For now, i must write about something else, something that i found really upsetting -- the recent crime that happened in my neighbourhood.
Before i continue, allow me to express my deepest condolences to the victim's family. May the victim rest in peace, and hope the perpetrator be caught and justice be served.
Yah, i stay in Taman Perling, a place famous for its traffic jam and the gateway to the 2nd Link. I saw the crowd protesting in front of the school yesterday when i was in the cab on our way home from the airport. My mom had called me the day before to tell me about the terrible incident and how the people were outraged by the deteriorating public security.
The crime took place at the street in front of a Malay primary school. Next to this school is a Chinese primary school where my aunt is the vice principal. She was one of the persons at the scene before the victim died. She told me that when the teachers and school principals were informed of an "accident" near the school, they went to see if they could do anything to help. They checked the girl's breathing and she was still alive at that time, even though there was blood coming out from her nose. When they saw that the girl was lying in an unnatural position, they worried that she might have broken bones. They dared not to move her in case the broken bones pierced through the internal organs, so they called for the ambulance.
It took the ambulance more than 45 minutes to reach the scene, and the newspapers actually wrote that the bystanders didn't do anything (e.g. no one sent her to the hospital). My aunt was furious. She is the counselling teacher for the Red Crescent Society, and she knew that in certain situations, such as when the injured person was suspected of broken bones, it was best not to move the person. She did ask the victim some questions but the girl didn't reply as she seemed to be in a coma. When the ambulance finally arrived, the victim was already dead.
My aunt also told me that the school later on received calls from the authority reproaching them for telling the news reporters that this was a case of snatch theft when no one had actually witnessed the crime. It was just like what reported in the news, because the valuables were still found on the victim, the police thought that it should be a murder and not snatch theft. The truth was that this girl carried a bag to work everyday, with just a water bottle and other stuffs in the bag, while keeping the wallet and mobile phone in her pockets. Her family confirmed that she did carry the bag with her to work as usual on that morning, but the bag was nowhere to be found at the scene.
Of course, as expected, the authority was more concerned about the speculations that were unfavourable to the government amidst the recent hot news on the death of the TAR college student and other snatch theft and robbery cases, rather than putting more effort in fighting crimes and cracking the unsolved cases. Oh, and from what i read in the newspaper today, the authority is also now concerned about the legality of the protest that took place yesterday, and two persons involved in the protest were already summoned to the police station and are on bail now. Funny how our police can still divert their forces to tackle the lawfulness of the citizens' outcry when we were told that there aren't enough police officers to make the streets safer for the people.
All the residents here know that our neighbourhood is really unsafe, and we always hear about stories on snatch thefts, break-in, and robberies. Heck, even my mom and i had experienced the crime before, which basically shows that the public security has not improved at all over all these years. What we'll see in the following weeks will be the same cycle again: high profile crime --> public protests / campaigns --> police increases frequencies of patrolling and road block checks --> nothing happens --> everyone forgets about it.
What else can i say? I had written a post about one year ago on similar issue when another crime happened in our neighbouring housing estate. Now, again, the crime happened right at our doorsteps and i wonder if there can ever be a cure to our problems. Sigh, Malaysia, my country, my home... a place i love yet am in constant fear when i'm there. My question still remains: is home still a home if it's not safe?
Labels: malaysia
