KUALA LUMPUR: Commuters are hoping that security at MRT stations will be continuously stepped up in the wake of the robbery-cum-assault on a woman in a lift at the Taman Mutiara station in Cheras here.Housewife Chen Fong Chin said she had yet to see more security guards at the station after the incident, of which a CCTV recording went viral online.“My family and I use the lift often. We were shocked by the incident. I won’t be taking the lift in the short term,” she said.Chen, 42, who always travels to town using the MRT, applauded the announcement by the Transport Ministry that Prasarana Malaysia would step up security at several MRT stations where there had been frequent incidents of crime.

While she acknowledged that there is a risk for women to travel alone in the early morning, Chen urged the authorities to ensure the safety of public spaces and not wait for an unfortunate incident to happen before acting.“These women need to take the MRT to go to work or school.“Although advising them to learn martial arts and not to travel alone does help, more should still be done by the operator and the authorities,” she said.In the Feb 14 incident, a 48-year-old woman suffered multiple injuries after she was violently attacked by a man in a lift at about 6.45am. The CCTV recording shows the woman entering the lift followed by the man who then punched and kicked her repeatedly before escaping with her MyKad, ATM cards and RM400 in cash. The man, 26, was arrested four days later.

Soon after the incident, Prasarana Malaysia, which owns RapidKL, the operator of the rapid transit system in the Klang Valley, said the company had stepped up security at its MRT stations following the brutal attack.RapidKL passengers can request to be escorted to the parking lots in a quiet area.Prasarana also said that members of a special unit set up by its security department were also sent to several hotspots – aside from Taman Mutiara, the other five MRT stations are Bukit Bintang, Maluri, Taman Pertama, Batu 11 Cheras and Kajang.College student Soong Yin Yee, 20, takes the MRT from Bandar Tun Hussein Onn to the city centre to attend morning classes.“It is more comfortable to travel during non-peak hours but it’s not so safe during these times.“But during peak hours when the train is packed, there are pickpockets. So when is the right time to travel?” she asked.

“Why can’t the MRT stations here be safe like the ones in South Korea, Singapore, Japan or Hong Kong? Maybe we need to study the initiatives adopted in these countries,” she said.Finance manager Kent Yoong, 31, a frequent commuter who lives in Kajang, pointed out that some of the lifts at MRT and LRT stations were located at a corner and some were not well-lit.“We don’t usually see many security guards patrolling around.“There should be better planning on security. The operator has to be responsible and the police have to put in stricter enforcement,” he said.

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/02/26/commuters-mrt-stations-still-in-need-of-better-security/#CyQdfJuktKKlYFyH.99