Friday, May 30, 2008

a shocking event

two nights ago, a close friend of mine was robbed right in front of his house. he was in his porch closing the gate when 3 men came in with a 'parang' and threatened him.. he alerted the neighbours with by sounding the car alarm, thus the 3 men took off without taking anything,but was generous enough to have left him with severe injuries on his hands and shoulders. he is now in the hospital, badly wounded, with uncountable stitches and bandages. hope he gets well soon.

the incident really spooked me, it makes you feel that there is not a place where you will be totally safe.no..not even your own frontyard.
imagine someone taking out the garbage after dinner, and there are men waiting outside with a parang, all ready to charge in the house.. thinking of the possibilities of these dangers gives me the jitters.

there is a security patrol in my neighbourhood. it was set up by a group of concerned residents that had mutually agreed that we should not rely on the law enforcements to keep ourselves safe. it started with a simple engagement of a security company to patrol and guard the residential area. from there, they became a Residents' Association. with mom being one of the committee member. :)
the neighbourhood watch works in way that the 'taman' will have 3 guards patrolling every hour and will be guarded 24 hours. as it was agreed that the entrance to the 'taman' is fixed at one point, it is a one-way in, one-way out control. the residents have to pay a fee for the services, however it keeps their mind at ease, knowing that you can sleep peacefully at night, or at least take out your garbage at night without that fear in you. some of residents are actually complaining about the amount that is collected each month, and even made baseless accusations that the Residents' Association keeps part of it. urm, hullo? this is for your own safety, and besides the RA members are all in on a voluntary basis. my mom doesnt get paid for walking from house to house handing out flyers or whistles to the residents. is RM 80 such a big amount to part with each month, to get a peace of mind? sigh. different people have different perceptions i guess.

there is one particular resident, who refuses to follow the one way entrance, claiming that the exit is much further, so why should he take the longer way? sigh, can you believe a grown up man can have such immature thinking? well, here's the living proof.

according to mom earlier this year, DBKL wants all neighbourhood watch to be abolished.. claiming that it is illegal to fence up residential areas and set up guard houses. an appeal letter was sent to the respective parties to appeal against this order. this order has not been not actioned on yet, and if it does, we will need to comply to the law.but just a thought, what if every neighbourhood is not guarded by their own patrol guards.. who are we goin to rely on to keep us safe?

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