Reme Ahmad gives his take on travelling the notorious highway.

In Singapore

I TRAVEL to Malaysia once a month, mostly by coach, for work and to visit my family.

And I have travelled several times, using my own car over the years, every inch of the 848-km North South Expressway.

The sign outside a hotel in Penang that I saw recently could not be clearer: Beware of snatch thieves outside this hotel.

It was placed outside the main lobby of the Pearl View Hotel in Seberang Jaya. I stayed there to cover the Permatang Pauh by-election that took place on August 26, which was won by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Local taxi drivers told me why the hotel put up the sign so prominently. 

A number of snatch thefts had occured just outside the lobby doors itself as hotel guests - who would naturally enough come from other parts of Malaysia - waited for cabs.

And the cab drivers said guests waiting outside the lobbies of two other big hotels in the area have also suffered from snatch thefts.

Why, one taxi driver told me, just last week his friend got the shock of his life. He was in a car with his wife and kid. They had stopped at a red-light when suddenly the window on the passenger side was broken open with a parang and a motorcyclist snatched the handbag of the wife.

The husband dared not do anything after seeing the parang.

Coming from Kuala Lumpur, where snatch thefts occur regularly, the lesson for me was this: when outside your own turf, beware of the different ways in which criminals act.

This is because I have not heard yet of any snatch thefts occurring outside hotel lobbies in KL. Yet it seems to be a regular thing in Seberang Jaya, which is part of mainland Penang. In this area, the thieves target guest hotels, as these people are less familiar with the surroundings.

Which brings me to the much-talked about Ferrari robbery that happened on the busy North-South Expressway in Malaysia.

I am glad to read that the Ferrari Club brought walkie talkies and took precautions, otherwise worse things might have happened. (The unfortunate man who got robbed was another Ferrari owner who was not part of the convoy). I guess the next time they want to travel in a convoy, the formation must be tighter so that they could help each other out in case of trouble.

Or perhaps they might consider having a group of security guards along (in a regular car)?

The criminals in the two Mercedes might seem overly brazen on Malaysian roads to carry out such daylight robbery. But I have heard and read about similar tales when people drove fancy cars on the same highway. This is to say that highway robberies are uncommon, but not unheard of, in Malaysia.

Precaution 1: Try not to drive alone, especially if you are a woman, and especially not at night.

Precaution 2: Try not to drive a fancy car. Or if you have no choice, bring at least one other person along. This helps you from nodding at the wheel too.

Precaution 3: If tailgated by suspicious car/s, drive to the nearest rest are where there are many people.

Precaution 4: If your car is suddenly bumped a bit from behind, do not stop. That is a common method used by highway robbers to get you to stop.

Precaution 5: When parking at highway stops, try to park where the movements of people are cars are high to reduce chances of break-ins.

Just be aware: Criminals behave differently outside your turf. Take extra precautions.