Near misses

Once, I almost got robbed. I was walking by a row of shophouses (all closed) in Jalan Sultan when someone who walk briskly in front of me suddenly took out a knife and asked for money.

Instead of giving in, I look pass him and said "Kau nak matikah. Ada polis kat belakang kau" (Do you want to die? There is a policeman behind you). He calmly put back his knife in his bag and walked away. It was my turn to walk away briskly as there was no one in sight.

My mother who was alone at my sister's house in Ampang opened the front door upon seeing a middle aged woman at the gate asking for a glass of water.

She innocently went in and took a glass of water for the stranger who had by then sat at the door. The woman did not drink but somehow, my mother felt sleepy and almost fell asleep.

Realising that something was not right, she recited some Quranic verses causing the other woman to be restless.

She immediately walked away.

In the 70s, a day after my grandmother passed away, we woke up to find some jewellery belonging to an aunt who slept over missing. The kitchen door was prised open. Everyone slept like a log that night.

The police came 15 hours later and dusted for fingerprints but the culprit was never identified.

A few years ago, I had to withdraw a large sum of money from a bank to be deposited into another bank located just 10 shops away.

Because of the amount, I had to be brought into a special room. That's a giveaway of the amount I had and everyone at the banking hall was looking at me.

I stuffed everything in my trousers pockets and the bank officers advised me to walk fast as an officer would be tailing me in case anything bad happened.

I felt everyone on the road was looking at me. Everyone looked suspicious, and I heaved a heavy sigh of relief as I stepped into the banking hall of the other bank.

The second incident was an attempt to "pukau" my mother while the third was apparently a "pukau" as no one woke up. The lightest sleeper among us slept through the night but it might have been due to tiredness as it was a busy day and night for us preparing for the funeral and also hosting a kenduri the same night.

Nevertheless, everyone should be aware of the surroundings. Better be safe than sorry and I admit i was foolish for not using the electronic transfer or a cheque for that matter.