"Together - Let us keep our neighborhood safe"

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Response so far

I had the chance to cover the road assigned to me, that is USJ 11/3N, with another pro-tem commitee member, Mr. Eng, yesterday. And today I was alone in my walkabout trying to cover the rest of the blocks on the same street. I must say, we were greeted with a lot of suspicion which indicated that the people in the area are generally worried about their safety.

So far, the response has been generally good as most of the folks we spoke to, supported our initiative and idea for a gated/guarded community for the USJ 11/3 area.

However, one of the sad things we found out is that, most neighbours don't really talk to each other, which is a pity. We hope that with our initiative, it will start to break this invisible barrier down and make our neighbourhood a more friendly and safer place to live in. We believe that neighbours should communicate with one another and help each other out in times of need. This is crucial if we want to have a safer neighbourhood.

This unhealthy environment that we are currently living in, where neighbours "mind their own business", only serves to help increase the crime rate, as the criminals will not be detered when they know that the neighbours in general don't really care to look out for each other.

Anyway, I had some feedback from our Pro-tem Chairman, Mr P.H. Ng. He has managed to cover a few blocks today along USJ 11/3B and USJ 11/3C. What he found out was startling to say the least! There were at least 6 or 7 cases of stolen cars recently, which is over and above what we already knew! This is just a worrying thought.

I personally came across a victim living along USJ 11/3N. Mr. Paul Kim is a Korean and he lives here with his family. He told me his Nazaria was stolen just a few weeks ago from his house! So there you go neighbours. Don't take things too lightly just because you were ignorant or that you were not aware that someone along your street is a victim of some form of crime. There were also recent cases of houses broken-into, reported to us when we were doing our rounds.

All in all, a very worrying trend indeed. Clearly, the security situation has deteriorated even further than we expected in the USJ 11/3 neighbourhood. So, please fellow residents of USJ 11/3, let us work together to resolve this dire security issue.

An aunty did ask me how much it would cost per month to have these guards look after our area and properties. At this stage, we will not know as we are not even sure what the response will be from the residents of USJ 11/3. But let us just say this - the more people willing to sign up, the less the cost will be. But an estimated one ringgit plus a day is not too much to pay for our own safety, the safety of our families and our properties, right?

Just a thought, robbers and thieves do not discriminate which house they target. They do not care if it is a rented property or not. They are opportunists and will pick their victims at random. You may be lucky today but you could be a victim tomorrow, unless you choose to do something about it now!

And, may I also add that, when the gated communities gathers momentum in other areas in USJ, such as the ones already established in USJ 5, 16, etc, the criminals will only be left with areas which are not guarded, to seek out their victims, just like USJ 11/3 now. Therefore, the longer we leave the situation as it is, the higher the chance we may become a victim. And this could happen to you!

So, do not for a moment think that you will not be a victim of these crimes. The risks are there. And it is getting worse judging from our feedback. It is a chance you can take or join us in our fight and to make the difference in our neighbourhood's security. The choice is yours!

JK

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