I was in the process of hailing a cab in Bangsar when three motorcycles stopped abruptly in front of me and five people alighted. I knew I was in trouble coz they were wearing full faced helmets but before I could do anything, one of them punched me in the stomach and pulled out a knife.
I knew I was fucked – five people, three armed with edged weapons and me, totally unarmed and alone. One of them demanded my cell phone and wallet and tried to physically get it from my pocket. I could see they were kinda nervous – I think they’re still newbies to the whole mugging scene. 😉
That, and the area is actually pretty well lit and it’s along a main road. I knew it would be a really bad idea to set a precedence by allowing him to get into my pants (no pun intended) since I’m likely to lose everything if that happens so I brushed his hands away. He didn’t really like that so he grabbed me by the collar and pointed his knife and me while shouting miscellaneous threats detrimental to my general well being.
I quickly got my cell phone out and passed it to him, and got my wallet out and threw it on the ground before walking (at a very rapid pace, which some people might describe as more as “running“) to the shops behind me.
I didn’t want them to get my dSLR – which they probably didn’t see as they didn’t surround me – they came from the front and the bag was slung around my back. Thus, by throwing the wallet on the ground, I can make a hasty retreat in the opposite direction.
Oh well, at least I wasn’t stabbed or beaten up before being relieved of my belongings. I think that’s a combination of good luck, amateur muggers, and being at a relatively well lit street. It was an opportunistic crime, me thinks – I was alone and thus an easy target. I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
I hailed two other cabs after that who won’t take me home when I told them I’ve just been robbed and can only pay them after I go up to my condo and come back down. I just kept mum the third time and only after reaching the condo did I tell the cabbie that I had to go up to get the money to pay him. He was quite unhappy about all that, but I told him to trust me and I give him RM 10 extra.
Thank God for cash reserves at home. I actually have to thank Zoe for that, coz she was indirectly was responsible for said cash reserves. I spilled her soup all over some RM 50 notes and laid them out to dry on the breakfast bar.
I lodged a police report at the station after that and went back home and realized that my power has been disconnected due to outstanding issues with the previous tenant (which I thought had been resolved and the bill paid!). It’s like Murphy’s Law, anything that could go wrong will. The HTC hasn’t been charged since I got it, and the battery died when I used it to go to Google Maps via EDGE.
I woke up this morning and went to Maybank first thing to get a new ATM card. I only had a couple of hundred in the house and I needed to pay TNB so I could get power reconnected. I need to have power to get some work done over the weekend in time for Monday and I needed the Internet for research.
I went back home and realized that I couldn’t call anyone at work to tell them I have to take emergency leave – all the contacts are in my cell phone! I couldn’t get online to type in the company’s website to get the number or MSN my coworkers coz my house does not have power (and thus no WiFi). I knew I had the business card of the boss somewhere from the interview so I searched for that and called him to tell him that I was mugged and needed to take a day off to resolve everything.
I should have drove to the office instead, it would have been much faster, but I was so stressed out at the thought of getting lost in PJ and KL that the thought never occurred to me!
Good things:
I still have my RM 3,800 Sony alpha 350
I still have the RM 3k + HTC Pocket PC which isn’t even mine
Bad things:
I lost my MyKad, driving license, credit card, debit card cum ATM card the first two of which will take AGES to replace.
I lost ALL the contacts in my cell phone and I haven’t backed it up for a long time.
I had to take Friday off so I could get all my stuff sorted out. The worst thing was, all the contacts for work was in my cell phone so I didn’t have the office number.
I got lost all over PJ and KL since I didn’t have a cell phone and couldn’t call to ask for directions.
I even got so lost I had to resort to paying a taxi RM 14 to guide me back home by driving in front of me!
Thanks Suanie! Appreciate you giving me directions to TNB and letting me into the office to use Google Maps.
I just got my SIM card back from DiGi Center in SS2. I need everyone who knows me to text 016 888 2069 with your name so I can repopulate my contacts list. I just got a replacement SIM card. It’s a good thing I have a HTC Touch passed to me by a friend so I can use that for the time being while I hold off on purchasing a cell phone until next month.
I am really broke this month, and I can’t buy a new phone until next month at least.
Anyway, thanks for all your concern, I’m fine and I still consider myself lucky coz I got away with the dSLR and the Pocket PC. I do not relish the thought of losing RM 7k + in gear.
Count the little blessings. 🙂
