Crime in Malaysia

Reports of crime in Malaysia have been in the headlines for quite a while. I'm sure you know people who have been subject to criminal acts, be it snatch thefts, robbery, break-in or vehicles stolen. Some of you might even have personal experiences of being victims of crime (though I hope these haven't been too traumatic). Many say that the problem worsened over the past ten years.

Here's a few facts about the street crime situation (taken from the government's own reports)

It is somewhat reassuring to note that one of Prime Minister Najib Razak's National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) is focused squarely on "Reducing Crime". There are specific targets like "reducing street crime by 20% by Dec 2010" and "reducing the overall reported index crime by 5% every year for the next three years". In many crime "hot spot" areas in KL, I have begun to notice a higher police presence, which is good. Recent reports seem to suggest improvements in the overall street crime situation, but I reckon the main challenge is sustaining a low crime rate.

Of course, crime is more than just street crime. The reported crime index is made up of the following categories: house break-in, motorcycle theft, car theft, lorry theft, general theft, violent crime and snatch theft.

If you are keen to read more about the Malaysian government's NKRAs, go to this website. By the way, in case you are not aware, the development of these GTP reports was spearheaded by the government agency PEMANDU (under the PM Office), the CEO of which is Senator/Minister and prominent Sarawakian, Datuk Seri Idris Jala (former CEO of Malaysian Airlines). I had a chance to meet him last month. Nice chap.

I'm particularly interested in this topic of Crime Reduction from both a personal and professional level. Personal because I still go back to Malaysia regularly (and aspire to balik kampung to retire one day), and professional because I'm leading an initiative for my company to propose technology-enabled solutions to the Malaysian leadership.

So I hope you guys won't find it too much of an intrusion if I ask you to share YOUR experiences and views on the crime situation in Malaysia (whichever cities or towns you are familiar with), where you think are the key problem areas and any interesting ideas you might have on what can be done to help reduce crime and give everyone a greater sense of security. I know some of our classmates are actively involved in neighbourhood watch programmes, and I think such activities are great as they allow private citizens to take  more proactive measures against would-be criminals.
.