YOURSAY 'The police gave us the best advice of all time: If we want to avoid snatch thieves, then don't carry bags.'

Crime all around us: What M'kini staff went through

Jasper: I believe the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) is correct in saying that statistics indicate crime is down. The source data for those statistics is crime reports.

But many people do not make reports any more because:

1) Too much of a hassle when you know the crime will never be solved.

2) The police themselves discourage you from reporting (in order to reduce workload and achieve a better Key Performance Indicator, or KPI).

I base these two reasons on anecdotal evidence from several people I know who have been victims.

Regime change is one solution, but people also need to make the reports. I would really like to hear from people who know of instances that either support or disprove my statements above.

Dumb&Deaf: Look up from your nasi lemak for a minute, folks. Sniff the air. What do you smell? That's right... crime is like a psychic smog that only a typhoon of radical change can blow away.

When the nucleus of a cell is unhealthy (unwholesome, dishonest, degenerate, corrupt, disconnected from its greater environment), how can you expect the rest of the organism to be in good health?

Opah: The Malaysian police gave us the best advice of all time: If we want to avoid snatch thieves, then don't carry bags. So if you want to avoid your car being broken into, don't drive!

Also, pens should be banned because they are used to sign corrupt deals. Get rid of them and we'll be free of corruption.

Podeh: I hope these thugs target ‘very important persons' (VIPs) and Umno-BN politicians as often as possible and leave the ordinary folks alone. It'll be much more profitable for them.

We have no shame when we are stating our crime figures, so much so that most crimes go unreported because the victim knows he would be wasting his time bothering the police. Is this what we have come to?

Hbasill: Change in government is the only solution. Only Pakatan Rakyat has the will to whip the police into shape. Unfit staff should be shown the door.

But Malaysians must change their attitude as well because with stricter enforcement by the police, more summonses will be issued for traffic offences.

I welcome stricter enforcement of road regulations throughout Malaysia. Only through enforcement will crime rates come down.

Home: I remember when I was in Seoul, the driver took us for lunch, I wanted to bring along my iPad with me, but the driver told me that I could leave the iPad in the car.

I wasn't sure whether it was safe to do so, but he reassured me and true enough, there was no problem.

Bmjr: Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussien and the entire BN went back to kindergarten after the 12th general election (GE12) and learnt one word - "perception" - and ever since then the whole of the BN cabinet is only looking to manage perception.

Put it this way, the four Malaysiakini team members who reported the thefts and robberies above actually did not suffer those crimes... according to BN, they just suffered from the perception that these crimes happened.

Fairplayer: Smells fishy! Why must Malaysiakini staff be the targets of crime - all within just one month? Were the thieves "hired", I wonder...?

ADJ: This is silly. The purpose of the article is for Malaysiakini staff to share their experiences in being victims of crime. It means crime can happen to any of us Malaysians - so something really needs to be done.

It really isn't necessary to come out with a conspiracy theory about them being targeted - we're all equally potential victims.

Ong Guan Sin: Fairplayer, I wouldn't be that suspicious. Rather, using Malaysiakini staff as a sample size and the number of criminal cases affecting them within such a short time frame, only uneducated persons would continue to say "it's a problem of perception".

By ‘uneducated persons', I do specifically refer to some people, but I shall not name names here. This country is doomed if such people continue to assume leadership responsibilities.

On the other hand, thank goodness that none of the Malaysiakini staff was seriously hurt.

ACR: Media personnel are perhaps at higher risk since their job requires them to work at odd hours and also frequent dingy areas. Nevertheless, this is testimony to the level of crime in Klang Valley.

Telestai!: Carrying expensive video equipment in the passenger section of the car is a reckless act. Short of telling people they deserve having their things stolen, I would say they need to think before leaving stuff in the car.

Even in developed countries, we are often reminded not to leave things in the car, including the GPS. This is definitely not something new. I got my briefcase stolen from the passenger seat of a car left along Jalan Weld during office hours some 30 years ago.

Sa tombs: The problem was that the crime victims were from Malaysiakini . If you were some Tan Sri or from Umno, the police would have been there even before the crime took place... they are that good.

Artchan: Hishammuddin will say the incidents were staged to make Malaysia look bad. The police say they were isolated cases.

Minister in the PM's Department Idris Jala says it is perception wrongly handled. And the best will come from none other that the youth and sports minister.

He says, "Who asked them to be there, it could happen to anyone."

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