Joo Chiat residents on alert after spate of burglaries
Concerned about the recent spate of burglaries in landed properties, some Joo Chiat residents are on heightened alert for suspicious activity near their homes.
Although the area has not been hit so far, residents received an advisory last week from the police reminding them to safeguard their properties from burglary.
Business development manager Yong Boon Kheng, 61, said the news of break-ins in other parts of Singapore, including Bukit Timah and Windsor Park, have been a source of worry.
Mr Yong has lived in a two-storey house in Joo Chiat for about 30 years with his wife, 64-year-old housewife Doris Koh.
The family, which now includes one of their adult daughters and her children, has always taken precautions against crime, including installing floodlights to light up the front of their house, he said, though there has not been a case of housebreaking in the neighbourhood that he can remember since they moved in.
The burglaries, which happened between June 1 and Aug 4, have put some residents such as Mr Alan Mah, 31, on higher alert.
Mr Mah, a general manager at a cleaning company, who lives with his wife, two children and parents in a terraced house, said: “We always tell our family members to lock up, and we have someone around at home most of the time.”
The advisory, seen by The Straits Times, said residences had been broken into, and perpetrators had targeted homes with low perimeter walls, unlocked doors and windows that had been left open.
Between June 1 and Aug 4, the police received reports of burglaries at 10 homes around the Rail Corridor and Bukit Timah Road, and at least one house in Windsor Park Road, in the Bishan area.
The crimes were perpetrated by international criminal syndicates, whose members forced their way into the homes, stealing about $3.85 million in cash and valuables. These were left in forested areas and picked up by other members of the syndicates.
The police said they have arrested three foreigners, recovered $1.36 million of the loot and identified 14 other people who can assist them in their investigations.
They have also enhanced security measures in private residential estates, including employing the use of cameras and drones to detect people hiding in forested areas.
A spokesperson for the Joo Chiat ward said there has been no housebreaking recorded in the last six months.
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