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Living In Denial
7 January 2006Look! We may have found the reason for the increasing crime rates in Johor Bahru. I call it “denial”.
The city has been receiving pretty bad publicity from travel guides, both in print and on the Internet, with some books and websites labelling the major entry point as a crime-prone area.
The websites and guidebooks associate the city and some other parts of the country with petty crime such as thefts and robberies.
US-based site frommers.com, for instance, describes Malaysia as “having a terrible problem with thievery”.
Its section on safety and crime says: “Snatch thieves are becoming bolder and bolder, riding on motorcycles through heavily populated areas in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Baru and other cities, snatching handbags from women’s shoulders. Some victims have been dragged and seriously injured.”
With all these bad reviews and an increase in crime rate of 4.9% (1028 cases) from last year, one would have thought the police would be worried, or at least ashamed. But…
SAC Abdul Rahim said travellers should not trust travel guides completely.
“They can ask the locals and tourists who have been here and they’ll know it is not as unsafe as portrayed,” he said.
The first step to change is most frequently the recognition and admission that something is wrong and there’s a need for change. Denying that that city is unsafe (despite the statistics and the reviews by various guides and websites) is not going to help improve the situation.
As for “asking the locals”, well, don’t ask me if you want a positive image of the city. I don’t feel anything near “safe” in my own hometown.
You know that something is very wrong when you buy a very nice car, but can only hit 3000 KM after 6 months because it just isn’t safe to be driving an expensive car around. You know that something is very wrong when your relative gets into an accident that is obviously a robbery in disguise, and all the police has to say when she makes a report is that it’s her own fault.
BAH!!!
