Underage driving case triggers outrage, xenophobia in Malaysia as boy faces possible jail

Malaysians took up their social media torches and pitchforks to demand an example be made of a 12-year-old boy, who faces possible jail time after he was charged on Wednesday for underage driving.

Prosecutors charged the boy with driving a motor vehicle below the legal limit of 16, following investigations into a viral video that showed a child steering a car recklessly in a residential area in Selangor state’s Puchong district with two younger children standing on the passenger seat.

The boy, who was accompanied by his mother during the closed-door proceeding before a magistrate, pleaded not guilty and was released on 500 ringgit (US$105) bail, national newswire Bernama reported.

If found guilty, he faces a fine of up to 2,000 ringgit, a maximum of six months in jail or both.

Under Malaysian law, children below the age of 10 cannot be convicted for criminal offences.

The boy’s father, a Pakistani national with permanent residency, was also slapped with two separate charges for allowing his underaged son to drive a motor vehicle and for neglecting and failing to supervise the child’s activities that could result in physical harm.

The man pleaded not guilty to both charges. He faces similar penalties as his son for the first charge, and a fine of up to 50,000 ringgit, 20 years in jail or both, if convicted for the second charge.

The case triggered broad disapproval of the boy’s conduct and that of his father, with numerous comments on Malaysian social media accusing them of lying and wasting the court’s time despite alleged video evidence of the offence.

Stories on the case posted across several local news Facebook accounts received hundreds of comments and dozens of shares since Wednesday evening.

“Twelve years old and already