Due south to a cowboy town

I’m saddened to read this piece of news from The Star. Here’s the full story for those who don’t want to click the link.

Thursday June 14, 2007
Another woman gang-raped JOHOR BARU: A group of men took a couple on a terror ride before raping the woman, the second such case in as many days here.

A 55-year-old contractor and his 35-year-old female friend had stopped at a petrol station along the Pasir Gudang highway at 10.30pm last week.

As he was filling up, three men armed with parang overpowered him and forced both victims into the car.

The assailants took the victims on a one-hour terror ride before stopping at a secluded area along the highway.

As in the case on Monday, the contractor was slashed in the leg when he tried to escape.

With the injured victim watching helplessly, the men took turns to rape the woman before fleeing in another car driven by an accomplice.

The victims lodged a police report after the incident.

On Monday, a 19-year-old girl was raped by three men as her boyfriend watched helplessly in Taman Tampoi Indah.

Their car was rammed into by another car. Three men in the car then abducted the couple. The boyfriend was also slashed in the leg when he tried to escape.

In another incident, a doctor, in her 50s, fell and injured her head after two thieves on a motorcycle snatched her handbag while she was walking to her car in Taman Melody yesterday.

Passers-by who saw the incident caught one of the suspects. He was handed over to the police.

Have you noticed how Johor Bahru seems to be featuring a lot in the news for these sort of crimes? These 2 gang-rape incidents are not isolated ones. About a month ago, a similar incident happened with a woman being abducted with her child and then gang-raped. In two of these incidents, there is a common factor of the victims having stopped by a petrol station at night. In one of them, the couple were literally forced to stop by the abductors ramming their car. Were they marked?

These spate of abduction and gang-rapes appear to be the latest trend of violence in this southernmost city of Malaysia. The reports don’t mention if the victims were robbed. So, what was the intention of the perpetrators? Did they actively seek out these victims for the sole purpose of rape and slashing? Is anyone doing anything about it?

Why is Johor Bahru turning into a cowboy town? A year ago it was a proliferation of snatch thefts there. A few people died from falling off motorcycles and from being dragged by snatch thieves on motorcycles. This time, its gang rape the most heinous of crimes.

You know what some Singaporeans asked me 2 years ago? “Is Malaysia safe?” Of course I said “Yes it is” but how can you assure them when they read and hear of these crimes occurring in Malaysia, just over the causeway? Imagine what potential tourists must think when they read about such incidences in the newspapers. Give them a choice of visiting Malaysia or Singapore and they’d opt for the latter.

A few months ago, my sis and I thought of taking a drive down to Johor Bahru where we thought to put up for a night before heading on into Singapore. Hotels are cheaper in JB and since its in Ringgit we thought it might be easier on our pocket. Our parents, when hearing of it, immediately put their feet down.

No driving into JB. No going to JB. JB was totally off-bounds. Why? Because it is a dangerous place. They live in Johor and I guess they get more local news and hear more than we do here in KL.And they are Malaysian. Just imagine how a tourist would feel.

Is any one out there doing anything about this? Are you from JB? Do you feel safe?