Towards Lesser Crime In JB

Crime in Johor Bahru have reach new highs in my personal view.Especially house break ins, snatch thieves and robberies. They, the criminals are now very bold and very well equipped. They commit crimes even at broad daylight!It is one thing to lose valuables but the emotional trauma? Wouldn't one fear for one's belongings, love ones or one's own well being?  I have known cases around me and myself included have fall victims of these crimes.But where does one go to next? How does one help to inform the right people to take steps to help prevent crime and not wait till its too late. People seem to turn away or brush off matters like these until it happens to someone close or some important person. It is truly very very sad.. Crime prevention is not political, its not racial. There is no monetary gains nor is it meant to gain popularity it is about (a)the community's welfare.There are poorly or not lighted back lanes, deserted or abandon houses there must be steps taken to monitor these areas or upgrade them.Patrols during the day, patrols into back lanes whether they are pitch dark or lighted. There is no blaming of anybody or departments or what have you. Its just making/taking steps to prevent crime. A very simple issue.I personally don't even know if writing in this blog will help me establish or get the message out to the right people but least I have tried.

This is a blog written by Rencetan on May 1 2009, in The Star daily.
 

The recent parang incident in Johor prompted me to blog again about crime in JB.
A gang of three armed robbers chopped off the left arm of 28-year old Wang Kai Yin, a car repairman in Kulai, Johor Bahru because they only managed to get RM300 cash and a mobile phone from the victim.
Out of anger, one of the three men on two motorcycles cut off his arm when told he had no more money after surrendering his wallet.

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Earlier, I had blogged about robbers in Taman Majidee using 19-year old Cheng Jun Wei as human shield when pursued by a security guard.
She suffered head injuries and subsequently passed away two days later.

A month later, a man allegedly lost more than RM5,000 to a snatch thief at a money changer shop in Taman Majidee.
To aggravate matter, he was shot twice at his waist during an argument with a security guard.

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In January last year, at The Store in Taman Sentosa JB, 31-year old Singaporean Ms Joanne Tan, was dragged about 10 metre for refusing to let go her handbag.
She was slashed on the left arm.
After two snatch thieves gave up on her, a car ran over her feet.

For readers information, all these place are less than ten-minute ride from where I stay.

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Last May, the police target to reduce Johor crime index by at least 30% in 2010, especially in the Iskandar area, JB South.
And in the first nine months of 2010, police crime index was down by 24.17% or 5,369 cases.

A year earlier, there were 22,211 cases which included property and violent crimes.
I sincerely hope that the 30% target had thus been achieved.

Two weeks before the announcement was made, even JB South OCPD Asst Comm Zainuddin Yaakob, home alone, had a dawn shock when he was tied up and robbed at knife point in his own house a year earlier.
The suspects, all believed to be Indonesians ransacked his home before fleeing.

Two weeks later, Huzaimah Yahya, wife of Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin political secretary,
Syahrin Md Jamaluddin, was tied up during robbery, car stolen, house ransacked, fridge, pots and pans raided in Kampung Sinaran Baru, Skudai around 2am.
This is the second break-in for them after two years.

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Then in September 2009, a 29-year old SBS 160 bus captain was robbed and slashed with a parang on his upper hands when 2 men in their 30s, posed as passengers, demanded his wallet containing RM260 and S$40 before fleeing.
He was treated in a hospital in JB and later transferred to National University Hospital in Singapore to undergo surgery and receiving treatment for the deep gash on his left wrist that cause bone fracture.

The men had initially wielded their weapon on a middle aged Chinese woman trying to rob her.
She then shouted for help which drew the bus captain's attention and stopped the bus while on its way to Malaysia Customs Checkpoint.
When the bus captain requested the two men to stop their doings, that was when the incident started.
The three passengers, however, were not injured.

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Although this parang incident on a Singapore boy happened way back in 2005, but the scar will be visible for a very long time.
The trauma and memory will stay for a very much longer time.

But I feel and sympathise greatly for this Kangkar Pulai family:

Burglars broke into a house in Kangkar Pulai here early Sunday and gang-raped a housewife after tying up her family.

The incident occurred at about 6am when the husband, who woke up to perform his prayers, discovered at least eight men inside his double-storey house.

The intruders, who had entered through an unlocked window at the back of the house, grabbed some knives from the kitchen and threatened the husband before waking up his wife and baby.

While the husband, in his 20s, was being bound, at least six of the robbers took the wife upstairs .

The woman, who is also in her 20s and studying at a local university, pleaded to them to release her. But they started beating her and threatened to kill. The robbers took turns to rape her.

The husband, who tried to put up a fight, was beaten up.

The robbers fled with some cash and electrical items while the husband rushed his wife to the hospital where a police report was lodged.

They not only had their house broken into, but the wife was gang raped too.

Can the traumatic experience be easily forgotten?
Their nerves be calmed?
How courageous may the couple be to overcome their trauma and fear?
How determined they may be, can they just move on with life?
Adjusting themselves, blending normally with society?
It's unnerving even to read the dreaded news...

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Today, glad to say, situation has indeed improve.

Prior to this, I am not exaggerating things up, but I had seen a person being kidnapped along Jalan Tebrau, house break-in in Kampung Melayu and several cases of pickpocketing at the old immigration and the current Kotaraya Bus Terminal.
Except for snatch theft at Taman Suria, all incidents happened in crowded areas in broad daylight.

Burglary, house-breaking and illegal trespassing used to be a common occurrence in my neighbourhood too.
When a house was entered into illegally and properties looted, it's no more a surprise news.

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My heavily pregnant neighbour on motorbike had her bag with RM800 and important documents inside, taken by biker next to her at a busy morning traffic stop at Tampoi. 
The husband was visibly shaken as he related his wife's nightmare.

She was to submit all documents relating to her maternity leave before being warded.
Still, they said, luck was with them as the incident happened when the traffic light was red.
If not, things can happen as that splashed aplenty in papers and prints.

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A friend in Kempas saw a lorry parked in-front of her Singaporean neighbour's house, unlock the gate, and never seen before men loading all furnitures onto the big vehicle.

Everything happened under her nose, she was watching them a along, knew no familiar faces.
Only after the lorry left, then she realised that her neighbour's house had been trespassed, looted off of all belongings.

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A friend who was shopping at Holiday Plaza with her family had their car driven away.
When CCTV was shown, they were surprised to see that barrier was lifted when it was supposed to be lifted with the ticket which they had in hand.

A senior parking attendant friend can just look when her boys go around with bottles and steel petrol from unsuspecting motorbikes they are supposed to look after at big shopping centres.
Although she pity the bike owners, what can she, alone, do against the boys.

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Two home alone grandmothers I used to visit in Kampung Melayu and Tiram were asked to open their gates.
The one in Kampung Melayu in her 80s, was twice had her house swiped out of handphones, laptops and other electronic valuables.

Luckily the one in Tiram, in her late 50s, asked the 'aggressive delivery man' to leave 'whatever parcel' he was to deliver, outside the gate as she had seen him riding his motorbike around the new housing estate few days earlier before the delivery incident.

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I was at a local hospital waiting for someone for his physiotherapy session when a man in his early 30s share his story.
He accidentally knocked at a closely parked car while reversing his, at a carpark in Pandan Wholesale Market.
He waited for the owner, apologising for the deed, but the owner brushed the incident off.

It was not far from the market when he was signalled to move aside.

Then, the car owner with his friend attacked him with parang at the busy roadside with workers returning home in early evening. 
He shielded his face with his arms and later found himself landed in hospital.

Beside both arms with deep wounds, all fingers on his left arm are very badly fractured fingers and needed support.
Hence, his daily therapy session.

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None of what I saw above, I read in prints and none of the heinous acts befell on others that were told by the victims themselves were ever reported.
Maybe, it will make the perpetrators become more braver and bolder?

There are many other incidents too, retold by relatives, neighbours and friends but it's not first hand experience for me to share.
Many online forumers share their bad experiences too.

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With very big money going to be spent and things are now looking promising, as what I saw and heard was all before 2010, I hope Syfc, A True Johorean, who poured his / her  heart in the Citizen Blog has finally decided to return home.

Though working and residing in singapore, my heart is still very much in JB as a true born johorean hailing from JB. In fact, i kept most of my savings in ringgit instead of singapore dollar for I aimed to returned to JB for good one day.

However, with the current crime rate in JB, it is astounding that much talk had been said but "visible" actions were as good as none. Though directive from PM is clear Ie. corruption free and serve the public, the "ground" level public servants aren't acting exactly as directed.

It is true that we see more police on bikes and cars patrolling the road but 99% of the time they are looking out for petty traffic offences or checking out individuals in decent family sedans instead of stopping over those illegally modified, darkly tinted cars with extremely loud and huge exhaust.

In that we do see police responding to directive from above to patrol the streets but the actions per se are not addressing the issue. It is like a child staring at a book for hours without reading and said he/she had studied. It serves no purpose.

I return to JB every weekend and I have defended JB very strongly infront of my singaporeans colleagues or friends that questioned the safety issues in JB. I often told them that if it is that unsafe, how come we Johoreans are still very much alive and kicking. But with the current crime rate, I do not think I am able to stay by JB defence anymore.

Lets face it, there are "industries" in JB that attracts the wrong people from elsewhere of the country relocating to JB. These "industries" are open secret to all, from selling of pirated dvds/vcds to ktvs to the flesh trade. These are illegal by law and also i believe illegal by islamic laws. So why are they flourishing in JB?

In KL, you see successful individuals either businessmen, professionals or corporate workers driving luxury cars like BMW etc. In JB, take a look around you and you will often notice a young man in early twenties, skinny with blonde streaks of hair, heavily tattooed, driving and owning a new BMW 5 series and suprisingly smoking in it with the cigarrette ash being thrown onto the floor board of the new BMW 5 series. Ever question how can these young man in their twenties afford such luxury? And the successful JB businessmen, professionals and/or corporate workers will most likely be spotted in a humble Japanese made cars for they fear being robbed (and sometimes life threatening) if they were to own and drive a BMW or Mercedez Benz.

What has become of JB? Is this current situation in JB congruent to the Southern Economic Region plan?

As a true Johorean at heart, I really wish JB will take off from the SER and be a worthy competitor to our neighbours who often have laughed off our "Malaysia Boleh" motto. I, for one, truely believes that "Kita memang Boleh"!

By syfc, 11-May-2007