Survival 101

How Not To Get Jumped In JB

Many tourists and day trippers come to Johor Bahru with a little trepidation on getting their cars burgled or their handbags or backpacks snatched by passing petty theives on motorbikes.  Hell, my partner and I even have friends and relatives who do not come to JB as they are fixated with sensationalized news in the media on street crime.  Well, I dare say London, New York and several major Asian cities like Bangkok and Taipei all have their fair share of urban decay.  I also dare say I feel safer in JB than some tourist cities I had visited...and the fact that my kampung (village home) and cars have not been burgled once is testament to how safe JB can be, even for an Asing (foreigner) like me.

Having said that, there are a few golden rules I observe all these years of living in my adopted homeland:

DRIVERS BEWARE!  Observe my Lock Stock Block rule of thumb: 

LOCK

I never leave my car without a steering wheel lock. Even when I stop for gas at a gas station and I leave the car to pay or buy a drink at the gas station mini mart - that is how  you deter car hijacks!  I got wheelocks for all my cars...they cost only MYR50 at Tesco KL.

STOCK

Have you taken stock of things inside the car and make sure nothing is in sight?  By that I mean ALL ITEMS THAT DO NOT COME WITH THE CAR when you bought the car.  Yes I am anal retentive to the point that my children's pencil cases have to be stored in the trunk when we exit the car. Why, you ask? Because like one man's meat is another's poison, one child's pencil case may be a burglar's hunch for an unattended purse. You get my drift.  My neighbor once told me his car got broken into all because his girlfriend thought nobody would want her crummy makeup case left underneath the car seat.  Well,  she was wrong.

BLOCK

By block I mean park your ride in a visible spot along the busiest thoroughfare where it would not be blocked off for the convenience of the wayward ones.  Trust me, having lived in London and New York, I have always seen cars parked in dark alleys and remote areas being broken into, because there is not a car thief who would not love more for a car to be left in a desolate space.

DAY TRIPPERS BE ALERT!

Thousands of day trippers throng the JB area on the weekends, and of late, even the weekdays, although the latter is made up of mostly Singaporean retirees shunning the weekend crowd.  No matter the case, we see day trippers making themselves targets of snatch theft because they speak loudly (the accent is quite obvious that you are not local hello?), dress differently (the ubiquitous cap/hat, backpack & comfy sneakers!!!) and are mostly demanding due to the high standards they hold as Singaporeans which some local service personnel may find hard to comprehend.

My advice would be to dress extreme casual because JB is a laid back city compared to metropolis Singapore, tone down the excitement especially when you come as a group, and lastly, do as the Romans do and enjoy what the locals have to offer in their own unique ways.  This way you will fit in rather than raising red flags to the would-be criminals.

Happy Jalan Jalan in JB and Malaysia!