SOME residents in a Kuala Lumpur neighbourhood are living in a cage of fear - literally.

They have been so spooked by recent break-ins that they have erected fences that stretch all the way to the roof.

One man, worried about the safety of his wife and three children, even
installed metal gates within his house to make life difficult for any
would-be burglar.

The man, Ah Long, in his 40s, told Guang Ming
Daily: ‘The area always has knife-wielding criminals committing
robberies. It doesn’t matter if it’s night or day, or if anyone is
inside the house or not.

‘Though there is a fence outside my house, robbers will still try to scale it. It’s not hard at all.’

STEAL AND KILL

What got him going was when a neighbour’s house was broken into last November. The neighbour was hurt by the burglar’s knife.

Ah Long added that criminals nowadays both steal and kill which is why he splurged for extra security.

Meanwhile, his neighbour spent some RM10,000 ($4,000) to extend his fence all the way to the roof.

This way, even if a burglar climbed all the way to the top of the house, there would still be no way for him to get in.

He’s not the only one. A Guang Ming Daily reporter saw at least five such ‘cage-houses’ nearby.

One ‘caged’ resident, a Madam Huang, said she built the ‘cage’ because her house was broken into.

‘The day it happened was my daughter’s birthday,’ she told the paper.

She said her maid forgot to lock the main door. Four or five men carrying knives walked right into the house.

One robber put a knife to the neck of her daughter, forcing the family
into giving them money. Before they left, they also cut her husband’s
arm, she said.

After the incident, not only did she seal her home off, she now has an almost-paranoid regime driving in and out of her home.

Before she opens the gate with a remote to leave, she makes sure her
car door is locked. Before she returns, she makes sure she is not being
trailed.

The residents also recently pooled together a sum of money to hire security guards to patrol the streets.

Another resident, Mrs Chen, also had a similar story. She had hired
some workers to fix a damaged pipe. But when the workers left to buy
some spare parts, they forgot to lock the door.

Four
knife-wielding men strolled in and made off with RM200 in cash, three
handphones and the family car, a Nissan Sentra. She, her two daughters
(16 and 10) and her 70-year-old grandmother were at home then.

No wonder they choose to live themselves in ‘cages’.

wakakak…. Livin in d CAGE:p