Public Urged To Rate Car Park Safety In Online Initiative

Increase in crimes against women calls for action

KUALA LUMPUR, 1 June – A local women’s media channel, VenusBuzz.com is urging concerned Malaysians to start rating the safety of car parks in selected shopping malls around the Klang Valley in efforts of heightening awareness on crime ‘hotspots’ specifically targeting single women drivers.

The VenusBuzz CARing Project, an initiative by online women’s media channel VenusBuzz.com, was initiated last year after realising that not much was being done to make public spaces safe for women since high-profile incidences such as the murder of Canny Ong in 2003.

Last week, a girl was kidnapped at the parking lot of The Curve and was almost raped but managed to escape without harm. Actress Lina Teoh was harassed on the road and had her car attacked by men on motorcycles. A recent video on YouTube showed a woman being mugged by two men, while nearby, the security guard did nothing to help and just watched helplessly. Read about all the incidences here.

“With the advent of social media, we’re exposed to more and more news of crimes happening all around us,” said Anna Chew, Founder and Managing Director of VenusBuzz.com.

She went to add that while social media played a big part in spreading the word, often times there would be no follow up or action taken to rectify the situation.

“While sharing these stories may provide a reminder for others to not take personal safety lightly, it also creates a sense of fear. We want women to do something about it! – The VenusBuzz CARing Project aims to provide a platform to get Malaysians to be involved in claiming back the safety of our public spaces“

Research and analysis of the Government Transformation Programme roadmap has revealed that Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor account for 70% of street crimes in Malaysia while 87% of the victims are female. This points to an urgent need for greater education, especially among women, about the importance of observing proper safety measures and knowing where to be alert when out in public.

With an aim to rate shopping malls in the Klang Valley first, the list provided on the website is broken down into Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya/Subang Jaya, and Shah Alam/Klang with 10 questions from how well-lit the parking lot is to whether there is security patrolling the area and clear signages.

She went on to add, “The ultimate goal would be to eventually get all public parking lots from shopping malls to work places across Malaysia rated, so that the authorities have some solid data they can use. We will also then use these data to present to the malls for them to rectify the situation. These are after all direct feedback from the public, the mall’s own customers.”

Last year’s initiative saw roadshows held at various shopping malls with personal safety demonstrations by self-defense experts, child-safety products for parents, fun tyre-changing challenges and CARing kits which included auto assist numbers, essential car park safety checklist and other goodies.

For more information on The VenusBuzz CARing Project, do log on to http://www.venusbuzz.com/caring, the public are encouraged to rate car parks of major shopping malls within Klang Valley for their safety features. You can also download and print information related to car park and road safety. It is time for women to take back their safety!