my ambivalent attitude

Sunday, March 11, 2007

My parents' nerves have been frayed ceaselessly of late, much due to the spate of varied crimes committed all under the roof of my flat, which till now still features a low occupancy rate and weak sense of neighbourliness. Vandalism, burglary and molesting - one wouldn't expect to see all three offences occurring at approximately the same time, yet it did, and quite effortlessly.

First it was a burglary on the 8th floor, which happened apparently after a suspicious Bangladeshi casted his watchful eyes into the interiors when he was enquiring about RC's repainting works. That brought us to the inevitable conclusion that he was masquerading as a worker from the contractor company. The unit was subsequently ransacked and the burglars whisked away all jewellery and valuables. This wasn't much of a concern yet because of the installation of an alarm system in my house, that boasts an automatic transmission of help signals to an operator when activated.

But a narrow encounter with a molester by the daughter of my neighbour completely threw my parents off balance. They regained their cool and came up with defensive actions like fetching my sister up from the void deck and instructing her to be alert at all times soon after. Well, and vandalism has always been a common sight in my neighbourhood, so that's nothing special. Doorbells have been smashed to smithereens and metal gates corroded on floors where there are no inhabitants as of yet.

And was it rampant crime that spurred a change in the colour of the corridors lights from amber to white? I hope so, and certainly invite more such measures to keep the bad guys at bay.

scribbled at 10:19 PM