Crime, Urban Flight and Societal Wellbeing: A Case of Malaysia

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 35-40

J. Environ. Treat. Tech.

ISSN: 2309-1185

Journal weblink: http://www.jett.dormaj.com

Crime, Urban Flight and Societal Wellbeing: A Case

of Malaysia

William Wee-Lim Hew*, Boon-Yee Low, Gerald Guan-Gan Goh, Siok-Hwa Lau

Faculty of Business, Multimedia University, Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama, 75450 Melaka, Malaysia

Received: 29/06/2019

Accepted: 24/09/2019

Published: 20/02/2020

Abstract

Today, the exploding population, rising costs of living, and limited living spaces have led to various social problems for urban

residents. World governments have been gradually moving towards promotion of urban wellbeing where urban centres must be

ecosystems that promote societal health and wellbeing as well as conducive for improving its residents' quality of life (21). Malaysia is

of no exception; despite the various initiatives by the Government, recent years have seen an increase in residential crime and this has

adverse impacts on urban wellbeing. This paper discusses how crime affects urban wellbeing and how the problem may be contained.

Semi-structured interviews conducted with residents in crime-prone areas in Malaysia have found that growing criminal activity might

lead to urban flight or depopulation of residential estates. This runs counter to urban wellbeing as it increases the stress levels of families

by destabilising them. The interview also revealed that these problems may be curbed by increasing the safety through various spatial

management practices as well as knowledge sharing and participation by residents in community events. This study provides

recommendations to federal and local authorities in spatial policies as well as for housing developers in designing future housing

projects.

Keywords: crime; urban flight; urban wellbeing; society.

and access to urban housing in comparison to their urban

Introduction

counterparts. These rural migrants often end up working in

dangerous, filthy, and low-paying jobs; turning them into

resentful urban poor (34). Until now, sociologists have never

failed to link urban poverty with crime. Criminal activities are

usually prevalent in areas where there are high concentrations

of low-income (3,16, 26, 27, 32).Making matters worse, crime

no matter how petty, often have a multiplier effect on larger

crime and the ability of law enforcement agencies to monitor

the area. Criminal activities can be seen as a form of

contagious disease because it projects a perception of an

unstable neighbourhood where committing crimes do not bring

any social penalties, and where the probability of getting

arrested is low. Hence the self-reinforcing nature of crime has

led it to continually thrive in these neighbourhoods (16, 25, 26,

Towards the end of the 20th century, there was a great shift

in global economy; many of the world's nations, which were

formerly self-contained and closed economies have begun to

embrace globalisation and open their doors to foreign

investments. This have facilitated the rapid transition of many

of the world's nations from rural to urban economies. Asia for

instance has grew by leaps and bounds with the emergence of

countries like South Korea, India, China into the global

economic landscape. Even Malaysia has progressed from being

a developing nation to a newly industrialised nation. This

process of transformation is referred to as urbanisation. It

speaks of the transformation of a society's rural economy and

lifestyle to one that is predominantly urban (21) resulting in a

society which is clustered, with a size so large that it has never

been regarded possible previously (5). Most if not all high-

income countries in the world today owed their success to

urbanisation. It has been reported that nearly all countries that

achieved middle-income nation have at least a 50 percent urban

population, and for high income nations, the urbanisation rate

would have reached about 70 to 80 percent (33). In Malaysia,

the urban population has risen dramatically from 20 percent in

the 1950s to 72 percent in 2010. Is was estimated that rate

would reach 82 percent in 2030 (38).

27).

In Malaysia, crime has continued to be prevalent and

threatening residential order and safety. The Malaysia

Performance Management and Delivery Unit, PEMANDU

(

2014) under the Prime Minister's Department reported that

crime rates have systematically reduced since the

commencement of a Government Transformation Programme

initiated early of the decade. Crime index have reportedly fell

by 15, 11 and 7.6 percent respectively in 2010, 2011, and 2012

(

p.108). Nonetheless, these figures may be understated; the

Malaysian Crime Prevention and Suppression Department

Jabatan Pencegahan dan Pembanterasan Jenayah) considers

However, urbanisation also raises various problems.

Because urbanisation involves rapid change in a nation's social

structure, disparities are common (33). Urbanisation

encourages migration of rural folk into cities, and they are

usually disadvantaged at salaries, employment opportunities,

(

the possibility of 'dark figures' where many cases remained

unreported and claimed that the actual crime rate to be

significantly higher. It appears that Malaysians tend not to

report these cases because of poor confidence in obtaining their

due justice from the nation's legal system. A survey has shown

that Malaysians tend to regard most residential crimes to be

petty cases of personal concern. They also fear the possibility

Corresponding author: William Wee-Lim Hew, Faculty of

Business, Multimedia University, Jalan Ayer Keroh Lama,

5450 Melaka, Malaysia; e-mail: wlhew@mmu.edu.my.

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 35-40

of reprisal from the perpetrators should they report the

incidences to the authorities. Findings suggests that about 25

percent of criminal cases remained unreported (13).

income group is increasingly being stigmatised for rising social

problems and crime. As many were formerly from

disadvantaged families, their newly-attained social upgrade has

motivated them to provide a better, safer environment for their

children to grow up in (14, 24).

Moreover, in the same year an international survey also

supported the fact that crime is still rampant in Malaysia.

Expatriates involved in the survey were congruent in nailing

the ineffectiveness of the police and local law enforcement

agencies in combating crime; a majority (69 percent) have

fallen victim to crime at least once in the past two years and 92

percent of them who have been to Singapore felt that it was

safer to live there. The survey revealed that snatch theft was the

main form of crime in housing estates (76.4 percent) followed

by break-ins (42.4 percent), physical assault (27.8 percent) and

carjacking and theft (21.5 percent) faced (6). Between 2015 to

Thus the attractiveness of traditional open neighbourhoods

have been declining in favour of more protected alternatives

i.e. guarded or gated communities. Urban planners and housing

developers are generally aware of the seriousness of addressing

the issue of safety in both social and private housing,

nonetheless many new projects were built for the sake of

building; the design and spatial planning of social housing in

particular are usually minimalist without much considerations

of safety and sense of place. In many parts of the world, social

housing projects often morphed into modern 'ghettoes' dev oid

of public order and rampant in crime and gang activities (9, 18,

39). It has been documented that crime increases the chances of

more street crime, alters residents' behaviour to being

antisocial, increases the chances of mental illness, and then

residential turnover. This finally result in ultimate depopulation

of the area and closure of local institutions and business

establishments (2). Residents will then opt for gated

communities with protected surroundings (8, 12, 24).

016, the national crime rate was reported to have been

reduced by 0.8 percent (1). However, further scrutiny revealed

that the decrease was mainly contributed by lower incidences

of organised crime e.g. murder; in terms neighbourhood-related

and petty crimes, the incidences remained high (1). During the

first quarter of 2016, crime rates in Malaysia has spiked by 4.6

percent, and 58 percent of it was attributed to property crimes,

with increases in snatch thefts and burglaries as criminals

learnt the art of lock-picking and outsmarting the security

systems (29).

The situation in Malaysia is by no means different. The

dwellers of affordable housing estates often hail from the

lower-income group and by such, their tight finances have

often compelled them to attempt maximising income derived

from these homes, even if it meant renting to immigrants and

foreign workers. News reports are abound on how affordable

homes have been leased to foreign workers, and they have been

blamed for creating social problems and turned these areas

undesirable. For instance, there were complaints how these

immigrants made a nuisance by roaming the neighbourhood in

their undergarments, drinking alcohol, quarrelling and fighting

among themselves (15). Criminal incidents such as robbery, car

break-ins, and burglary have also been rampant particularly in

affordable housing areas and residents have been increasingly

living in fear (17). Even in regular neighbourhoods, residents

have constantly feared for their safety against burglary and

snatch theft within the housing estate. This have resulted in

urban flight; with many opting to move into gated communities

with constant surveillance and security patrols (37, 40, 28).

Research have also shown that neighbourhood crime and

presence of security were among the main determinants to

one's decision to purchase a home (36). Housing ownership is

an important contributor to economy and societal wellbeing.

Owning a home promotes familial stability which in turn

encourage families to raise children and increase their

propensities to consume more household goods and services

(4). In addition, they also make interest payments on bank

mortgages, which makes them a source of commercial banks'

income. These payments will be then used as a primary source

of lending funds for business operators to expand their

operations (7). The importance of homeownership to the world

economy was demonstrated through its role in the 2008-2009

Global Financial Crisis, where mortgage payment defaults

threw many financial institutions into banking emergencies

(22, 30, 11). In terms of societal contributions, homeownership

increases the value of the neighbourhood, and increases the

wellbeing of owners through financial gains from house value

appreciations. Furthermore, owning a home have been found to

In more recent years, the public has begun to doubt the

accuracy of these projected crime statistics. Despite various

assurances that the crime rates in Malaysia is within control,

residents were feeling increasingly unsafe and threatened (10).

For instance, in 2018, referring to unofficial sources, Malaysia

has been found wanting for exceptionally high crime rates.

Numbeo (2018) an independent online database, reported that

Malaysia ranks first among 23 Southeast Asian countries with

the highest Crime Index of 66.95, and ranks second among a

list of 90 Asian countries. These statistics which are accessible

worldwide, projects an ill image of safety in Malaysia.

However, because Numbeo's data sources also include

individual perceptions, the reliability is may be questionable.

Nonetheless, it gives an insight into crime conditions in

Malaysia and it can be assuredly said that crime is a serious

concern in Malaysia.

.1 Impact of Crime on Residents' Housing Tenure and

Urban Wellbeing

Generally there are three kinds of neighbourhood in

Malaysia. The first is open neighbourhoods, or residential

enclaves that are freely accessible to the general public trough

the major streets. Then there are guarded neighbourhoods

where these residential enclaves that were formerly open, are

now barricaded, with certain streets closed or controlled boom

gates, and security is hired to control access. Finally there are

gated communities, or residential enclaves where the

neighbourhood is barricaded by physical barriers such as a

fence or a wall (37). As gated neighbourhoods often employ

security to patrol and control access, the terms guarded and

gated may sometimes be used interchangeably.

Traditionally, most residential enclaves were open

neighbourhoods.

A major distinction between an open

neighbourhoods from a gated community is that the former has

a diverse mix of residents from different socio-demographical

background; people with different levels of income and class

were living together. The traditional model of housing has

allowed residents to freely socialise with people of other

neighbourhoods and develop close friendships (23).

Nonetheless in time, the housing landscape has become more

fragmented, urbanisation has socially divided urban

residentswhere more affluent dwellers preferring to distance

themselves from the lower-income residents as the lower-

increase

a person's perception of their neighbourhood,

encourage them to stay in the neighbourhood longer, invest

into maintenance of the area, and increase their socialisation

with the local community. Through their close dealings with

neighbours, they were able to supervise their children better

and this have resulted in improved children behaviour and

better academic performance (35, 31).

staying in guarded, gated communities (33.33 percent). The

interviewees were asked to comment on the following issues:

Given that, it is important to identify Malaysian residents'

perceptions of crime in their neighbourhood, how it affects

their livelihood, and methods to contain it in order to improve

the quality of lives of Malaysians.

(a) The nature of their criminal victimisation in the

neighbourhood.

(b)

Their perception on the severity of crime in

Malaysia

(

c) Their perceptions of the crime on the

neighbourhood safety, attractiveness, and property prices

d) Their threshold and tendency to leave the

neighbourhood in the future should crime escalate

e) The safety and security loopholes in their

neighbourhood

f) Their perceptions of appropriate steps that may be

Methodology

(

Between November and December 2017, semi-structured

interviews were conducted with residents residing in crime-

prone locations in the southern region of Peninsular Malaysia.

The locations were identified based on crime data provided by

local police headquarters, under the condition that these

locations shall not be explicitly named in order to avoid

drawing unwanted attention to these neighbourhoods and to

protect the residents from provoking ire and reprisals from

criminals. The residents who had experienced crime in their

neighbourhood were identified using snowballing sampling,

where a resident who had experienced victimisation identifies

another victim in their neighbourhood. Assumption was made

that victims usually share their experiences among their social

circles. A total of 25 respondents have agreed and responded to

our invitation, however only 24 were chosen for the interview

because one respondent did have not have any experience of

being victimised.

The majority of the interviewees are young adults aged

between 21 to 40 years old (79.17 percent), followed by mid-

life adults aged between 41 and 60 (12.5 percent), and seniors

aged 61 and above (4.17 percent). Females constitute

approximately two-thirds (62.5 percent) while males made up

one-third of the interviewees (37.5 percent). They have

generally moved into the neighbourhood for less than 10 years

(

taken to enhance safety and security in the area.

3 Results and discussion

Table 1 summarises the opinions and issues raised by the

interviewees. This summary shows that in brief, residents in

crime-prone locations are generally worried about the

escalating crime in Malaysia and how it devalues their

properties. Many have even considered leaving the

neighbourhood should crime worsens. Security problems cited

are mostly on the neighbourhood environment and community

support and to improve safety. Residents have ranked

neighbourhood general security rather than for individual

homes to be the most important. The findings are detailed in

the following sub-sections.

3.1 Nature of Crime in the Neighbourhood

Burglary remained the most common crime in the

neighbourhoods; 83.33 percent of interviewees have cited at

least one incidence of burglary each. One interviewee

remarked an astounding 25 cases of break-ins in her

neighbourhood within a month's period alone. Most of the

burglary cases involved theft of cash, jewellery, computers and

electronic devices and occur during festive seasons when

families were away on vacation or returned to their

hometowns. Other common cases include smashing of vehicle

windows and theft valuables placed within andcar accessories.

(

75 percent), followed by those who have resided between 11

to 20 years (20.83 percent), and those who have been rooted

for more than 20 years (4.17 percent). In terms of ethnicity,

they were Malays (45.83 percent), Chinese (45.83 percent), and

Indian (8.33 percent). The majority are staying in open

neighbourhoods (66.67 percent) while the remainder are

Table1: Summary of findings from the interview

Frequency Percentage

Factor

Findings

Remark

Most

happened

neighbourhoods as opposed

to guarded and gated

communities

the

burglary

open

Burglary / House Break-ins

Robbery

Snatch theft

83.33%

25.00%

4.17%

12.5%

The nature of residents'

victimisation

Vehicular-jacking / break-ins

Not serious

Serious, under control

Serious

Will not affect property values

Reduce property values

4.17%

12.5%

83.33%

8.33%

91.67%

Crime are perceived to be

more serious in urban areas

than rural areas

Property values perceived to

drop at higher crime areas

Perception on the severity of

crime in Malaysia

Impact of crime on property

values and area attractiveness

Will not leave

May consider leaving

4.17%

95.83%

Urban flight tendencies more

Urban flight or tendency to

leave the neighbourhood

common

mobile

respondents

Poor housing environment

Lack community support

70.83%

37.5%

The environment refers to the

layout and ambience

Safety and security loopholes in

the neighbourhood

Residents that

neighbourhood safety should

be considered before

individual home safety can

take place

believed

Home security features

recommendations Neighbourhood security features

29.17%

45.83%

50.00%

33.33%

Residents'

to improve safety and security

Improve residents’ involvement

Being vigilant and self-driven

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2020, Volume 8, Issue 1, Pages: 35-40

In recent years, burglars have also becomeingenious and

emboldened; example are (i) pretending to be moving into an

abandoned house but then looted everything within, (ii)

breaking in while the victim's neighbours are obviously

around; guised by the pitter-patter of rain falling; (iii) climbing

over a locked gate in daytime, (iv) pretending to be a

representative of the owners sent to collect their belongings;

and (v) entering the victim's car while she was nearby, engine

with a baby in the passenger seat. The next common crime is

robbery (25 percent); followed by snatch theft (4.17 percent);

and vehicular -jacking and break-ins (12.5 percent). One of the

most common methods used by robbers is to trick the owners

into believing that they are government officials or working

with utilities companies, but residents were generally well-

informed about this method. From the interviews, it was

evident that criminals were also uncompassionate (i)

threatening the owner with weapons to gain entry and (ii)

clobbering an elderly and snatching his belongings. While the

majority of these cases were in open neighbourhoods, enclosed

communities were not spared; gated and guarded communities

made up the significant minority. Surprisingly, few of the gated

and guarded neighbourhoods were even hotspots for crime.

For those who believed that the property prices would remain

unchanged, they were confident that as people moved out,

other residents will move in and the thus the crime conditions

would remain fairly unaffected.

3.4 Residents' Crime Threshold and Flight Tendencies

A majority of respondents (95.83 percent) will consider

moving out should the crime levels escalate while only one

resident (4.17 percent) will not consider moving. From the

interviews, work and family commitments seemed to affect

residents' flight tendencies. Residents who are younger and

have resided for shorter periods were seemingly more willing

to move should crime escalate. On the contrary, residents who

are older and have resided for longer periods were generally

more reluctant to move; they would give more considerations

when the situation calls for it. This may be because younger

residents are more mobile and are constantly seeking for better

employment opportunities. Thus, they would not have much

commitments to a place and reside for shorter periods. On the

other hand, older residents who have resided for extended

periods usually have commitments to the place such as fixed

employment, and having their parents or dependencies nearby,

or schooling arrangements for their children.

.2 Residents' Perception on the Severity of Crime in

Malaysia

In general, 83.33 percent of residents interviewed perceive

Nonetheless, each person has a threshold; despite the deep

attachments and emotions linked with the place, if the criminal

activities surpass their levels of acceptance, the need for self-

preservation would be prioritised and they would move. For

those reluctant to move, there were concerns that these older

residents may become easy target for robbers and snatch

thieves should the neighbourbood gets deserted. In addition, as

businesses and other conveniences move out, they would need

to travel far distances to procure their daily necessities and

health services.

that crime is escalating in Malaysia; 12.5 percent believed that

it is serious but under control and 4.17 percent believed that it

is not serious. It appeared that residents that considered crime

to be serious mostly reside in urban areas within 10 to 15

kilometres from the urban centres, whereas residents who

believed that crime is under control and not serious reside

mainly in the suburbs. The difference in opinions is mainly

because in urban areas, the disparity of income is large.The

interviewees have cited instances where rural folk taking their

chances of employment in urban centres had difficulty making

ends meet; thus the high the cost of living have forced those

from the lower income group to commit crimes. Conversely,

the costs of living in neighbourhoods located in the suburbs are

lower, hence the lower crime rates. It also appeared that

communities at suburbs are more closely-knitted hence the

residents are more likely to engage in community safety

initiatives andwilling to watch out for one another out against

potential break-ins and robberies.

3.5 Safety and Security Loopholes in the Neighbourhood

70.83 percent cited poor housing environment as a major

security loophole in their neighbourhoods while 37.5 percent

considered the lack of community support as a major concern.

In regard to the housing environment, the most commonly

discussed issue was the ambient factors such as (i) or the sense

of safety in the neighbourhood, (ii) street lighting, (iii)

presence of unknown people or cars in the vicinity, and (iv)

cleanliness, as cleanliness is a sign that the place is being

maintained and cared for by the local council. In terms of

layout, (iv) residents were also concerned over the presence of

open roads and multiple entry and exit points to the

neighbourhood which allowed robbers and snatch thieves to

escape. For community support, (v) residents felt that the

authorities have not put in enough effort to combat crime, and

the community itself does not have much initiatives to

safeguard the neighbourhood.

At present, it appears that safety and security is very much

at the hands of the houseowners rather than the authorities; and

that the focus of safety measures were more towards individual

homes rather than the neighbourhood as a whole. One resident

exemplified the ineffectiveness of individual home security: in

case of burglary or break-ins, residents may install alarms;

however many do not pay any attention to the sounds of house

or vehicle alarms, believing them to have been triggered by

accident, or they were just not concerned since it was not their

property. In case of snatch thefts and vehicular-jacking, auto

gates may be installed so that the owners need not alight their

vehicles to manually open the gates and leave the car and

belongings therein vulnerable; nonetheless a robber may sneak

into a house compound using a motorbike when the gate is

closing and the owner is not aware. Therefore without safety

.3 The Effects of Crime on Neighbourhood Safety,

Attractiveness, and Property Prices

A high 91.67 percent of residents interviewed believed that

criminal activities would drive property prices down while the

remainder 8.33 percent believed that the situation would

remain unchanged. For those who believed that property prices

may fall, they were also concerned thatthat this may have a

multiplier effect on further degradation of the neighbourhood.

As property prices fall, the neighbourhood would become less

attractive to investors and respectable homeowners but instead

become attractive to criminals and social outcasts for their low

rents. 83.33 percent were troubled by the possibility that

criminal activities would intensify which in turn create more

problems such as (i) the abandonment of homes which would

reduce the living element of community life in the area, (ii) this

would worsen as businesses like eateries and retail followed

suit and moved from the neighbourhood, (iii) as houses and

business premises get abandoned, they may harbour of drug

addicts and social outcasts, (iv) the transformation of the

neighbourhood into a 'black spot' as more illegal activities are

carried out in the area, and (v) the influx of illegal immigrants

and foreign workers as property values drop and rents reduced.

measures implemented at the neighbourhood level, house

security systems would be ineffective.

sustainable development practices, one which propels the

nation a step closer to social sustainability.

.6 Residents' Perceptions on Dealing with Crime

In general, residents suggested that safety and security

Acknowledgement

The authors hereby express their deepest gratitude and

appreciation to the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia for

their support and generous funding through the Fundamental

should be improved by improving residents' involvement in

maintaining security through neighbourhood watch committees

and community policing (50 percent); having security features

at the neighbourhood level (45.83 percent), being self-aware

and vigilant of one's own surroundings as well as willing to

take initiatives when identifying suspicious activities in the

neighbourhood (33.33 percent) and interestingly, home security

features such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and

alarm systems were believed to be the least effective measures

Research

Grant

Scheme

(FRGS),

Project

ID:FRGS/1/2016/SS10/MMU/03/1, which made this research

possible.

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