Fortress breached!
13/10/2006 The Malay Mail By RAHMAN DAROS

BY all accounts, the clothes wholesaler’s semi-detached house in Duta Nusantara, Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, was a virtual fortress. The surrounding area is gated with round-the-clock security patrol, and an alarm system linked to the guard house. So the residents thought.

Lim Bon Chai, 44, and his family were robbed by seven men early yesterday and lost an estimated RM300,000 in cash and valuables. The men, believed to be Indonesians, were armed with knives and screwdrivers. “They got into my mother-in-law’s room on the ground floor, woke her up and asked her to wake everyone else,” Lim told The Malay Mail yesterday.

One of the burglars went into the maid’s room where the woman was sleeping with her mother. Both were tied up with wires. After ‘clearing ’ the downstairs area, the men took Lim’s mother-in-law, Ng Kim Chan, 79, upstairs into the other rooms. Except for his 25-year-old daughter, her husband and Lim’s nephew, the other eight family members were woken up, told to keep quiet and had their hands tied.

Lim said the men entered the master bedroom after knocking on the door. “When my wife heard the knocks, she opened the door and the men came in. I was caught off guard, seeing the men in masks. They tied our hands and legs. “They threatened to slash us if we screamed or moved. One of them did not wear a mask. He was skinny, dark-skinned and is about 5’5” tall,” said Lim. Two of the burglars carried bags and at least three had waist pouches. “I let them do whatever they wanted as long as they did not hurt my family. “I even offered to help them take our belongings so they would leave as soon as possible, ” said Lim.

Lim ’s wife, Florence Koh Gek Lin, 47, said: “They kept telling me to keep quiet and not move. I knew if I did something, they would have hurt us.” The men spent 30 minutes in the master bedroom room. Among the items taken were three laptops, five diamond rings, 12 watches, 10 gold rings, eight gold necklaces, 10 cell phones, two digital cameras and five handbags. The burglars also took cash totalling RM182,000 in various currencies. “The worse thing was that the guards, who usually patrol the neighbourhood, came 20 minutes after I hit the alarm button from my room,” he said.

Lim lodged a police report at the Jinjang station. Duta Nusantara general manager Wong Tuck Wai said the management is conducting an internal investigation. “We are working closely with police and analysing the closed-circuit television (CCTV) recording,” he said last night. He added that there were six guards on duty at the time of the incident. Sentul OCPD assistant commissioner Mohamed Rodzi Ismail confirmed the incident and said police are investigating.