The below article/letter is published with permission from the contributor/writer and was featured on the Malaysiakini website early this month.To visit Malaysiakini click here.

Would you kill a snatch thief?
Ir Hew YL | Aug 1, 08 4:05pm

Recently, I almost caught a snatch thief. I was walking along Jalan Telawi
Lima, Bangsar Baru in Kuala Lumpur where Maybank, McDonald's and the
Rocky Restaurant are situated, at 3pm on a bright Saturday afternoon.
Whilst walking I was reading a SMS on my hand phone. Suddenly, the
hand phone was taken off my hand by a guy on a motorbike and he proceeded
to ride off with the phone in his mouth.

Unfortunately for him, he was on the road shoulder and the obstacles there
did not allow him to speed up. I ran alongside him and pushed him
off-balance. His bike ramped over water-meters and he crashed into a
clinic's shop front.

I retrieved my hand phone which fell off in the crash. I looked at the guy,
thinking that he's now an accident victim and may need help. He got up,
glared at me and retorted "Apa u mau?" I gestured with my hands thinking
'What's happening man'.

After all, he looks like any other guy on a bike, just like the ones I
would hire to work as office staff, or the ones I played football with,
years ago.

Suddenly he revved off on his bike. I realised again he was a thief and
ought to be treated as one. I managed to kick him below his ribs, but I
doubt he was hurt. I chased but he went through two rows of tables along
the five foot way, up a six-inch step, and down another two steps on his
noisy 'scrambler' motorbike, speeding past the trendy restaurants.

By now there was quite an audience starring in disbelief that a snatch
theft case was going on right in the middle of a busy street in classy
Bangsar. The crowd was the usual middle to upper class English-speaking
people of Bangsar. My wife witnessed the whole incident as she waited for
me in our car waiting to pick me up after an errand.

For your information, in my family of five adults living in Bangsar, we
have now been victims of five snatch thefts and car break-ins in the last
two years. We all wonder why the rich residents of Bangsar cannot get
together to protect ourselves.

The saying that we have a First World infrastructure with Third World
mentality rings true again. Here was an area with Starbucks, McDonald's,
Western pubs, and foreign-trained professionals and so on. But here is
also where the Mat Rempit come to pick on easy victims, like my wife
(twice) and my 80-year-old mother and friend.

What is the difference between Bangsar and South Africa now? The crime
rate looks like it is just as bad. The difference is that in South Africa,
apartheid is back, in the form of gated communities, gated shopping areas,
gated office and commercial areas.

Private guards are everywhere in South Africa expecting trouble and armed
to protect themselves and their employers. In Bangsar, we still think we
are in a nice, safe area and that the police are nearby. Our five resident
associations still can't get private security in place.

But coming back to the snatch thief. In hindsight, for about three
seconds, I could have caught him and beaten him up. It was just like
starring at a cornered rat in the house, just before you kill it with a
stick and watch it die, twitching away before going still.

People I spoke to said they would have killed him, and asked why I didn't
kill him. Certainly, incidences like this have happened before and the
unlucky thief was actually beaten up and killed in a public show of anger
and revenge for past incidents.

When I remember that my wife was traumatised by snatch theft incidences
twice in six months and both times in Bangsar, and my 80-year-old mother
who was sent to hospital and is right now still suffering from a bad back
due to a snatch theft in Bangsar, yes, I think I could have killed him.

Many said to me the police would not do anything even though we have his
bike number plate (which fell off) so we better just kill him on the spot.

Then again, this is the year where political awareness is almost at an all
time high. I tend to think that this Mat Rempit may be one of those who
suffered years of mismanagement and mismatched expectations.

In the last many years, I have worked and played alongside with my fellow
Malaysians. This year at work, I saw with my own eyes my Malay colleagues
openly supporting DAP candidates while my Chinese and Christian colleagues
openly voted for Malay and Muslim candidates. Malaysian citizens have not
felt so united for a long time.

This snatch thief is another fellow Malaysian citizen somehow misguided
and lost in the world. We make excuses and say they are probably addicts,
foreigners, etc. Let's face it, they are our own Mat Rempit, out there in
the hundreds, crowding out the prisons, snatching as they like, not just
in Snatch-Theft-Center-Bangsar, but also in Kepong, Seremban, Johor Baru,
Klang, Kajang, anywhere.

Are there a few hardcore snatch thieves? Or are there populations of Mat
Rempit going around just snatching when they feel like it? With so many
incidents, it is obvious that there are hordes of them. With an impending
recession and the political situation in disarray, expect more snatch
thefts. My 83-year-old father has not been 'snatched from' yet. No bets on
whether he'll be a victim within the next one year in Bangsar.

So think about it. If you are ready to kill a snatch thief, please be
ready to kill the rest of the hundreds of Mat Rempit. I still think I
can't kill a thief, much as I think of him as a rat of a person.

HEW, YL

Labels: 101, 2008, Bangsar

25 years in Bangsar, and I've seen...

I've been living in Bangsar for close to three quarters of my life. The three quarters would include a good 25 years of experience in this neighbourhood, which equates to a good quarter of a century!

Man, I'm old. I can roughly tell you the spots of walls in Bangsar that were once spray painted with various messages courtesy of the alternatives trying to make a point. It was a furor of the media at one point, I remember. Well, the walls have since been white washed and given a nice gloss of paint.

Long before Alexis had their makeover, which some say has boosted their sales tremendously with its Australian like feel of a cafe, and long before Serene Outlook bedazzled the eyes of passerby's way past midnight with their fluorescent like display-the lot originally housed our favourites Coffee Bean which was just right across the road from Starbucks.

Long before there was even Bangsar Village 1 or 2, there was the Jolly Green Giant with its rat infested offerings, and also the almost dead Hankyu Jaya that now houses BV1. I've seen the motions, enough to say that KFC was once just neighbours to our dear old McDonald's, and right opposite was Burger King with its substandard value meals.

There was also this memorable competitor to Seven Eleven (I know their theme colour was green), which now houses the sleepy steak joint at the corner, right next to Chow Yang Foot Massage. The "green" mart was the place to get the best ice cream, where you could do your own sundae twist-chocolate and vanilla at just less than RM 2.00! You could keep going round and round, and lick the melted ice cream real quickly to pack in more for your money's worth!

Well, memories are what I have of Bangsar and I do wish to see more improvements-especially in terms of safety and also the pot holes in the roads! That has never changed, unfortunately.

And now, Bangsar is...

It's time to look forward to see which shops have contributed to the colours and atmosphere of what makes Bangsar. I'd say it would be: La Bodega, which is jam packed for breakfast-having their own niche crowd of business people having bacon, eggs and sandwiches at jacked up prices for their first meal of the day.

Rocky Restaurant, one of my favourite hangouts just because they serve good home-cook food and when you are there, its like you are lost in time. An old-school coffee shop in the middle of the Bangsar hustle bustle!

There's also the range of boutiques that have sprung up-with cute names and displays selling clothes probably source from the similar countries and suppliers. But nevertheless, I've always enjoyed their creative display-Blook, Tea & Symphony, Cat's Whiskers and so much more.

Zooming in on CzipLee... 

And finally, there's CzipLee which has taken over lot from Public Mutual two years back and is housed right next to Nirwana, which has almost never seen a dip in their banana leaf and Indian Cuisine business though the economy has gone through some rough and tumble.

CzipLee has made its own niche landmark with the regular "oohs & aaahs" from delighted patrons seeing stationery wonderland, and not to forget-its range of well stocked school books, children titles and fiction that would get mothers and children absolutely delighted.

I for one love the fact that they are affordable. The prices are good, during the bad and good times-they don't keep hiking the prices, I really like that about them, especially now that inflation has hit an all time high of 7.7%. Even if they do, they try not to pass so much of the cost on to consumers-that should be a point well noted.

CzipLee: One Stop Printing Centre Come August 2008

Well, CzipLee has something up their sleeves, to cater to the changing winds of Bangsar, and that is a one stop printing centre. Loads of people having come in and out to ask for photocopying, printing, binding and laminating services and even designing of name cards. Well, CzipLee sure has that figured out, and will fill that gap, this August 2008.

Again, at their ever competitive pricing. Check it out soon, to see for yourself. CzipLee, meeting Bangsar's needs!

(This article was contributed by a true born and bred 'Bangsar-ian'. One of our regular customers! Thank you, YOU!=))

Labels: 101, 2008, Bangsar, CzipLee Printing

Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is a melting pot of businesses, from high end restaurants, to coffee shops, affordable but trendy clothing shops to designer clothing, and best of all - the jack of all trades, CzipLee Bangsar which meets your stationery and book needs.

Bangsar Baru, namely the Telawi area is the pulse of the neighbourhood that has progressed so much, from the days of civil servants quarters and also rubber estates. No longer do you have the sleepy town mentality, but once you step into Bangsar - it is a literal central business district (CBD). Think Siam Square of Bangkok. Think the Rocks of Sydney.

Whether it is your banking needs (you have almost four major banks to choose from), or whether it is a fashion accessory that you desire, to even designer wear, or your local grocery shopping, Bangsar has something for everyone. Just remember to bring the cash and the cards, lest you overspend!

Landmarks of Bangsar, today would be Bangsar Village and Bangsar Village II, which are actually the newest development in the township. Delicious, the restaurant is always brimming with people, from 10 am - 12 midnight on a daily basis. Another thriving hotspot would be the Village Grocers which serves up the best vegetable and fruit produce. And of course that books/stationery store with that weird name! =)

Other than that, look out for the pasar malam that is held every Sunday night. You can get local delicacies such as murtabaks, the sweetish sourish asam laksa, to the Taiwanese dumpling lady with her chive stuffed meat dumplings.

Depending on your preference for taste and experience, we will be exploring different facets of Bangsar in the next few postings, so do keep tuned for more updates!

Labels: 101, 2008, Bangsar

Labels: 101, 2008, Kajang