Is crime in the mind?

By: Alesyha, Prithiba, Priya, Joey & Kuna

PETALING JAYA: With frequent reminders from friends and family to stay safe, is the average Joe in a state of worry in a city that is increasingly more dangerous or is this simply a state of mind?

As mainstream news agencies shy away from reports of muggings and break-ins, citizens are looking to online social networks to share their concerns.

Facebook groups, in particular, have allowed users to share pictures and reports of crimes within minutes of the incident, with eyewitness testimony.

Crime Watch Malaysia, Malaysian Crime Awareness Campaign and the PJ Community Alert are three such pages that have a combined total of almost over 120,000 likes on Facebook.

Crime Watch Malaysia, in its ‘About’ page, aims to ‘highlight the horror of the rising crime rate and the brutality of crime in our country and perhaps initiate greater concern and action from the authorities and government’.

PJ Community Alert states its mission is to ‘quickly discover the latest modus operandi of criminal minds and brainstorm ways to bring down the crime rate in our neighborhoods’.

All three pages have moved beyond reports alone, providing documents such as digital download copies of the Whistleblowers Protection Act and statistical reports on global road safety and discussions on tips to keep safe when out and about in the city.

COPS.ORG.MY, a ‘non-profit organization’, has taken the information one step further by providing links to portals to make official police reports and lists of numbers to contact in case of emergencies.

Some groups however, are taking the perceived increase in the crime rate as a call to action.


Crime Fighter, a Facebook group with 994 members, seeks to ‘protect citizens and fight all crimes’ by sharing reports of crimes and accounts from victims with tips on how to fight back against assailants.

With all of this information at their fingertips, are everyday Malaysians in a state of paranoia with the crime in our country.

Counseling psychologist Shankar Thiruchelvan, 30, said that is normal for a person to have anticipated fear about safety, but paranoia is maladaptive and dysfunctional.

According to Shankar, visible signs and symptoms of paranoia include shortness of breath, sweaty palms, hyperventilating, deep breathing and dilation of pupils.

In terms of behavior, a person is likely to develop anxiety-related behaviors such hyper-vigilance, where they are preoccupied with though patterns of safeness and they are dominated by the thought of potential hazards to themselves or family members.

When asked in particular about how a child is affected when a parent speaks to them about their concerns about crime, Mr. Shankar feels that the manner of disclosure plays an important role.

“If you disclose how hyper-anxious an external environment can be, it might end up crippling them,” he says, adding that if a child has a tendency to be fearful, the child will respond anxiously.

“As a parent, it would certainly be difficult to monitor your child 24/7,” he continues. “Therefore, it is always best to teach the child street smarts and survival skills that allow them to function, making conscious, responsible choices.”

However, there is a difference between how the younger and older generations perceive and entertain paranoia.

Krishnasamy Alagesan, 57, felt that although he is familiar with his housing area, he has a certain degree of fear and feels that it is definitely not safe being out of his house.

Puspa Sankaran, a 55-year-old housewife, always makes sure that her family is home by midnight as she feels the safety of the country is not at its peak.

“Sometimes, my family members accuse me of being a paranoid,” she says. “But I feel it is because I happen to be a crime victim myself.”


Kumaran Krishnasamy, a 24 year old aircraft maintenance engineer feels that night life among the youngsters is inevitable and most youngsters do not worry much about their safety, especially men.

“I would not say that most youngsters are paranoid about crime, but they are aware of what is happening and do take safety into consideration, they are not that naïve”, said Sheila Nayar, a 22 year old student.

Atira Sreenivas, a 14-year-old student feels that her parents’ concerns are warranted, based on the reports she hears from the news or social networks.

“Individuals themselves also need to be vigilant,” says her mother, June Teh, 45. “There is no excuse not to be vigilant at all times.”

Suria Kunanathan, 22 feels that he rarely spends time thinking about crime as he has better things to think about such as his assignments and exams.

“I believe in the law of attraction,” said Ranita Isaac, 21. “If you constantly think about it you might atrract it.”

When asked whether or not the concerns of the public were reflected in reality, police inspector Surendharan, 28, from Kuala Lumpur, said that crime rates in Malaysia were high before but are in a stable condition right now the police are taking steps to reduce crime rates.

“We have successfully deployed 14, 222 officers at nearly 50 hot spot areas focusing on reducing street crimes, especially snatch thieves,” said Surendharan. “We also have a safe city program in collaboration with PDRM ( Polis Diraja Malaysia) , state and local authorities and private developers.”

He goes on to add that various measures have been taken, including the installation of CCTV cameras and roadblocks all around the city to prevent crime.

“We are expending rakan cop,” he says. “Whereby the public can inform us on any suspicious activities through SMS.”

Surendharan goes on to remind the public that if they witness any crime, they need to contact the police in order for them to take further action.

Being paranoid about a crime that is bound not to happen may not favour the situation, instead we should focus on the precautions that we can take to prevent crime from occurring.