More reasons to keep your eyes on the road

Since 2005 many of us have kept our eyes peeled even on our familiar routes. The price of steel shot up due to the construction boom in China and this created a lucrative scrap steel market. I first heard about this from a Malaysian friend and by August 2005 the phenomenon was reported from our shores.

This demand took care of my old steel bike, the "Champion Du Monde" which had been left hanging around campus in want of an owner.

I have also seen the the occasional gap and had a couple of near shaves. Enough to keep me alert. Well here is another reminder not to let our guard down just yet.

"Scrap metal seller arrested after suspicious transaction," by Chio Su-Mei. Channel NewsAsia, 10 Jan 2008.

SINGAPORE: Police arrested a scrap metal seller on Wednesday after he made a transaction that raised eyebrows.

The 39-year-old man had sold 1,050 kilograms of loose metals, drain gratings and reinforced metal bars to a dealer at Defu Industrial Estate on 9 January.

Officers from the Ang Mo Kio Police Division were alerted to this during a routine check on second-hand goods dealers.

Through records maintained by the dealer, police were able to identify and ambush the suspect at a metal recycling shop in Woodlands Industrial Park.

He was found with six bars of reinforced metal weighing a total of 700kg.

The suspect will be charged in court on 11 January with "fraudulent possession of property" under Chapter 184 for Fraudulent Possession of Property, in Section 35(1) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.

Under the Second-hand Goods Dealer Act 2007, which came into effect on 1 December 2007, second-hand goods dealers trading in items listed in the Schedule of the Act, such as copper, stainless steel, aluminium, steel or brass, or a composite of such metals, are to keep proper records on sellers of such metals.

Dealers of such metals are also required to make payment to sellers of scrap metals using only crossed cheques. - CNA/vm