UNMC Security

The question that you are really asking is your life in UNMC Semenyih safe? That answer is going to be- it depends- your safety and well-being is subjected to the choices you will be making. Make no mistake, Semenyih is not a kindergarten. No one is going to be looking out for you other than you, university can only do so much, your personal safety is your responsibility.

Theft & burglary
It is a well known fact that theft and burglary is an all too common occurrence in TTS. In any semester you will always be hearing stories of another friend of a friend's house being broke into or find yourself being the victim of such an occurrence.

Back in the day, and probably even now, EduSquare used to be major target for break-ins, the high concentration of students within a single area affords an opportunity to make away with a very sizable loot. While there may be walls and grills, do know that thieves will always find a way to get through them. Inspect your dwelling, and ask yourself, is your room really safe, there is a certain standard in terms of thickness for doors and other barriers, are they to spec? Also the grill, how are they attached to the wall, and ask yourself this, how long does it take for one to make it through a grill, and how much noise will it cost, if its not much, then you are pretty much asking for it. Remember, this is Malaysia, not Japan, or any other place, houses here have grills, and there is a reason for that, Malaysian society is built under the expectation that there are unfortunates or greedy scum that are just bidding their time with hopes of breaking into your room. Final note: your neighbour could steal from you too.

Some incidents of Burglary and Theft
Reports of burglary and theft are often not notable (or sensational) enough to be publicised (unless you are someone important. However, there a number of victims whom due their goodness and charity, possibly open nature have reported their misfortune in the blogs.

Dec 2014 In another spate of interesting recurrence, another hostel cum house in TTS 5 got raided allegedly. This happened to the corner house, the one closest to the banana plantation. The hostel has two levels and 15+ rooms, the story goes that the house was raided in day light by machete carrying dark skinned men whom stormed the placed and took something. Strangely, no one got hurt in this alleged incident. In fact, it is none too clear if it actually happened but it has spooked a certain community in to submission.

Aut 2013 In the early weeks of semester, a couple of houses around TTS got repeatedly broke into. In one of the more famous cases, it took place in TTS 5, in one of the bungalow houses, the thieves came in through the front door using keys they found in plain sight on the study table next to an opened window. Pretty much, the whole house got ransacked and the interesting thing is that it occurred while the boys and girls were sound asleep at home. Gone were smart phones, wallets and laptops.

Another string of incidents, took place in TTS3/4 at another student hostel building with 18+ rooms got repeatedly broke into, even though it is inhabited by a number of students, the number of repeat break-in attempts even while occupants were awake in their rooms led to the building being abandoned. Here, the isolated nature of the building emboldened the cat-burglars to visit this place. The inhabitants whom had lived there for so long vacated the place, never to return.

Dec 2013 Apparently her bungalow house in TTS3/TTS4/TTS5 (we can presume from inferring based on info such as the existence of sliding doors. Well, her story is that the perpetrators monitored her house, and when they were certain it was vacant. Took it upon to raid and ransack the place. Most TTS house barring the front door use cheap doors, it won't take long for an attacker to smash through all the interior doors which they did with her home. Gone are the Playstation and TV. It is not known if the attackers got through by cutting the cheap chain or lock, locking the grill door protecting the sliding door (or they simply slided it open, cause someone forgot to lock it), and then got through the sliding glass door by smashing the glass. This whole thing is interesting in that the neighbours heard or saw nothing. Part of the problem also stems from the neighbours not knowing who lives there, but the act of breaking and entering as displayed here is rather obvious.

Apr 2009 Before EduSquare had its barbed fencing, it used to be raided so often, that the inhabitants weren't sure whether it was their home. In an interesting piece, it is mentioned that the burglars performed cat woman like stunts of scaling the walls or perhaps using a rather tall ladder. Again, I am uncertain about the specifics, being that EduSquare does appear to have grills adorning each and every window, so perhaps what these people use is a back door, or someone left the house key in plain sight next to the window. Anyways, the incidents that took place here is when the victims were asleep, again this shows that it doesn't take much noise to break into someone's room and that you can do it while they are asleep. The important thing you can learn from this is that you should never go to bed intoxicated or in a state of drunkenness, nor should you contemplate sleeping naked, lord knows what would happen if you did. So, these cases happen to guys, now imagine if you were of the fairer sex.

Note: You can help improve the security situation by raising awareness. There needs to be transparency with regard to reported cases, students should know where the hotspots are, this info, while not really helpful directly, may scare the average student into practicing better safety. You can do this by lobbying UNMC security to release incident reports or in the very least statistics, and where they occurred.

Missing Undergarments
Arguably, this only occurs to persons of a specific gender, particularly you will find this widely reported on-campus. Most of the time, you will find undergarments such as laced bras and panties exhibited on 1st floor balconies at the ends of each accommodation block. No one really knows how they end up missing or why, but one could assume that it was mother nature who took it, just like the title of that famous movie, it got gone with the wind, and observing that there are plenty of open windows its hard to say where they flew.

Jokes aside, undergarments worn by people of a specific gender has sentimental and monetary value. In Japan, you can purchase used ones in vending machines. It's a mystery as to why no madame has yet to start up a business of selling them here. Regardless, it is advisable that you pay special attention to undergarments, just as you would with your other valuables, such as smart phones, jewelery etc. and if you have to hang or dry them, do it indoors, or at places where no one can easily reach. Despite the earlier statement, hanging undergarments in the balcony area, is not such a bad idea, since its hard to reach unless one were really tempted, and that one would have to make the effort to climb the balcony or simply use a long pole and pick it through. Also, it is advisable if you do not leave undergarments in plain sight, particularly at the laundry room.

Most cases of undergarments being stolen/misplaced/lost occurs in the laundry room or when drying in an openly accessible area. Look after your things, and don't just run off, hoping that no one is going to touch your stuff, UNMC is not too civilized and there always new people of diverse beliefs and customs coming in, so their norms may be different.

Voyeurism
Every once in a blue furry moon, you will have peeping toms (voyeurism) being reported on the UNMC Security office bulletin board and it comes not as a wonder what gender the perpetrators typically are. Some say there are peeping Janes too but none has so far yet been witnessed that some argue, they definitely do not exist.

But anyways, the nature and layout of on-campus housing is that girls and guys will alternate between floors, on top of that, the closed fan-shape of the structure, allows the peeking and looking into a neighbours room. That is should they leave their windows open, of course. Most of the time the top floors have a good commanding view of people living in the lower floors of the adjacent buildings, arguably you could see things from the bottom too but the height of windows disfavours that, and all you could arguably see in the top part and the head, anyways there are of course stories about someone claiming to have seen people walking out of their bathrooms unclothed and sometimes providing a show of some sort, its a wonder why they do that with the window and curtain open but believe it or not, its one of the perks of on-campus living.

Vandalism
There are some minor infractions of vandalism that takes place around campus, not as much as you would expect but they do exist.

Rape
There have been at least two cases of rape that has happened in TTS. Of course there are numerous others, which are unpublicized and victims don't really go around telling people unless they want attention or want to bring attention to the possibility of rape.

Taman Tasik Semenyih Sexual Assault Case
In a published case a 19-year-old Sri Lankan fresher psychology student got to know first-hand how safe TTS can be. While walking home at night around 8pm (note: this is quite normal in TTS, there are always moving around every 5-10 minutes but at outlying areas such as TTS 2, TTS 4, TTS3, TTS 7, there may be less people movement.), the information available is very vague at best, it is unclear as to exactly where as to the incident took place but this could have been anywhere, including TTS 5. Anyways, the article mentions her being hit on the head by a sharp object. It's a wonder by any means, if it were sharp or actually blunt, details are sketchy. Since there was no mention of major injuries, one can only assume it was blunt but anyways it made her unconscious and the perpetrator then brought her to one of the abandoned houses (which back in 2010 there were many, than compared to now) and set to rape her. Reportedly, the victim regained consciousness to find the attacker on top of her, the attacker then ran off for unknown reasons. Finally, it is not known if her attacker was ever caught, or what happen to the victim. This happened in 2010.

Rumours
Not sure why but I think I will just share with you some rumours which I got know from here.

If this story were indeed true then it would paint a really dark picture about living in TTS. I mean imagine seven of them one after the other, all dark Tamil Indians with their garlic breath and curry flavoured body odour.

Death
In one of the most highly publicised cases, occured on November 26, 2008 in which a Sri Lankan student was slayed in a machete attack. This happened at the now defunct Forest Bar (some says you know the place now as JJ's but thats heresay.) in the TTS Business area. Reportedly, what happen took place at 3:45pm. 10 Malaysian Tamil Indian men came in 3 cars, they entered the shop and unleashed hell for approximately 2 minutes, kind of like a raid, where they sprang and attacked this Sri Lankan and his friends, no one knows what really happen, it's been eight years since the incident and there hasn't been a tell-all. But from the article its clear that, the friends, the bystanders, even the bar-tender were in a state of shock and were just too afraid to do anything. They just stood-by and looked (in Malaysia, most crimes would typically happen with by-standers appearing all shocked, and its only after the incident, they'd come out of the cracks and ask you how are you?, but by then what has happen has already happen.), some argue that perhaps they were intoxicated, or in a state unable to think rationally, and appropriately chose to remain anonymous. I suppose no one would ever know what happen that day, other than a student was slayed while he was out in a bar with his friends and other patrons whom failed in defending him. He reportedly died in a private hospital a few days later (30th November). From: PAUL BOARDMAN Sent: Wed 11/26/2008 5:16 PM To: All Students; All Staff Subject: URGENT_ VIOLENT ATTACKS IN UNIVERSITY VACINITY Dear all, I am sorry to report that 4 of our students of Indian descent, have been attacked in what appears to be a case of mistaken identity. Men in 3 cars have attacked 2 International students in Forest Bar with machetes and then it seems that the same three cars stopped a student car on the way to Broga and slashed 2 other local Indian students. I strongly recommend that students stay away from Bars in the Semenyih and Broga areas until these criminals have been caught. If anyone has any information regarding these brutal events, please contact me or Azlan as soon as possible. Paul Boardman Director of Administrative Support Services The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
 * 1) Nottingham Post Article
 * 2) TheStar News Article

  But that is not all, there were two others attacked that the day, one of the other was attacked while he was driving along Jalan Broga, so reportedly, they rammed his car to a halt, got out, and attacked him. While the story goes that it was a case of mistaken identity, perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't. Its hard to say who these perpetrators are, or if they were ever caught, the parents have remain silent over their dead child, and no one really knows the final word in the story. But let's not put his story to waste, let's make his life meaningful, and take this as a lesson to not go to places where they serve alcohol and openly drink and smoke, cause gangsters will easily mistake you as another gangster and make you a target, obviously there is a connection, somewhere... and it's better to be safe than sorry.

Under-reporting of cases
Most cases that occur within UNMC and TTS are typically not reported, reasons for this includes belief that UNMC Security doesn't do anything to improve security. However this is a wrong fallacy. The higher the crime rate would alter the crime index within UNMC and such an index is used by the decision making management body in reacting and creating security measures. So, you believe in a police state, and want to institute it right here, feel free to report anything to them. In fact, we would strongly recommend if you simply report anything to UNMC Security, and give them as little info as possible to ensure that the perpertrator is never caught. While you may also consider reporting it to the police, doing so would sometimes be against the law.

How to avoid getting ripped off and beaten up
While Kuala Lumpur crime stats have been on the declining trend, the fact is regardless of statistics, crime still occurs. That being said the average KL inhabitant does not actually spends their life in constant fear. The capital’s crime rate might be higher than in other secondary cities such as Ipoh or Penang, but compared with to other places in South East Asia, Kuala Lumpur is still a safe option, and students rarely feature among the victims of local street crime. Still, as in any big city, there are bound to be a couple of dicks, and this is Malaysia, so behave yourself, not everyone here have yet to reach the state of a developed mindset.

Here are some basic life rules that also apply in Kuala Lumpur: Don’t leave your smartphone or handbag lying around on the table. Don’t linger in deserted back alleys at night if you don’t necessarily have to. Don’t act drunk on the street. Don’t ask for it, and definitely don’t be an idiot.

However, the most widespread type of crime in Semenyih—and possibly the rest of the Klang Valley area—is burglary and snatch theft, which occurs most frequently. The usual perpetrators are typically illegal immigrants, namely the Banglas and the Indons. In the case of snatch theft, look out for 16-30 something locals (Malays or Indians) on motorbikes. While there aren't as many cases of snatch theft to boot within TTS, there are publicized cases of a girl getting mugged, and this happened during daylight at the TTS end of the TTS-UNMC bridge. Reportedly, she was unhurt, save for a a traumatic experience. [2014]

People and places to avoid
Let's face it, you can't be friends with everybody, and if you did, you'd find yourself neglecting your other friends. Here's a list of people and places you should avoid.

Drug Addicts The average KL Drug addicts are only partly human. They lost their humanity somewhere during the time they started their drug habit. They spend the night wandering the streets, but creep out during the day looking for more drugs or visiting home to keep their drug habit going. They are easily agitated, carry a strong stench of hopelessness.

Local Indian Gangsters Often found in nightclubs as patrons and operators or other places of ill repute, be wary of certain local Indians. These people may be drug dealers, thieves or gangsters. Pay special attention if you are Indian looking female. These groups typically would not bother people outside their ethnicity.

Illegal street racers  (Mat Rempit)   Typically the young and bored children of low income Malay families. Often found in sizable groups in the KL city center, this lot seems to congregate around the Sogo Department Store (next to LRT Bandaraya station) and the following roads, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan Dang Wangi, Jalan Ampang, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Chow Kit and Jalan Sultan Ismail. On weekend nights they would be out and about patrolling around these areas. On an average weekend, expect thousands to converge at Sogo.

Chow Kit Do not visit this place, or more specifically Lorong Haji Taib, if you do not have a reason. This place is home to transsexual sex workers, gangsters, and drug addicts.