Crooks

I received shocking news at work today. SK called to say that my mother had been robbed somewhere in Dato' Keramat. Luckily, she emerged from the ordeal unharmed and safe, sans a little cash, some jewellery and her handphone. A stroke of bad luck and even worst sampah masyarakat. She went for an art expo at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, Jalan Maharajalela and took a wrong turn while trying to get home. She's quite unfamiliar with the road and the road signs are practically Greek to her, so she ended up on Jalan Ipoh-Jalan Ampang. Whilst jamming on a 3-lane road, a Chinese crook got in at the passenger side. For some unknown reason, she did not lock the car doors that day, hence the whole ugly episode. The skinny Chinese crook discreetly took out a knife and asked her to drive on. The celaka was careful not to arouse the attention of the vehicles beside them. But truth be told, the drivers behind would have noticed something amiss, but as expexcted, nobody would really interfere. My mother said she was quite calm and was just intent on the crook leaving the car. Having spent all her cash grocery shopping earlier in the day, he kept on trying to look for secret compartments in her wallet. Not satisfied with the cash, he went for snatched her gold chain and took her rings. Fortunately, her pendant fell to the floor and her anklet went unnoticed. With all that, he jumped out of the car. Some stupid sob story about needing to feed 2 sick kids at home. He's practically a pro, as the knife he was carrying could be reversed and concealed as harmless piece of wood. So premeditated. Ever the savvy woman, my mother had some cash stashed elsewhere, so she could SOS for help. Not knowing where she was, she parked her car at a petrol station and met up with my bro-in-law to guide her home. My mother's calm in the face of danger really dazzled me. Thank God for His mercy.

Sigh. crime has reached such a worrying level. Nearly every female I know has been either mugged or snatched. Some, more than once. Snatched by motorcyclists, snatched by crooks in cars, snatched while being asked for directions. Malay crooks. Chinese crooks. Indian crooks. Indonesian crooks. We've heard it all. And what do the police do?

"Oh, you're the 5th today!"

"Oh, you have the lightest injury so far!"

"Eh, report at another station. This is not in our jurasdiction."

Lesson Learnt: Always lock your car doors. Be alert. And never keep all your eggs in one basket.

Forgive our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

A seemingly easy thing to do if we survive the ordeal, but for something untoward to happen, it isn't so easy anymore...

PS: This post dedicated to my mum, Mel, Lisa, Justine and Foong Yee.