guilty to his offence. He will be back in court in Nov 5.
The police said no injuries were reported in the case. All motorists are urged to drive safely and strictly abide by traffic rules and regulations, said the police. It added, “The traffic police will not hesitate to take firm action against motorists who choose to endanger the safety of other road users.”
Responding to ST’s queries, NUS said, “Professor Henry Yeung 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.”
“As legal proceedings are currently underway, the university is not at liberty to comment on this private matter.”
It’s not known if NUS would continue to employ the reckless professor assuming he is found guilty after the trial.
