Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
A Penang man reached out to IRL to share his story about how he accidentally bumped into his mugger just a few days after the incident. This is his story.
A few nights ago, I was at a client’s house finishing up work till 10pm. It was near the Olive Tree hotel in Bayan Lepas, Penang.
As I left the place, I was approached by a man on the road asking for help.
He told me that he worked at the Olive Tree, and he was on his way home when his motorbike’s tyre was punctured.
He saw my wary look and in a pitiful tone, explained that he wasn’t asking for money, he just needed a ride home.
Seeing that he was quite thin, I felt kesian (sorry for him). Since his place was not far from my house anyway, I agreed and we got into my Kelisa which was parked nearby.
On the way, he asked me for some money so he could call a Grab to get to his bike the next day. Again, feeling sorry for him, I agreed.
As I stopped the car outside the lorong (alley), I gave him RM20. Thanking me, he exchanged numbers with me and said he’ll call me to return my money the next day.
The man asked me to give him all my money and also my phone
Before he got out of the car, the man took it a step further and said, “Bagi I semua duit you.” (Give me all your money)
I realised I’d been duped and tried to get myself out of the situation, telling him, “I where got money? You see, I drive Kelisa only.”
He didn’t take ‘no’ as an answer and said, “Then bagi I phone you.” (Then give me your phone.)
I weighed my options: The alley was quite dark, and there was no one to call for help.
Eventually, I said, “Okay, I’ll hand it over to you.” After saying that, I got out of my car and acted like I was about to give him my phone. But little did he know, I kept a short metal stick under my driver’s seat.
Without him noticing, I grabbed the stick from under the seat and walked over to the passenger side of the car, hiding it from his view.
He stood outside my car waiting for me to pass him my phone. Before he could react, I Wing Chung kicked him and gave him a few hard whacks with the stick.
He exclaimed in surprise and fell down. I thought he might try to fight back, but he picked himself up and quickly ran away.
After he escaped, I got back in my car and went home. I decided not to lodge a police report because I technically didn’t get robbed, and I didn’t lose any valuables except the RM20 I willingly gave him.
Taking stock of the situation, I felt both unlucky and lucky at the same time. Unlucky that I had to encounter this, but lucky that at least I didn’t lose anything except my time and RM20.
In a stroke of luck, I met the same mugger outside MR. DIY
I’m not sure if I’m the unlucky one or he’s the unlucky one, but a few days after this incident, I bumped into the same man again!
I was at D’Piazza outside MR. DIY when this guy approached me saying the same lines: He worked at Giant, his motorcycle tire got punctured, and he needed someone to fetch him home.
At that moment, I realized that he didn’t recognise me. I looked him squarely in the eye and asked him, “Mana I punya RM20?” (Where’s my RM20?)
The blood drained from his face and realizing who I was, he immediately dropped the act and fled again before I could give chase.
After I got my things at MR. DIY, I was walking back to my car and was bewildered to see him still hanging around the area, on the opposite side of the road!
The mugger tried the same scheme on an unsuspecting woman
As I watched from afar, he tried to approach a woman, repeating the same line with his kelian (pitiful) body language.
At this point, I decided I needed to act quickly, because he was about to prey on an unsuspecting woman, and if she was duped into giving him a ride home, she would have been completely defenseless.
I looked around and spotted two Malay guys on motorbikes waiting at the traffic lights.
I approached them and explained everything: How that guy on the opposite side of the road tried to mug me, and how he was going to do the same to that woman over there.
“I’m going to try to catch him, can you help me?” I said.
They agreed, saying they would chase him down and grab him if he tried to run away.
So, before he could do anything, I sprinted over the road towards him while calling to him. He turned to look at me, and without saying any more words, I threw a punch that landed on his face.
He yelled in pain, asking, “Apa you buat, kenapa you pukul I?” (What are you doing? Why did you punch me?)
I said, “This time I can’t let you go, because you’re mugging defenseless women.”
He protested, saying he did nothing wrong and that he had already returned my money to me. I grabbed him by the shirt near his neck and held him firmly.
The Malay guys had by now pulled up, and we made him sit down on the curb by the roadside. After discussing what to do, we frog-marched him towards the nearby Kapitan restaurant and called the police.
While waiting for the police, the mugger took out his phone and called his brother, asking him to help him. I overheard his brother loudly scolding him and refusing to help, before hanging up.
The police arrived within 10 minutes and took him into custody
In under 10 minutes, the police came with some Rela members as well. They escorted him to the Balai (police station) for questioning.
During questioning, he protested his innocence with a sob story about his mother being in the hospital, and various other stories to gain sympathy, but eventually he finally confessed that he had taken drugs earlier that day.
I asked the police officers what was going to be done with him.
They said: “Unfortunately, since he hasn’t been caught red-handed, he can’t be charged with robbery or stealing. But we can remand him for a while until we get his urine tests back. If he tests positive for drugs, he can be convicted of drug use.”
Essentially, they told me he would be placed under pengawasan (surveillance).
After this incident happened to me, it saddens my heart to say that Malaysians can’t afford to be kind in society any more.
To be honest, when I first met this mugger, I really didn’t mind helping him, because he seemed sincerely asking for help, not for money.
But now I realize that he was trying to gain my sympathy from the very beginning.
Here are 3 signs to watch out for identifying a roadside mugger:
1. They will lie about who they are to lower your guard
They may approach you in a direct, yet not threatening way. They may list down your concerns about being robbed, and lower your guard by saying they’re just a humble worker, to make you think you can trust them.
2. They will ask for a small favor to appeal to your better nature
They will attempt to convince you that they’re genuine by saying things like, “I don’t need your money, I just need your help to send me back home.”
To convince you to give them a ride, they may give an address that is also very nearby, to make the choice easier to say, “Why not?”
3. Once they have you in a vulnerable position, they will start trying their luck
Once they get in the car with you, they will start pushing their luck, asking for money, phone numbers, and even phones and your wallet. At that point, it would be more difficult to say no, because they are already in a space where it would be difficult to get rid of them.
What should Malaysians do to avoid this scenario?
Tell us what you think!
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