Crime...oh crime..

A brief post.

The state officials supposedly went over to Singapore to assure them folks that the crime rate in JB isnt that bad.

OK, I beg to differ. And its from a first hand's experience view. Have moved house about 12 days ago. There has been at least 3 break-ins so far. And all done during the day time.

The last one happened on Monday. I was at home supervising two sets of contractors and their workers. Correction work needed to be done on the security grilles. The second group were laying zinc sheets underneath the roof tiles. At least 10 of us were there.

At around 4pm, the house at the rear of mine was broken into! An Indonesian guy entered the premises and asked the maid if she was indonesian. She answered in the affirmative. He asked where the valuables were hidden by the owner. She took the less-than-2 year old twin boys and ran out the back while he ran upstairs to the masterbedroom.

The maid shouted at my neighbour who was in the kitchen, and sought refuge there. The young daughter ran to the front and alerted us. We rushed to surround the house, called the police as well as the developer's staff and guards. Surprisingly, at least 4 to 5 police cars arrived within 15 minutes or so. By which time we realised that the masterbedroom door was locked. The owner too had arrived. The grille workers broke open the door, and found no one within. A few people proceeded to climb onto the roof and check within the cavity between the ceiling and the roof. After an hour or so everyone gave up. The robber was nowhere to be found. And all this while it was glaringly apparent that the policemen were just standing around. Nothing actively done. No sniffer dogs. No dustng for fingerprints. After a while they just drove around the housing estate and went off.

The following night, one of the neighbours recounted an experience by his nephew at the Larkin Bus Station. The man had just dropped his dad at the station and entered the car. Before he could close the door, a guy put a knife on his throat and demanded all the valuables. The poor fella and his wife/girlfriend surrendered all the valuables. This happened in the evening too.

A week ago, someone prised open a casement window panel and then easily removed the security grille and entered another house nearby. Luckily the lady in the house saw the guy entering and screamed loudly before any harm could befall her and her teenage daughter. The guy ran away.

A word of advice. Turn on your alarm at all times, even if youre in. And pray a lot.

A brief post this is not.
vic