Miguel Cruz wrote:
Far as I can tell, the only significant increase has heen in snatch thefts
perpetrated by guys on mopeds who grab purses from women walking along the
road. Recently one or two victims were dragged along and badly injured or
killed, and it's gotten a lot of press. The only reason I think this is
actually increased rather than just getting a lot of press is that the
police seem to be responding to it a lot.

Is this a consequence of a deteriorating economy ? How is the situation
of the economy right now ?


Recently I posted a story (maybe in rec.travel.air) about how I withdrew
about a thousand dollars (RM4000) from an ATM and then managed to spray it
all over the floor, and people helped me pick it up. This happened at the
Jalan Ampang Citibank, after dark. I was worried that some of it would go
under the machines where it would be hard to retrieve, but I never for a
moment worried about crime (other than perhaps a surreptitious pocketing of
a note or two, which didn't happen).

That's exactly the branch where I usually go, because with a Citibank
card I can withdraw money with no banking fees. Withdrawing money and
paying cash gives me a better rate than if I payed with the credit card
I have (it's registered in Germany).

By the way, my wife also told me that I shouldn't use the credit card,
even in Sungei Wang or BB Plaza because people might copy the data on it
and create a copy. I've never had a fraud case in these past 15 years,
but should I perhaps be careful and only use the credit card in big and
"established" places ?

Look, I wander around KL at all hours of the day and night. I always cut
through alleys when it's the shortest way, even if it's 3 in the morning and
there's no light. I sit out on a park bench on Jalan Sultan Ismail after
midnight and access the internet with my laptop. And I am very obviously a
foreigner. I sit in the same place around the same time with decent
regularity, completely absorbed in what I'm doing, and anyone who was
planning something has had ample opportunity.

Huh...? Is there a Wifi hotspot in that park ? The only nuisance at
night, when you walk back from KLCC to Jalan Alor used to be that male
prostitute at the corner.

BTW, I'm also used to walking around even at night in KL with expensive
computer and photographic equipment and larger amounts of cash. I never
felt unsafe

I have not seen or heard anything which has given me any reason to believe
any of this is a bad idea - nothing that's happened to me, or to anyone I
know or have read about.

I haven't been in KL since last December, but would have classified KL
as relatively safe. Maybe not as safe as Munich (Germany), where there
are no bad neighbourhoods, but probably safer than places like Rome or
Paris.

--

Alfred Molon

http://www.molon.de/Galleries.htm - Photos from Myanmar, Brunei,
Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Egypt, Austria, Prague,
Budapest and Portugal