Unfazed by car break-in
Zul Othman
Tue, Jul 10, 2012
The New Paper
Mr Fahmi Rais, 45, who lives closer to Johor Baru, is not worried about crime.
His 4,000 sq ft home - which he bought 18 months ago for RM550,000 - sits in the suburb of Taman Daya, a 20-minute drive from the Woodlands checkpoint.
The managing director of communications company Raistar Media sold his condominium unit in Geylang for $820,000 last year after his family fell in love with the Taman Daya house.
He now lives in the sprawling Johor house with wife Sulaimah Abdul Kadir, 36, and their four children, three of whom are studying in schools in the eastern part of Singapore.
Commuting to Singapore each day is not a problem for the family, he says.
Says Mr Fahmi, who was the vice-president of Malay TV channel Suria until 2007: "I love my home, even if my place is not guarded or gated."
He says: "We have alarm systems installed so I can sleep in peace but my car was broken into recently."
Still, he adds: "Honestly, I have only myself to blame for that break-in because I parked my car outside my house.
"As long you don't create an environment for criminals, you don't have to worry about living here."
At a press conference on Sunday, Johor police chief Deputy Commissioner Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff told reporters that in the first half of this year, there were 216 crime cases committed against Singaporeans.
Last year, there were 400 such cases, he added.
But he pointed out that there are about 2 million Singaporean visitors to Johor Baru each month and these cases affected only a small fraction of the visitors.
Zul Othman
Tue, Jul 10, 2012
The New Paper
Mr Fahmi Rais, 45, who lives closer to Johor Baru, is not worried about crime.
His 4,000 sq ft home - which he bought 18 months ago for RM550,000 - sits in the suburb of Taman Daya, a 20-minute drive from the Woodlands checkpoint.
The managing director of communications company Raistar Media sold his condominium unit in Geylang for $820,000 last year after his family fell in love with the Taman Daya house.
He now lives in the sprawling Johor house with wife Sulaimah Abdul Kadir, 36, and their four children, three of whom are studying in schools in the eastern part of Singapore.
Commuting to Singapore each day is not a problem for the family, he says.
Says Mr Fahmi, who was the vice-president of Malay TV channel Suria until 2007: "I love my home, even if my place is not guarded or gated."
He says: "We have alarm systems installed so I can sleep in peace but my car was broken into recently."
Still, he adds: "Honestly, I have only myself to blame for that break-in because I parked my car outside my house.
"As long you don't create an environment for criminals, you don't have to worry about living here."
At a press conference on Sunday, Johor police chief Deputy Commissioner Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff told reporters that in the first half of this year, there were 216 crime cases committed against Singaporeans.
Last year, there were 400 such cases, he added.
But he pointed out that there are about 2 million Singaporean visitors to Johor Baru each month and these cases affected only a small fraction of the visitors.
