Can something be done about Johor's crime rate?

Ask any Johorean about public safety and you will inevitably get an answer that the level of petty and dangerous crime show no sign of abating in this southern state which is just a bridge away from orderly Singapore.

The STAR paper highlighted today the case of a good samaritan who went to help a family held captive at gunpoint in a robbery attempt in the 4.30am incident in Kg. Melayu Bukit Nyamuk in Kluang, Johor. Sadly, Sodikin Zin aged 71 died from a gunshot wound to his chest while the robbers escaped with his neighbour's valuables.

And also reported in the same paper today, Johor police arrested a group of 4 in a raid in Jalan Pahlawan in Taman Ungku Tun Aminah and recovered 2 guns, 2 home-made pipe bombs, 22 bullets, 5 units of modified fireworks, 4 parang, and key-making and alarm-disabling equipment. How scary is this to those living in the neighbourhood?

Yesterday's news was even more heart-rending. A six-month pregnant woman lost her baby after she was attacked by four robbers in the toilet of a petrol station in Jalan Tebrau here.

Shirley Koh, 35, said the incident occurred at about 8.30pm on Saturday when her family stopped at the petrol station while on their way home from shopping in City Square.

As her husband was filling petrol, she took her four-year-old son to the toilet along with her maid.

“While the three of us were in the toilet, the men, who were in their 20s, attacked me and then fled with my handbag,” she said. Koh has lodged a report at the Majidee police station.

State CID chief Senior Asst Comm II Datuk Abdul Rahim Jaafar confirmed the case and said that investigations were under way.

He urged those with information to contact the state police headquarters at 07-2254499.

And last Saturday, a moneychanger and his wife, both in their 50s, fought off armed robbers in their car in Taman Murni, Batu Pahat at 9am in a report highlighted on Monday.

The couple were in their car when they were blocked by another car which had three men in it.

“Two men got down while the driver remained in the car,” said the moneychanger. He said the men smashed the windows on his car. One of the men, armed with a gun, tried to grab his wife's handbag but she held it tightly, he said.

“My wife held on to the bag despite the man firing a warning shot. He even punched my wife when she refused to let go,” he said, adding that they both suffered cuts due to the shattered window glass.

He said that throughout the incident, he repeatedly pressed his car horn but no one came to their aid. The robbers abandoned their car some 2km away.

Police confirmed that a report has been lodged on the matter.

Here are some more recent news about an abducted man found murdered in Kg. Sg. Masai, gang rapes and violent assault in a robbery attempt.

So, in the context of the above reports, I find it somewhat amusing when I read about Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore Datuk N. Parameswaran's letter to Singapore Press Holdings editor-in-chief telling them to "stop Johor-bashing" here:-

“Any continued insulting reference to Johor Baru as a cowboy town, as mentioned in a letter in Forum (The Straits Times, April 4) only reflects ignorance of the situation in Johor Baru today and the direction in which the state is headed,” said Parameswaran, who also requested that his letter be published in the newspapers under Singapore Press Holdings. “Johor bashing should stop, the sooner, the better."

Perhaps, instead of telling others to stop ridiculing Johor Bahru like calling it a "cowboy town", maybe it is better to just concentrate on cleaning up Johor's image, one suggested way is by rooting out the criminals aggressively, and well, as they say, the rest will take care of itself.

Incidentally, a lot of Johoreans will probably agree with the suggestion that JB is indeed a "cowboy town" of the worst kind.

Seriously, shouldn't the Johor mentri besar and the Johor state police chief be ashamed of their failure to address this embarrassing and dangerous situation to public safety, especially in the capital city of Johor Bahru where even locals are getting jittery over rampant incidences of petty crimes like snatch-thefts and house break-ins and more serious ones like abduction of schoolgirls, rape and armed robbery?

Forget about lofty targets like developed state status.

Just concentrate on weeding out such undesirable occurences and restore peace of mind to the local folks and tourists alike.

Nobody likes to live in a constant state of heightened awareness and jittery caution the moment they step out of their front gate to go about their daily routine and business.

Our government should make it their priority to find a solution to this menacing problem, not just in Johor but all over Malaysia.

And surely our police can come up with a better solution than what we are getting now?

The way I see it, we hardly come across our friendly mata-mata patrolling our neighbourhood or our streets anymore. Are they too busy dishing out traffic summonses or other more "productive" work?

Come on, ... please give us back our sense of security and a real feeling of living in a safe city.

This will mean more to me as a citizen of Malaysia rather than any lofty claims of living in a developed, but ultimately unsafe, state.

Yeah, who cares if I do live in a developed state if I cannot feel safe inside or out of my home, if I had to hang on tight to my handbag everytime I walk out of the bank and I dare not wait alone at a deserted bus-stop or walk the short distance from the bus-stop to my home at night?

The list of phobias goes on.