KL/Amsterdam

22 Jan 2011 - The last weeks I heard about a number of incidents involving bag-snatching, pickpocketing and theft in town. I had this (stupid) impression that Kuala Lumpur is a relatively safe city, but it turns out to be a city like any other in the world, where junks and criminals are always on the look-out preying for an opportunity to make some quick bucks. It reminds of the zillion times that my bicycle got stolen in Amsterdam. Bicycle-theft is probably still a reality for students and other folks in Amsterdam, but I read that the city also tops the Dutch list of car thefts. In particular the Volkswagen Golf appears to be popular. More than 17,000 cars were stolen in Holland In 2010, and 2,200 car thefts occurred in Amsterdam. Wow! This figure is about the same as 5 years ago, which must be quite frustrating for the police officers in charge and of course for the victim car-owners. I remember that miserable feeling when you realized that your bicycle had been stolen, but - damn - how lousy would it feel if your car is missing from its parking place?