KL Crime and Running Alone

Joy here...Just as we arrived in Malaysia in June an online site posted its list of the "10 most dangerous cities in the world," pegging Kuala Lumpur in the number sixth spot.  Everyone from our friends here to the mainstream media were quick to point out the problems with this list - from the absent metholodology for their ranking, to the bias that saw KL making the list but Kabul being left off, to official statistics claiming a decrease in crime of 27% rather than an increase in 70% as the ranking posits - but anecdotally speaking, Kuala Lumpur isn't the safest place in the world when it comes to certain kinds of crime.

For instance, in the last two months since our arrival, there have been a couple of high-profile shootings.  Now, shootings used to never be a problem in Kuala Lumpur, but organized crime and official "hits" are now becoming more common.  This is a big city problem (I can't help but think of sketchy parts of LA), and I'm not sure that KL has the policing professionalism or task force to deal with it.  (In fact, police brutality, corruption, a culture of impunity, and collusion has been cited as main problems contributing to KL's crime problem.)

A sign is better than nothing, but increased and professional
police/security solving the problem might be better!

And beyond targeted shootings that hopefully wouldn't affect me personally, there are other kinds of crime that are pretty worrying.

The other day, just beyond the guard house that leads to our neighbourhood, one of the cleaning ladies who works up the hill from us was walking down the hill to catch her bus home.  It was still during Ramadhan - a time of reflection and spirituality for Muslims the world over - and as she walked, she was attacked by two guys on a motorcycle, armed with a machete. They grabbed her purse, and when she resisted, they cut her multiple times along the arm.  Bleeding and crying, she made her way to the guard house and the police were called.  They showed up the next day, more than 24 hours later.  A lot of good help they'd do then!

Just this Monday, a friend of ours (who I've even blogged about before), was getting set to drive from KL back to Singapore where he is based.  He had his car loaded up with all his worldly belongings:  passport, laptop, suitcase, and a friend's bike was racked up top.  And well, what do you do before a road trip?  You often stop at an ATM to make sure you have cash for the road.  So that's what our friend did.  He pulled up, parked his car, went into the ATM, and on his way out, he was approached by two guys wielding a long machete who demanded his wallet and car keys.  He handed it all over and was stuck standing in a parking lot with nothing.  Hours later he had made his police report and visited the British High Commission to get a new passport, but has likely seen the last of everything else he lost to two armed burglars.

These two incidents hit a little too close to home for me.

They make me see that crime isn't necessarily something "out there" that happens to "other people" somewhere else that won't touch me.  Rather the Kuala Lumpur crime problem may just be increasing, which means that I have to be extra careful.  In living in any big city, there are certain risks.  One needs to be careful and vigilant; being a woman makes vigilance second-nature; and so I have to be conscious and mindful not just when I'm out and about doing my day-to-day things here, but also (and perhaps more importantly) when I'm out running.

Running alone.  Let's hope that I'm safe.

I mentioned the risks of the monkeys swarming my previous running loop, and their increasing aggression, and how I had to find the loop in my little gated community as my place to run, and now I headed out there for my first 1 hour run in months and months and months, and instead of running through some of the beautiful neighbourhoods and scenery around here, I just ran 20 loops of my safe and guarded neighbourhood, waving to my neighbours walking their dogs and making friends with as many folks as possible.

So while I'm proud of myself for hitting my long run target time for the first time since getting to KL; and while I'm happy and safe in my own neighbourhood; it saddens me that KL, such a wonderful city with such amazing potential, may just be walking the razor's edge between being a live-able city and one too ridden by crime to be habitable.

For me...I'll just keep my pepper spray handy when I run alone!

Over and out,
Joy

Run Stats:
Ran for 1hr for a distance of 9.95km with an avg pace of 6:02min/km