Reading Time Ethan!

Ethan likes to read! From the picture you can see that he is browsing through the "Alpha Centauri Strategy Guide", which I bought in Melbourne years ago. I'm seeding the concepts like "theory of everything", "relativity theory", "quantum theory", "string theory", etc, in him early. Well you never know he might just be very interested in such things! Not that I am expert in such things, but I too have had been interested in such things, but never gotten pass the introductory stages.

Car Thieves in Singapore

Recently I cam across numerous reports on cars being broken into in public carparks in Singapore. http://www.asiaone.com/Motoring/Owners/Story/A1Story20090211-121206.html

I am not sure if there is an actual increase in such crimes, or simply due to more reporting from the relevant media on such cases. But if there is really an increase in cases of cars being broken into and stuffs stolen, then this development is a cause for concern.

Lets look at some points at hand:

Fact: In such crimes, usually the cars are being stripped of their accessories (like gauges, steroes, etc), and sometimes even the wheels!

Fact: Modus operandi is breaking of the windshield to get to the items inside, and or jacking up the car to steal the wheels.

Fact: The locations in which the crimes took place are in public carparks.

From the above points we can put up an imaginary, but realistic settings like this:

I drive home after a day, park my beloved car at my usual carpark spot, which is 4th floor at the multistorey. I park high up, even though there are empty slots at lower floors, because I want to minimise the chances of my car being scratched accidentally or kenna a chip from a careless door opening fromneighbouring cars. I have many performance items installed in my car, even my wheels (forged rims) are imported from Japan which costs $650 per rim.

Next morning I discovered my car's windshield was broken, all my performance gauges ripped off, my $2,000 stereo unit stolen, my $43 cash card gone, my Emanage Ultimate engine management unit which cost me $2,000 has gone too. And most embarrassingly, my imported wheels, which cost me $1,000 per rim including the tyres, are gone. And my car sits stupidly on 4 bricks. Also, my personal laptop was stolen from my car boot as well.

I reported the case to the police. But alas, the case is very unlikely to be solved. I am not so sure if the police places these type of cases high on their priority, because this concerns a car, and nobody was physically injured. I feel extremely sad and am very frustrated.

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Ok guys, do I deserve this plight? Do I deserve this because I spend so much money on my car? Do I deserve this because my car is considered "too loud", or a "thief magnet"? http://motoring.asiaone.com/Motoring/Owners/Story/A1Story20090130-118246.html
Do I deserve that my laptop be stolen just because I leave it in my car?


If I deserve this, then can I also successfully argue that a woman deserves to be raped just because she spends too much on her physical appearance and wear too revealing a blouse, and chooses to walk alone in a dark alley at night?

The answer is of course "NO"! Not in OUR society! Not in SINGAPORE!

And what makes this even worse is that it happens in a public place in our housing neighbourhood where we live, in broad daylight (ok night); plus also the fact that the thieves even have the temerity to steal the wheels (with all the jacking up, unscrewing, etc...)! This means they feel comfortable enough that they have enough time to commit the crime.

If this is a trend that is growing, then i consider that THIS IS A DIRECT AND QUITE OPEN CHALLENGE ON THE AUTHORITY, I type the words in capital letters just in case they miss this important point.

And just in case the readers forget, nobody openly challenges our authority with crime and gets away (easily).

Relevant readers, take note.