THIS year’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri was memorable for many reasons, and most of them will be remembered fondly. The one exception, however, is that our house in Shah Alam was broken into while we were away at the kampung, celebrating the end of Ramadan.
The burglar (or burglars) had broken in via the side grille and sliding door, ransacked all the bedrooms and took away laptops, jewellery, watches, and whatever cash they found. I suspect the robbery took place on Hari Raya itself, and in broad daylight. Our neighbours who were celebrating in the city were away for Hari Raya prayers in the morning, or out visiting relatives. Since it was also a Friday, most of the men were also away in the afternoon for Friday prayers.
Another reason why I think it happened during the day is because there were signs that the bedroom air-conditioner had been turned on. I guess housebreaking must be a tedious activity, and best done when the temperature is 16 degrees.
With the benefit of hindsight, and in the spirit of self-reflection, I’d like to share some of the lessons learned from this tragedy in the hopes that it could be of value to others and prevent a similar fate befalling the unprepared.
FIRST, if you are planning to leave the house unattended for an extended time, inform the local police station in your area. The police will then step up patrols to your house location while you’re away.
Come to think of it, even if you’re in a hurry (which we were), spend a few minutes to inform the police about the vacant house. This was the first question they asked when we walked in to report the burglary.
SECOND, check your sliding doors, grilles and padlocks. Our grille was more than 15 years old. Iron grilles will rust after years in the sun and rain, and probably easier to break for someone who knows the right pressure points to exploit.
One of the policemen who came to dust for fingerprints recommended we invest in metal clamps to lock the panels of our sliding iron grille. The burglars might have tools to break the padlock of the grille door, but the clamps should slow them down.
Another way to frustrate burglars is, on the inside of the house, to place wooden planks as door stops for the sliding glass. Measure the length of the space between the panels when closed, visit any hardware shop and they can cut the planks to your required size.
We were also advised to change our padlocks to higher quality ones, which cost more, and are harder to pick.
THIRD, to minimise loss of valuables in the event that the burglars still manage to break in, spend some time to think of how to manage belongings in the home or when leaving the house vacant for some time.
Where possible, perhaps bring the laptops or gadgets with you when you travel. Another option is to keep valuable items in a locked luggage bag, in a location that is difficult to access, or that is unexpected.
Burglars have a standard modus operandi because they have learned what to look out for — laptop bags next to the bed, jewellery boxes on the dressing table, watches in the closet drawer.
However, they hardly disturbed the luggage bags stacked on top of the closet, didn’t even go into the store, or open the kitchen drawers.
Someone also suggested investing in a safe, although I think that only declares to a burglar that there is something valuable inside. If I were paranoid, it could even invite repeat “visits” if they could not break into it the first time.
At the end of the day, these are some of the steps we can take to protect our valuable things from being stolen. But, they are just that — material things — and can be replaced eventually.
Human life is priceless and irreplaceable, and I am thankful that we were not at home at the time.
For now, we have cleaned up what we can, threw away what we should, and taken extra measures to secure what still remains our sanctuary. Life goes on.
The writer wishes everyone Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Maaf zahir dan batin