Infamous PJ?!

So now Petaling Jaya is no longer just famous. It is infamous.

For people unfamiliar to PJ, click here to get a background on this satellite township (now, it's more like a wayyy overcrowded booming township with enough traffic to make sane people insane)

Received an email coupla days ago. Here's an excerpt:

"Just as a warning to those of you who happen to be in the infamous PJ area.

My husband just called to tell of an attempted snatch theft that he just experienced. He was walking by the road in front of the Nissan showroom to the SS14 shops for lunch and walking on the side facing oncoming traffic when he heard a motorcycle coming from the back. He instinctively turned arounded and the passenger on the motorcycle had extended his hand to grab his bag. Luckily, he did not suffer any major injuries or any losses. Had he not turned around, he would have probably been pushed or dragged to the floor. Remember that these guys were moving AGAINST the traffic. So no rules apply.

So guys, beware on walking alone. Doesn't matter if you're tall, big and tough. Looks like snatch thiefs don't just pick on girls for an easy go. "

I like PJ. I really do. In the area where I stay, there are at least 8 banks, 6 pharmacies, clinics, 2 weekly night markets, numerous mamaks and coffeeshops, dimsum shops, bookshops, clinics, salons, supermarkets, pet shops, places to yamcha – eg Coffee Bean, Gloria Jeans, Swensens, Honey Bee, Char-Chan-Teng, KTZ, Teapot Café etc, newsagents that open from 6am to past midnight and lots more, all within easy walking distance.

It doesn't take much to figure out where I stay (if you're a PJ-ian). But there's a tradeoff for all this convenience. PJ is very very different from my quiet leafy suburb in Melbourne. Residents in PJ seem to form easy targets for snatch thefts / robberies / other violent incidents. Crime activities are no longer confined to night-time. Most in fact happen in broad daylight.

Security and safety, or rather the LACK OF it, is one of the main concerns of PJ residents these days. I'm pretty confident in saying that if you're a PJ resident, you will know at least 5 others who've fallen prey to those incidents (be it your relatives / family / colleagues / neighbours). What sort of incidents? Let me give you some examples:

Snatch-thefts – the scourge of society. Currently deemed to be an extremely commonplace event in the majority of PJ suburbs. When police report is made, the victim will typically be told “you're the X number of victim today, in this area.” and “oh, it's a white-colored Proton car again ar?” Before anyone starts generalizing and state that its all done by illegal immigrants, let me tell you this – its not all their fault.

My sis got robbed last year by a Chinese. And they are not all motorcyclists on the prowl, rather, there're many who roam the streets looking for victims in their nice fancy cars. Also, an increasingly common tactic – stab first, then snatch. Makes the snatching easier.

Those perpetrators are becoming increasingly bold, and imo those culprits commit their crimes mainly in PJ, instead of the more affluent areas such as Bangsar or Damansara Heights. Why? Because when the victims are more affluent or are well-known persona, the risks are higher that it'll appear in the news, and therefore overall risk of getting caught is higher. The same when victim suffers unfortunate death. So going after the common rakyat means less risk. Although the cash / goods begotten may be lesser, the quantity (amount of crime committed) more than makes up for it.

Car-jackings – happens all hours of the day. It doesn't matter where / when.

Robberies – typically parang-wielding robbers rush into the house, usually in the mid mornings and late evenings. Also, happens often during dinner parties and functions, when the main gate is left wide open.

I know the police force is understaffed. I do appreciate the fact that they sometimes patrol the streets of my area late at night, plus they do respond to calls about suspicious characters walking / prowling around the neighbourhood. But surely more can be done?

Eveytime something unfortunate befalls victims, there'll be a big HooHa and people of all sorts will start voicing their opinions about preventive measures etc. Thing is, from a PJ resident's perspective, we don't need more of these:

• Walk on the opposite side of the road.
• Don't carry a sling bag, or sling your bag while walking.
• Avoid walking on the dark side of the road.
• Avoid quiet areas.

As far as I know, we PJ people are already far more paranoid then people from elsewhere in the country. We know far more about the perils of walking about in the streets. People follow all the advisories above, but still fall prey.

My sister was walking on the opposite side of the road – still got robbed. The newsagent auntie doesn't even carry a sling bag – robbed 3 times in the last half year. The old lady coming back from the market – still got robbed in broad daylight. The auntie dropping her kids off to kindy – almost got car-jacked in broad daylight too. A neighbour - robbed by parang-wielding men at 7 plus in the evening.

As the email stated – THE RULES DON'T APPLY ANYMORE. It doesn't only happen in secluded areas, nor do these incidents happen exclusively at night. Also, the victims are not confined to womenfolk these days.

When I was back for the summer hols, I effectively got banned from driving at night. My father made me feel guilty, cos he'd be waiting up for me if I drove and returned late at night. He was pretty successful, cos I ended up not driving and got lifts from friends (naturally, guys) each time we went out at night. I'd prefer to drive myself, but terpaksa le..

In my large Melbourne house, there's a reason why all the Malaysians are occupying the upstairs rooms – security. First and foremost in our priorities for lodging would be safety first. The windows here have no grilles. If we're staying in the rooms downstairs, we'd be more susceptible to theft since all the thief has to do is to break the window and enter – rather effortlessly. My housemates of other nationalities don't even consider this aspect. As I said, paranoia. Safety first – that's the mantra for us PJ-ians. Its hard to remove it from our mentality after years and years of being “careful”.

I don't mean to scare people off about PJ. PJ is a delightful township, with lots to offer. But here are some useful tips for those unfamiliar to my area:

• NEVER leave your belongings on the table at the restaurant / mamak / coffeeshop, preferably also don't leave your bags out of reach in the chair next to you, or opposite you. Reason: Some person will just saunter casually in, snatch your mobile phone / wallet / keys, and run off with a “Byee”. Don't laugh, it happened in places such as Damansara Uptown, Kayu SS2 etc..
• If you're driving, ALWAYS LOCK your doors. Reason: If you get caught in one of PJ's daily traffic jams, or stop at a set of traffic lights, chances are high that you're risking the valuables in your seat by leaving the doors unlocked. Not to mention the risk of car-jackings. If you worry about being unable to open your car door in the event of an emergency, well, there's always the steering lock! Due to the common spate of car thefts in PJ / KL, I'm quite sure almost all car owners have steering locks.
• If you drive at night, try to get others to accompany you to your car. Look right, look left, look more. Especially if there's a van next to your car or people occupying the vehicles around you. Lone car owners are easy targets.
• Even when you're carrying one of those simple red plastic bags to the market, don't leave your valuables (ie identification / wallet) in them. The snatch thieves snatch basically anything. They're that desperate.
• Forget about having a lazy chat with friends at parks at night. The risks of getting robbed, or worse, aren't worth it. Btw a friend of mine got robbed at the Kiara hill track a coupla years ago, in early evening or late afternoon..

There're some things you simply can't prevent though. A few days ago, I read this blogpost (unfortunately I didn't save the URL) where the blogger returned home to find her 30 year old rusting metal front gate missing. I don't know whether to pity her or laugh! Its hilarious, at the same time rather ludicrous. A missing front gate!! Its very heavy (that I know cos we're from the same area so I presume its same as my house's gate) and I can't fathom how the neighbours didn't notice the thieves carting off the oh-so-heavy and oh-so-old gate!

Oh well, this's PJ..

#Feel free to comment / add suggestions. I'm sure there're other residents out there who doesn't like the state of security these days..

*note: quite bengang (Malay word meaning irritated & annoyed) at myself. Just a few posts ago, I said I'd back up my post before publishing. Now lazy me has suffered the same consequence. I've to re-type the whole post again.. sobb.. also been having probs with Blogger lately. sigh..