Of armed bandits and rising crime

Every Saturday morning, I take a long run along scenic and quiet roads within the heart of Kuala Lumpur. At 6.00am, the air is fresh, the streets are still and dark (street lights often don’t work) and I’m invigorated by the beautiful sights that remind me that Malaysia is so much more than its ugly politics.

But being raised in Kuala Lumpur and having known too many people who have fallen prey to petty criminals, I always run with an RM50 note and a set of keys.

The former is to appease robbers, lest they decide to take something else should I come up penniless, and the latter is to be used as a weapon if the former fails to satisfy.

My non-Malaysian friends usually marvel at these innovative ideas I have to avoid becoming a statistic in crime reports, but the fact is that most other Malaysians have gotten so used to living with security risks that it has sadly, become a part of our lives.

We have seemingly gotten so used to reading about security breaches that many of us don’t even bat an eyelid at news of a band of armed robberies emerging at a large and busy residential area in the Klang Valley.

On Wednesday, police cordoned off a large section of Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) for more than half a day after armed robbers reportedly tried to escape arrest by running into the park.

A TTDI resident said six men armed with machetes and guns had come out of the park’s forest early in the morning, walking around brandishing their weapons openly.

They reportedly quickly slipped back into the dense forests of the TTDI park just before police officers arrived. Today, four days later, none of the suspects – who are believed to be responsible for a spate of break-ins in the area – have yet to be found.

That this has happened in a heavily secured and affluent neighbourhood in the heart of the Klang Valley is shocking, but unfortunately, is deemed so commonplace that it no longer even makes the front-page headlines in Malaysian media.

The fact that there are heavily armed and dangerous men lurking freely in the heart of KL underscores what every urban Malaysian fears – that our streets are not safe.

But we are told that our worries are unfounded, in the light of official crime statistics. Last year, Malaysian police successfully cut the crime rate by 12.6% to 128,544 cases, from 147,062 the year before.

Violent crimes and property crimes, which include break-ins and home robberies, were reduced by 13.4% and 12.4% respectively, according to the authorities.

And yet, most of us are not reassured.

Government officials have tried to explain that in every country in the world, there is a difference between the perceived crime rate and the actual crime rate.

The former is almost always higher than the actual numbers, and the reality on the ground is not quite as alarming as we perceive it to be, we are told.

But when carjacking and day-time home robberies happen in your own neighbourhood; when your child’s government school announces elaborate pick-up routines to thwart attempted kidnappings; and when armed robbers can waltz into an urban suburb and then effortlessly evade arrest, there is a great disconnect between the statistics and what Malaysians feel.

Our authorities need to bridge this gap between perception and reality, if they really believe there is one. Dismissing our fears as mere imaginings will not help in this battle for a safer Malaysia.

Help us feel safe on our streets again, and show us that the improved numbers are indeed a true reflection of successful crime-fighting efforts.

Because until then, I’ll stick to running with my RM50 and car keys. – June 7, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.