Security Forum

It is distressing, disturbing, frightening, even life threatening at times. We are referring to the rampant crime rate in Malaysia today, a recent trend which, as a Tiaran, Dr Ng Yan-Goh, stated in the last issue of Tiara Times, "has become a Malaysian way of life... and the recent car window and windscreen breaking incident that happened outside Tiara along Jalan 17 / 1 on Aug. 30th. 2006, is a clear sign that the security and safety in PJ Section 17,have not improved at all."

In fact, in a recent Star article: Police to Step up Patrols in Section 17, the OCPD Asst Commissioner, Mohd Hazam Abdul Halim, echoed the sentiment. At a dia­logue between residents of Section 17, SEA Park and other surrounding areas, he said that "The Police have agreed to step up patrols in an effort to improve secu­rity in the crime-plagued Section 17 area."

To this end, a Tiara Management Council member arranged for a security forum for the benefit of Tiarans. The talk, demons­tration and exhibition of appliances to be used in crime prevention, was by Mr. Eddie Chin Kee Cheong, President of the Master Locksmiths Association of Malaysia. Mr. Chin's vast knowledge and experience in recommending constructive ideas in crime prevention, apart from supplying security products would have been a boon to Tiarans.

But sadly, despite a notification in the Tiara Times, and notices placed on all Notice Boards, only a handful of residents showed up – fifteen to be precise, including some Council Members.

This was a crying shame, since Mr. Eddie Chin has been at the forefront of organising security, lock-expo and crime prevention conferences for Malaysia in the past, in conjunction with members of the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation, Polis Di-Raja Malaysia, and the Master Locksmith Association of Malaysia.

Suffice to say that Tiarans missed a golden opportunity to listen to a high quality eye opener on how to prevent crimes from happening in our homes as well as to our property, like our car, office, etc.

It appears that Tiarans are unappre­ciative of the time and effort expended by Council members in trying to help them. It takes time to organise events, which are meant for the good of Tiarans, but the disappointing turn out reflects on resident apathy. If even such an important priority as security is taken with a lackadaisical attitude, it discourages Council members from trying to organise other events. For it is embarrassing when the speaker, Mr. Eddie Chin, on seeing the poor response, wondered whether we had made any effort to highlight the talk.

However, he gamely gave informative and helpful advice to the few who were present during the two-hour presentation and demonstration. In fact, he impressed the gathering so much that almost everyone who attended bought items to upgrade their property security. A resident even ordered 10 sets of a proven vehicle-locking device on behalf of his company.

He highlighted the lack of security knowledge most people had and made them aware that due to the poor security systems installed in their homes, cars, offices, etc., these resulted in many losing personal belongings, not to mention being hurt in the process sometimes .

To the experienced house breaker, nothing seems difficult or impossible to break open. Many padlocks, which may seem strong and impenetrable, can be easily prised open, as demonstrated by Mr. Chin, who broke open a padlock handed him by a resident. He showed to jaw dropping residents how easy it was to pick the resident's lock with a small saw blade and a normal 3-inch nail, all done quietly in less than 4 minutes.

He then stressed the importance of coupling a good lock with strong lock hinges (where locks are latched to), otherwise the hinges would give way with the lock still intact.

As for car-theft prevention, Mr. Chin said that mechanical clutch and brake pedal locking devices were the best, since these locked the toughest part of the vehicle. They were also very affordable. These devices were superior to mechanical steering wheel locks, which were the most widely used, but which could be easily dismantled and broken off in a couple of minutes.

Those who attended the Saturday afternoon talk went away satisfied that they had gleaned a lot of knowledge about security. As a benefit to Tiarans, Mr. Chin left behind some 20% privilege discount vouchers which are valid for a month. Contact the Management Office to get hold of a voucher should you wish to improve on securing your home or other property.

Security should be of utmost importance to us. Let us not take our security for granted until it is too late. As Mr. Chin stated: Prevention is better than cure.