Snatch thieves hit Golden Triangle

THE wife of a foreign participant in the Microsoft TechEd 2008 event lost her handbag to a snatch thief on Sunday. But as a country, Malaysia may have lost more than that.

Following the incident, Wilson L. Chua of the Philippines posed this question on his blog under the title, 'Mugged in KL, Malaysia', citing: "As we are in Malaysia to attend the TechEd 2008, my suggestion to Microsoft, in the future, could you consider a safer country such as Singapore for your next event? (Just wondering guys!)"

Chua, a web-hosting solution expert, and his wife were headed from their hotel to St Andrew's Church. They were on Jalan P. Ramlee walking in the same direction as vehicular traffic when the snatch thief struck. It was about 6.10pm.

"When we were taken to the police station, we waited in line as there was a family ahead of us who were also attacked by an identical motorcyclist roughly on hour earlier in the same area," said Chua.

"Due to shock, neither my wife nor I took down the licence plate number. However, the family ahead had a witness who jotted down the number."

Chua and his wife had arrived in KL only six hours before the incident.

A passer-by directed them to the tourist police outpost at Saloma Bistro, Jalan Ampang.

From there, they were taken in a police car to the station where the report was lodged.

"The police were efficient, courteous and a saving grace for the mishap that happened to us. I commend them for the advice they gave us and the kind treatment and attention they gave my wife and I," added Chua on the blog.

One piece of advice given was to walk against traffic, which Chua and his wife intend to do for the rest of their stay in KL.